A Purdue student ponders if being an Asian is wrong. Students are
A Purdue student ponders if being an Asian is wrong.
Students are speaking out against the hidden racism at Purdue after many have experienced racially biased incidents. Faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students have come together to form a steering committee to draft a petition to ask Purdue to build an Asian and Asian-American cultural center.
Asian-American Association vice president Victoria Loong, a junior in the College of Health and Human Sciences, said she knows she wouldn’t see the building by the time she graduates, but she thinks it’s about setting the infrastructure for future students to follow up on.
Hana Lee, a graduate student in English, said it’s important for students to identify themselves and not let others identify them.
“Instead of making assumptions about who people are, their identities and from where they come based on their appearances, we should allow individuals to identify themselves,” Lee said. “To impose an identity on another silences them and in fact erases their individuality.”
The petition for the establishment of Asian and Asian-American Resource Center has been circulating on Facebook and, as of Monday, it had garnered more than 1,600 votes.
Many Asian and Asian-American students have reported they have witnessed or been a victim of bias and prejudice, including Stacey Liu, a sophomore in the School of Management. Liu said adjusting to her college life in America was difficult at first, and that experiencing these events certainly did not help.
“Whenever I’m out with my friends at a party or a social gathering, most people will refer to me as the Asian girl,” Liu said. “They’ll stretch their eyes apart and tell me they look like me and make assumptions about my heritage.”
Monica Trieu, an assistant professor of Asian-American studies, said these types of problems result from a lack of awareness from students.
“This is a multi-level problem that stems from a lack of awareness and education,” Trieu said. “To clump the two groups into a singular identity and category is a commonly made mistake because there is an absolute lack of awareness, education and acknowledgement on campus.”
In March, a Twitter account ridiculing Asian and Asian-American students on campus sparked a bit of controversy. Many students contacted Purdue officials to ask to have the account permanently shut down.
Christy Jones, a digital marketing specialist at Purdue, told students to ignore the tweets and stop paying attention to them because they’ll probably just stop.
Lee, however, said University officials should have been more firm on the matter.
“Such a response from the University officials and faculty does concern me,” Lee said. “The University cannot and should not remain silent about racism that makes its students feel unsafe and uncomfortable on the campus that they call home.”
Liu said it can be embarrassing being the target of hateful words.
“It can be really humiliating at times to know that some people will never look past the color of your skin,” Liu said. “I sometimes start to wonder if there is something wrong with being an Asian.”
via www.purdueexponent.org