Asian American Studies 197A
Winter Quarter 2002

Reflection Journal 1

How Discomfort Can Promote Action Today
My Melissa Hilario

Today is a critical time for Asian Americans in education. It is a period of great opportunity for the middle and upper class, while it is a period of great danger for low-income immigrants. Higher education is key to upward mobility. At this time, access to higher education continues to increase for the privileged classes, but continues to decrease for students coming from low-income immigrant backgrounds due to the unequal distribution of resources. Although the repeal of SP1 and SP2 and the passage of AB540 have made small differences in facilitating access to higher education for the underprivileged, the large degree of unequal footing continues to exist. Since the time affirmative action ended, the numbers of underrepresented minorities in elite universities continues to decrease, and admitted minorities continue to come from similar socioeconomic pools. Also, since AB540 denies financial aid to undocumented immigrants, the cost of college education still remains a struggle for low-income families. Also, recent focus in Asian American Studies works to further advance those already in power, while neglecting ways to advance those who have less access to resources.

Today is a critical time in education because the Asian Americans that are in positions of power can create social change. We can use our resources to empower people who are underprivileged and by facilitating awareness of social justice issues for those who are privileged. As Rena Wong states, "discomfort prompts action." Today can also possibly be a time of great danger if people in power work to advance the status of themselves and not to advance justice for all.

By counseling and tutoring Pilipino immigrant, Pilipino American, Latino immigrant and second generation Latino high school students, I have witnessed the detachment between immigrant students and American born students. Immigrants feel that American born students face less struggles with school, mainly because they lack language barriers and other adjustment periods. Some American born students feel that students who do not speak English as well as them are lazy students. From these observations, I can speculate that low-income immigrant workers may hold a different perspective from me, that this time for Asian American students is a time of great danger since higher education is becoming less accessible for underprivileged families. Many misconceptions can arise from not working collectively with each other and understanding each other’s conditions and beliefs. By emphasizing our detachment and differences, we lose sight of the possibility of great opportunity for social change. We need to understand that our goals for advancement our rooted in basic human rights. We have enough struggles upon us and do not need to divide ourselves further.

My consciousness has been shaped by my parents’ educational backgrounds and professional careers, my middle class status, and continues to be redefined by my college education and community work within Pilipinotown. As a 1.5 generation Pilipina growing up in West San Fernando Valley, my parents constantly emphasized the importance of higher education in socioeconomic mobility. Like most other immigrants, my parents’ wanted their children to have better opportunities than them. This meant attending elite universities to better qualify us for getting jobs with salaries in six digit figures. It wasn’t until I started taking Asian American studies and getting involved with Samahang Pilipino, that I began to understand how as a student at UCLA, I was in a position of privilege compared to other Pilipino Americans. It’s a weird dichotomy, to be in a position of power compared to some of your brothers and sisters, but yet in white America’s eyes, to be just as brown and viewed in an inferior light. I realized that I cannot be free if my community is not free and if the system I’m trying to advance myself in still creates divisions between the privileged and the underprivileged. It is not about feeling sorry for those who are less privileged, but realizing where my position can effect positive change. I give credit to my parents and for their hard work and successes, but I realize that they were in positions of advantage compared to other immigrants. Especially as a UCLA student in Asian American studies, I feel a responsibility to tie my education with serving the community, since it was the intent of Asian American studies to do so. Unjust conditions still exist, and until we change that, we cannot be "empowered."

As a student at UCLA, I can support the struggles of low-income immigrant workers in two main goals: to empower the workers and to facilitate awareness of their conditions. In empowering the workers, it is important to listen to their experiences, conditions, and goals. In this manner, workers and students can come to a common understanding and organize based on the workers needs and demands. Students, being privileged with time, can lobby for better rights and participate in rallies and pickets. Students can also increase the workers’ support base by facilitating awareness of low-income immigrant workers conditions to other students, unions, and consumers through documentaries, leaflets, picketing, websites, and campaigns. Active support of the workers can be achieved at various levels, by encouraging consumers to stop supporting exploitative companies, by promoting multiethnic, multi-class, and multi-industry support for low-income immigrant workers, and encouraging students to get involved in campaigns.