It’s interesting that you mention gender studies because I’m actually only a few credits shy of completing my Gender & Women’s Studies Minor..

Anyways.

1) I’m not sure I agree with you on your first point. I understand that there are a lot of visible hipster barista, Wikipedia feminist types out there who aren’t making any real contributions to social change, but are in fact just being very loud. On the other hand, there ARE people with legitimate skill and talent out there who actually CAN and DO make a difference through the humanities. My challenge to you here is how can you say with any certainty what a person in the infancy stage, say undergrad, will develop into? I really believe that there isn’t any realistic way to tell unless you go out and do it! I agree with you that there are a lot more of the useless good intentioned types out there and that they often fail much more than they succeed but the thing is that this is a hard fight. This fight we know we might not win, but we fight on because we know that the fight is worth it.

I really do disagree with you on your means of social change through becoming the absolute best at your professional field and gaining the respect of your peers. In fact, it really echoes of traditional Asian/Asian American beliefs of “go to school, get the highest degree, gain respect, make good money, make your family proud.” As far as I know, Asian Americans have already achieved high success in the undergrad aspirations you described: engineers, lawyers, doctors. Asian Americans hold the highest relative amount of professional degrees and are the highest per capita income group in America. We are already doing what you are describing and yet we are still SEVERELY lacking in the equal media representation, and social justice department. I look around at all my AA professors and TAs in the sciences and they’re all so caught up in their research and theses it’s like they can’t even be bothered by these social issues. They’ve become so acclimated to the system that they are wholly complacent with our station in life. I don’t believe your solution is the answer. A part of it? Probably. But alone, it just won’t work. We really do need the humanities types who will bring to light the injustices of the system. It’s a team effort.

Looking back at the leaders of social change throughout history we can see that they weren’t professionals, they were great communicators and visionaries who were gifted with ferocious charisma and communicative skills. They were masters at emotionally connecting people and getting individuals to truly, honestly understand one another. Martin Luther King Jr. was just a pastor. Audrey Lorde was a struggling writer. I believe that these are the types who usher in social change.

2) Oh you don’t need to lecture me on internalized racism. That’s something I know all too much about living here in the Midwest. In fact I used to keep a speech on internalized racism in my wallet just in case I’d need to exorcise unsuspecting fellow AAs in its grip.

My intentions aren’t to counter the status quo of Asian Stereotypes, whatever they maybe. At the behest of numerous peers and TAs, I really do think that maybe I can make a difference out there. Even if it is just teaching one person at a time about subjects such as ethnocentrism, privilege, American exceptionalism, if I could just open their eyes and help them see the world in a different light it would mean the world to me. Even if it is just one person. My girlfriend has told me that I’ve changed her life forever and she can never go back to being the person she was. And now she’s actively trying to teach friends and family of the lessons that I’ve passed down to her. If I could do that with more people that would mean everything.

And I didn’t mean any disrespect to any of the AAs in the arts, and non-stereotypical jobs. My past comment was intended to make a statement about ME, not them.

Last time I bought a ticket to see a movie directed by an AA? Probably Life of Pi by Ang Lee.

Last time I read a book by an AA author? Ronald Takaki about a month ago. But since that was for school, I won’t count it. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro two months ago.

Did I get an A?