Asian-American Leadership Seminar

This seminar for me has been an incredibly eye-opening experience. This quarter in general, has been an eye-opening experience. I come from the world of physical sciences, with no other classes ever to expose me to racial issues. This quarter (my second to last quarter here at UCI), I was able to take thiis class as well as an anthropology class. I've come to learn so much about culture, race, and a wide variety of things that involve humans and our culture.

In particular to this class, I've learned a lot about the history of our racial group. This ranges from the beginning of the Asian-American movement (Vincent Chin) to issues today, such as our very own campus. I think what I'm taking away away from this class is something I don't really think I could from any other class on campus. I'm walking away from this class as an Asian-American. To clarify, I've always known that I'm an Asian-American, but  now I REALLY know that I'm an Asian-American and what it exactly means to be one. I've become (more so than before) aware of the issues that surround the AAPI community and what challenges need to be conquered. 
I'm not sure of some AAPI issues/topics I'll be interested in learning more about on my own, but I do know that I have my eyes peeled for anything that comes my way regarding the AAPI community. I feel like I've become slightly more educated and when I read articles concerning us, I can relate a little better to the topic at hand. This applied very recently to the article "Tacking Asian Privilege" when while reading, I understood what "model minority" referred to! I think it's safe to say I've come out on the other end with a refined identity.

I'm not sure of some AAPI issues/topics I'll be interested in learning more about on my own, but I do know that I have my eyes peeled for anything that comes my way regarding the AAPI community. I feel like I've become slightly more educated and when I read articles concerning us, I can relate a little better to the topic at hand. This applied very recently to the article "Tacking Asian Privilege" when while reading, I understood what "model minority" referred to! I think it's safe to say I've come out on the other end with a refined identity.

The Murder of Vincent Chin

This past week's video on Vincent Chin was an eye-opening experience for me as the murder was one that predated my birth. To begin with, I suppose I could say that I am really surprised that I had never once heard of this murder case at all. With me being born very shortly after the murder, it struck me very odd that I lived so closed to a point in time where Asian-American movement was starting and that all through-out my childhood, I had never been educated this issue and what it represented: the lack of recognition for Asians to be recognized as Americans. I suppose that this could be then forwarded as a question as to why I had never been educated on this? I come from Orange County, a very diverse community with a high percentage of Asians. How did this not once reach me? Did the strength of the Asian-American movement never reach over here from where Vincent Chin was murdered? African-American history is noted in our textbooks and even has a month dedicated to it, yet Asian-Americans receive no recognition in that matter at all. It just doesn't make much sense, nor does it paint a very good picture in many aspects.

I believe the thing that really bothered me the most about the murder case was that these men did not receive life-long imprisonment. They were ordered to make payments of large amounts for a large portion of their lives to that of Lily Chin, however that will never make it quite like justice... they essentially bought themselves out of murder. It is ironic how they live with the ideal freedom expected of every American while the young Asian man never got his true rights to freedom let alone equal representation.

Professor O'Brien

To begin with, I want to say that I really enjoyed Professor O'Brien's visit this week. Her mini-lecture really opened my eyes to business ethic and how some companies carry themselves. Although I understand that the highlight of her lecture was sweatshops and work environment related problems, I ultimately came out of our seminar feeling annoyed at Walmart and American Apparel. Many of the things she stated really struck me as unbelievable, especially corrupted business mechanics. My family comes from a very deep business background and I've also always been very aware of company structure, so to be told that such prominent companies carry themselves in a way like that and are not more often publicly condemned is... not exactly shocking, because corruption seems to be the theme of our decade, but it is disturbing to say the least. 

On a note more related to Professor O'Brien's main goal of teaching us about sweatshops, my only thought is that it's honestly and too unfortunate that some people in this world don't value other humans as much as others do. To see people rule over each other with such an iron fist and have no care for each other's health is always mind-boggling to me. It's very ironic that the law is supposed to better a nation and a country, yet sometimes it fires back against the very public it seeks to protect and serve. I think it really struck me when she asked, "So how do we fight back against this kind of behavior?" (or something along those lines). I didn't really have an answer for that other than: "not shop there" which I know isn't truly an answer because we all have necessities that we have to purchase. She suggested some ideas, but there really isn't one single great answer I noticed. Either we have to suffer as consumers or the workers themselves have to suffer, but rarely do the companies suffer.

Duke & ASA

This past week's discussion was very eye-opening. Having heard both sides of this issue, I've come to understand that both parties have committed faults. With ASA obviously supporting the Asian community and looking to hold those who may offend their culture responsible and Kappa Sigma defending their rights to a party and whether or not they were ultimately at fault. In the end, I still have to side with the fact that Kappa Sigma was at fault for this party, mainly due to the fact that they did host this party. If you give an organization to accuse you of a possible fault, then you have done enough to step over the line. If you don't want to offend anyone, then you should never be close to stepping over that line. However, that is not to say that ASA did not make poor decisions in condemning the party. Their choice of putting Kappa Sigma on blast was unprofessional and childish, as it doesn't result in both parties reaching any peaceful negotiations, but rather, further fueled the flames of conflict.

Personally, I believe that parties that have people with cosplay and dressup is ok. However, the line was crossed with the invitation when they made stereotypes of Asians and their English. To dress up is one thing, but to mock one's inability to speak English is just rude and ignorant.

In the end, I wish that both sides could have just gone about this in a better way. With Kappa Sigma just admitting their faults quickly and apologizing to further avoid problems, and with ASA acting like a real organization (professional and business-like).

Panelists

The three panelists that we had on Wednesday were able to open my eyes to the amount of involvement that one could achieve as an active AAPI individual. All three were very able and engaging individuals who truly cared about their identity as AAPIs, and obviously all sought out improvements to our community.

I had a few thoughts on some of the panelists and what they shared. To begin with, I thought that Nicole's hidden passion about pursuing sexual education for the AAPI community was really interesting seeing how generally, most AAPI parents tend not to really speak on the topic of sex. Sexual education is very important for our society, especially that of today when sexuality is something that is much more widespread and everywhere we look (be it fashion, entertainment industry, etc). I wish her the best in the pursuing that goal because I already can tell it won't be an easy one and most Asian parents will not respond very positively to such a thing.

Another thought I found interesting was Kevin and his identity as a queer AAPI. Most of the time the LGBT community is referenced to in the U.S., you never really think of an Asian individual. I could only imagine the difficulty for most LGBT members in our society today, let alone an Asian one. He is not breaking only one barrier, but two at the same time. It's going to be a struggle for him on both fronts, and it is also something I hope to see as a change in my lifetime: the acceptance of the LGBT community as well as Asians as a minority group.

All in all, the discussion we had with the panelists had opened my eyes to some things I had never really thought of before. These problems are all very important and definitely not ones that are addressed more commonly enough.

Leadership

After our in-class discussion, how has your understanding of leadership as
a construct been (re)defined or challenged? How do your cultural values
impact your leadership style?

After our discussion in class, I was opened to a few ideas on leadership. I had never really thought about different leadership styles being tied to cultural reasons or racial reasons. However, when posed with the question, there was no doubt in my mind that there of course would be a connection between the two. My understand of leadership has been challenged in the sense that I could always lead in different ways. My choice of leading with different styles could produce different results in specific scenarios. Perhaps with a smaller, more tight-knit group, it would be wise to promote teamwork and cooperation. With a large group, it may be better to lead with a stronger hand as it takes more control to keep the group unified. I had never really thought about it in-depth, but I suppose that there is quite a correlation between the two.

My cultural values most definitely have impacted leadership style. Being raised in an Asian household with strict parents have led me to have higher expectations when doing tasks alone as well as being in groups. My bar is set usually higher and with more perfection in mind when it comes to group projects. I am not one to tolerate imperfection most of the times. However, coming to college has changed this. When I was promoted in the student center to begin leading, I learned that the group that I had to lead was very diverse, and to properly lead such a group, I would have to lead diversely. I could not ask for perfection in all our set-ups. What was most important was teamwork, cooperation, and friendship. If we were going to work 5+ hours every night together, we would have to get to know each other to make the work and time more bearable, as well as make our synergy in producing quality events better. Ultimately, my cultural values have produced a sense of excellence in me, however, coming to a "diverse" campus has opened my eyes to finding excellence through friendship.

Racial Identity Theory

I believe that the Racial Identity Theory is a great way of viewing the changes that one may feel when they are dealt with racial oppression. Although it is not the only way of viewing racial identity and how it is dealt with, it is incredibly insightful as it does offer a perspective. I believe this is so because my past self would have been able to identify with many of the stages. My current standing can also identify with the final stage. 

As I grew up, I found myself learning and changing, just like the many stages of the racial identity theory described. I currently find myself in the integrative awareness stage, allowing me to explore other facets to my personality and life. As a 21 year old college student, I find myself firm in my racial identity. I feel that I no longer have to spend time trying to understand what I identify as anymore. 

I have recently started taking more social ecology classes (I am a biological sciences major), and I find myself being surrounded with a much different world. In the physicals sciences, addressing racial issues is a very rare thing. However, in the field of social ecology, I'm suddenly surrounded by it. This quarter, I'm taking my first anthropology class and one of the topics we are currently covering is that of race. I've come to learn that it is a social construct (never really thought about that before), and that it is a prison cage that humans have put on ourselves that limits our capabilities. I strongly believe in this concept. I currently identify as an Asian-American because I feel that in order to allow myself to be who I am, I must identify with all my roots, including my blood as well as where I am born (America). However, I think there is one more liberating step above being able to identify as a hybrid. The final step is to truly identify as a human, no longer imprisoned by race, but by one unified species.