Week 10: Ethnic Studies

Angela C. Stanley

Week 10 Readings/Videos: Rethinking Ethnic Studies Intro, Precious Knowledge Trailer (2-minute video), (Some) History of the Struggle (8-minute video), Providence Student Union's Campaign for Ethnic Studies in Schools website, Patrick's Testimony (2-minute video), and Latifat's Testimony (3-minute video).

            This week, I was assigned the Ethnic Studies column, which consisted of an article discussing what Ethnic Studies are and a brief history of it within the US, a Providence, RI website pushing for ethnic studies, rights, and equalities, and various videos surrounding the idea of ethnic diversity.  The idea of Ethnic Studies in these contexts were defined as historic education of the oppressed, people of color, and revealing the truth behind the history written by the victors of war.  Historically, this form of education was seen as a threat to society, and to this day, many are still fighting for the right to Ethnic Studies.

            This week’s assignments helped me reflect on myself and my own upbringing as an Asian American woman, raised primarily by my white mother, in the public education system of a very diverse Woonsocket, RI.  I remember feeling like I could connect to the history lessons about predominantly white figures throughout the American timeline because I acknowledged the fact that I have European ancestry and I was never ashamed to admit that.  However, as I got older, I realized that my ancestry isn’t as important as my race is to society.  When I stepped out of my house, it was almost as if my identity was chosen for me.  When people look at me, most immediately know I am Asian and that is how I am treated.

            When I was watching the videos and testimonies about being a person of color and not knowing the history of those people, I felt ashamed.  I felt sad that I enjoyed my history classes as a child growing up and I didn’t even think of the history of my Laotian father and his story.  I felt angry that the most world history I got to learn about was the history that involved the intervention of white people in non-white societies. 

I find it very scary that I believe I was “brain washed” as a child, in a way where I felt like I was not a person of color.  I believed that I was simply an American and I just should know about American history because this country is “the greatest in the world.”  It wasn’t until recently that I realized that I am in fact, a person of color, and after watching Patrick’s testimony about being a person of color because of his Cambodian roots, I felt the need to declare within myself that my colorful history is important.

            Patrick’s testimony caused me to reflect on my knowledge of the Southeast Asian country of Laos where my father was born and forced to flee in the name of war.  His testimony helped me reflect on the pre-retreat assignment of researching the history of my people and writing about the Secret War on Laos, in which the US dropped over 2 million bombs on Laos, making Laos the most bombed country not only in US history, but in world history.  Why don’t we teach these things to our kids on school?  Is it that we are scared give the US a negative reputation?  Are we scared to look stupid, incompetent, irrational, trigger happy, or even evil as a nation?  Is it really in the public’s best interest to just take our mistakes as a nation and just sweep them under the rug in hopes that no one looks under there for the rest of their lives and just hope no one trips on the heaping pile of secret history?  If we as a nation could just humble ourselves, accept our faults, our wrong doings, we could have open conversations to stop history (yes, even the secret history) from repeating itself.

            If Ethnic Studies could become a required class in the education system, I feel like we would raise up so many great leaders to help push the entire world in a better direction.  I wish we had the opportunity to learn about areas, histories, and traditions of the world in order create more diverse knowledge.  It would be nice if people learned that Asia and Africa are continents and having that information reinforced through the studying of cultural differences rather than me having to explain to people “no, no, I do NOT speak Asian” or have to be faced with the question “are you Chinese or are you Asian?”  It is very disheartening to hear such ignorance, and honestly sometimes innocent ignorance regarding cultural differences.  I often think, if I didn’t have a Laotian father, would I too be asking these types of questions?

This week, I wanted to post a few pictures about who I am, some of my family history, and the beautiful diversity that surrounds me daily.

***The Secret War on Laos  <-- Learn more about the Secret War on Laos here!

My family :)

My family in Laos

Me, my father, my grandmother, my little sister, & my uncle photo bombing in the back lol.

Laotian traditional dance called "fawn"

When you're raised in America, you eat french fries with everything lol, even traditional Lao cuisine.

My family, again :)