"Deporting Cambodian Refugees: Youth Activism, State Reform, and Imperial Statecraft" (Week 5 Entry 1) 5/02/17

“Deporting Cambodian Refugees: Youth Activism, State Reform, and Imperial Statecraft”

Soo ah Kwon

            The central focus of this article that we read is as the title reads, the deportation of Cambodian refugees. Soo ah Kwon chronicles the efforts and struggles that AYPAL, an Asian youth organization, faced in their fight against repealing IIRIRA. The issue of Cambodian deportation came about when the brother of an AYPAL member faced deportation. Boran was detained and faced deportation even after serving a sentence for a crime he had committed as a young man. In essence deportation is described and implied as almost a ‘double-jeopardy’ as in many of these cases even after serving time in prison, they would be detained by the INS (the Immigration and Naturalization Service), and in many cases after prolonged detainment, they are deported and sent back to a country that they are actually strangers to.

            Soo ah Kwon also points to the limitations of the youth  and the “limits of a Liberal Democracy.” While we often encourage the youth to be proactive within the political sphere, and paint them as the future leaders and citizens of our society, in the case of AYPAL not much was done despite their efforts. In hoping to meet with their local congresswoman they received only the aide in her place not once, but twice. Furthermore it took another bill to be raised for the congresswoman to truly even acknowledge the issue at hand. Dealing with this bureaucracy sheds light to the youth and many citizens in general that although we may hope to repeal laws and create new ones, that sometimes the system is itself in need of change. There is the common motif that justice takes time. Ultimately despite the many efforts and press conference, even getting the bill up into public consciousness much less through national legislature was a struggle and uphill battle.

Beyond a Boundary/Hind Swaraj

Both articles talk about competition. It talks about how competition strips away valuable items such as love and relationships. Competition and advancing technological advancements creates a lot of credible things that will be beneficial towards the future, however, is it all worth it? Will winning the competition help you a lot? What about teamwork? Aside from competition, teamwork is equally as important. Working with a partner or several teammates helps build stronger connections and will create new doorways.

Beyond a Boundary and Hind Swaraj

In my observation, the concept of machinery in Hind Swaraj shares parallels discussion about Taylorism and capitalism in Race Rebels. When Gandhi speaks about the ways in which machinery exploits workers and disadvantages workers in impoverished India, I began to think of how capitalist interests pervade our society at the expense of low-wage workers and also led me to link this idea to the large impact of globalization. The ties between India and the English in this case is seemingly positive to the general population but according to the editor, the consequences are disastrous or in his words "evil". The exploitation of workers and Taylorism continues to prevail even in contemporary society due to hegemonic forces - consumers glamorize over foreign goods but fail to recognize the negative impact on those in the lower end of SES.

In relation to Beyond a Boundary, it made me question how this relates to college students' experience in the powerful institution of education. When he shares about the British criterion of success, it also made me connect it to the highly individualistic values in America and how education signals success. His recognition that the such ideals of success were virtually impossible to reach seems to connect with the pressures of low-income students to "pull themselves up with bootstraps", utilizing education as an avenue to be "successful".

Beyond a Boundary and Hind Swaraj

Brandy Zeng
4/27/17

In Beyond a Boundary, a boy describes his life in school when all he wanted to do was play cricket. He would lie to his parents, who were unhappy with his hobby, just to get to the field in order to play. However, when he was in the game, he would follow all the rules carefully, never cheating or lying. This shows how there are two sides to him. Playing cricket also showed the different races mixing, all races, classes all played together with the same goal.
In Hind Swaraj, a reader and an editor are arguing about Englishmen coming to India. The reader argues that it would be good to incorporate their culture and language into their own to make them more progressive, but the editor says that that would be bad because they need to stick with their own language. He also argues that industrialization is bad because factories ruin societies, and new transportation forms is unhealthy for the people.

4/27/17 Journal 6: Ghandi and Swaraj

Lina Osofsky

913603947

4/27/17

Swaraj

Swaraj is an idea that most of India lives by. It is an idea that states that you have complete control of your own body and mind. In the text they bring up the example of slavery. The people in India who live by the Swaraj idea believe that if they are personally enslaved, then all of India is enslaved. In my mind I see this as some sort of coping mechanism for unfortunate events.

Then the reader brings up the question if anyone else can become Indianized -- more specifically, can Englishmen become Indianized. The Editor says that the Indian people will stay the same and if the Englishmen actually want to join the Indian way of life and they fit the lifestyle then they will stay.

This answer gives me an idea of how the Indian people think. They are very familiar with their own way of life. They believe in their ideas, laws, standards, etc. They are so confident in how things are run in their land that they don’t really care if anyone different comes in because they know that nothing will change. Their way of life is so powerful that it cannot be influenced by an outside force. In fact the outside force will either leave, or be changed itself to the Indian way.

This comes into play when India is asked about machinery. It was unclear if this already happened (and this is why they briefly had slaves) or that India said a flat no to the mill industry. Either way they eventually say no and this solidifies the fact that India is confident in their strength. They know how India thrives (socially and economically) and they have no intention to change that. If every country was like this then America wouldn’t be able to take advantage of their “non-modern” ways.

Ghandi and James

Jimmy Hoang
913146051

Both Ghandi and James talk about how their people are being enslaved to the popular culture and norms. This poses as a problem because the people are unable to be truly free. In Ghandi's article, he talks about how India is being ruled by modern British and European culture. He emphasizes the importance of breaking away and continuing to develop in their own way, such as how India began to weave their own cloth. In James article, he uses his experiences of playing cricket to show greater diversity creates a better and bigger influence. He then talks about how he begins to rebel against the norms of his culture, trying to break away from the social norms. For instance, he notices how most books in his library are all written by a similar author or primarily English men, and he questions this. Why isn't it filled with authors of greater diversity, which would allow for greater knowledge and learning. In summary, both these texts emphasized the importance of breaking away and striving for freedom to knowledge.

Monkey Dance and Laotian Daughters

Danielle Marie Herrera
Prof. Maira
ASA 4
25 April 2017

The film Monkey Dance documents the lives of Cambodian youth in a refugee community in Lowell, Massachusetts. The film highlights the role of these youth in their household Cambodian culture as well as their adaptation to U.S. culture. Similar to the cultural resistance-themed articles by Scott and Kelley from last class, the youth in the video engage in everyday forms of cultural resistance. For example, the break-dancing incorporated into a cultural Cambodian dance is a form of resistance against the norms of the dance. However, the dance itself in the context of the U.S. acts as a form of resistance against the norms of the U.S. By engaging in these traditional dances, Cambodian refugees are better able to preserve their heritage while hybridizing it with U.S. culture, by way of break-dancing. This prevalence and respect for dance caused me to reflect on my own experiences as a participant of UC Davis' Pilipino Culture Night, which showcases various indigenous dances from the Philippines. I think this practice is important in the U.S. as it reveals the importance of diversity to this society.

In Bindi V. Shah's "The Politics of Race: Political Identity and the Struggle for Social Rights," a group of Laotian teenage girls are advocating for three political causes: the institution of a multilingual emergency broadcast system, improvement of student counseling services, and repeal of Proposition 227,  which enforces English-only education. The political activism of these teenage girls not only demonstrates a resistance against Laotian hierarchies - namely, "gender and generational" as Laotian women are expected to be quiet and docile and youth are expected to be obedient and compliant with authority (80). Their activism also demonstrates a resistance against American norms of political weakness in women and youth. The girls in this article intersectionally challenge these norms and reflect a disturbance of the Asian model minority myth. As someone who grew up in Contra Costa County, I was able to observe the lack of bilingualism in school over time. I remember being placed in English Language Development classes because I marked that I was bilingual, but due to my last name, I would always be given paperwork in Spanish instead of my real second language Tagalog. Over time, I also became hesitant to mark that I was bilingual because it always resulted in an assumption that I was struggling in English, when in reality, I was fluent in both Tagalog and English. These wrongful assumptions seemed to represent a dismissal of multiculturalism and a lack of real desire to address student needs. I hope that in schools now, there is a better method in assessing the fluency of students in the English language as well as a greater network of resources for those who do not speak English. As a student in the article stated, it is necessary for students who are fluent in another language over English to have access to classes that employ their native language: "I don't think it should be all English and I don't think it should be all Spanish. Because, if it's either, then they'll never learn" (66).

Hind Swaraj & Beyond A Boundary

Hind Swaraj and Beyond A Boundary shows the struggle for decolonization. In Hind Swaraj, Ghandi struggles to remove colonial presence from India. However, this also means that useful technology such as the printing press and machinery should also be removed. However, India is not the same after colonization, and never will be. According to Williams, culture changes over time, and Indian culture is no exception. This brings up an important question in decolonization: how to reconnect with culture that was lost due to colonization without being stuck in the past. Even today, decolonization is still a very complex process. I think that decolonization should repair the damages done by colonialism while moving on with the new reality that the effects of colonialism has left behind. However, that does not mean that we should accept colonialism and its harmful effects, we should heal the scars that colonialism left but keep the useful things that it brought.

beyond the boundary/from hind swaraj

In the reading, it starts out telling a story of the authors life and his experiences. it tells of a private school and the game cricket. Cricket is a game played in England and from there the English colonies which is known now as the commonwealth. In the story, the recollection of the game, the diversity in the game could symbolize the colonialism of certain countries by England, therefore causing a spherical influence of the game. the story takes place in Trinidad, a British colony, it shows the influence and diversity of the colonies, from mulatto, Asians, blacks, whites and as he points out Indians. It tells of his experience living in an English ruled  colony and the life he lived due to that fact. He once says there seems to be two people within him, one who wants to rebel against everything including family and the other a puritan. it seems that he is torn between the English culture that he has grown up in and the culture of his family. he has the fear of repercussion but still has the European society which is considered more relaxed than Asian societies. his address to how life was is how still today life is, race is still used as a discrimination tactic also know as racism and is clearly used by our government and local media, especially since president trumps election. while some may say racism is dead, it was clearly show in the last election that it is very much alive and kicking. since the election there has been an increasing amount of coverage on racism and a coming out of a racist population, that believe that it is okay to be racist and since trump is president that they can do anything they want, cause "trump's america." racism in society is a very present and see by the minority communities almost every day

Analysis on “M.K. Gandhi From Hind Swaraj” and C.L.R. James “Beyond a Boundary”

M.K. Gandhi’s “Hind Swaraj” discusses about the conflict of whether the colonizers or the concept of development within the empirical mindset is the true enemy of the people as well as how to achieve freedom. C.L.R. James “Beyond a Boundary” discusses about how the author decides to question and challenge the norms and ideas that are instilled in them by their colonizer’s. Reading these two narratives made me question whether it's the man or the mentality that deems individuals as evil. Yet, both people have displayed forms of everyday resistance through their own ideas and perspectives. M.K. Gandhi displays forms of resistance by reevaluating his thought and perception of the colonizers, acknowledges the colonizer’s misdeeds as trials to overcome rather than challenges that burden, and feeling sorry for his oppressors for straining himself while attempting to restrain others. A quote that struck me was when he stated, “We cannot condemn mill-owners; we can but pity them” (Gandhi 203).  I had to read Hind Swaraj a few times with different approaches and lens of the narrative in order to understand the scope of the situation. The first time I read the article, I thought Gandhi’s advice sounded foolish due to the fact that if oppressors don’t care or acknowledge their actions nor the concern of others, they will continue to oppress and restrain the people of the land by ignoring and rewriting their narrative. The second time I read the article, I had the idea that if the British didn’t colonize India, who is to say that no other major empire would come to colonize India or if India would become an empire and colonize other nations. This made me think that the idea of conquest and colonization is a mentality that extends beyond Europe and is instilled upon humans who strive to progress and develop in their societies through the use of technology. Although Gandhi states that machines are considered bad, I find technology as a tool of both harm and a necessity for the survival and advancement of society. Yet, what is important is to recognize and understand the way that technology is used within our society. In terms of labor, the idea of first world “convenience” comes at the price and sacrifice of labor workers who risk their lives to produce the clothes we wear, the gadgets we use, and the water and electricity we exploit without acknowledging or understanding the origins of its sources. Even at Davis, as I look at the phones that people use, the jeans that they wear , or the car that they use, I wonder if they acknowledge what it took for them to own and utilize these luxuries. It also advocates the notion that even as some people disdain an institution that oppresses them, they also benefit and privilege from a system that oppresses others in order to survive and conform to society. C.L.R. James’s expresses a similar form of resistance by evaluating and questioning the actions and disciplines that the institution has placed on him. A situation that struck me was when Dewhurst was chosen over George John due to alcoholism and laziness. This reminded me that even when the British colonizes and rules Trinidad, the British and its institution still look down on people who aren’t of European descent and continue to ingrain stereotypes on people based on the color of their skin rather than the morality of their character or the value of their skill.       

"From Beyond a Boundary" by C.L.R. James and "Hind Swaraj" by M.K. Ghandi

Nouriyah Saleh
April 26, 2017

Blog Response: "From Beyond a Boundary" and "Hind Swaraj"

James was born at the time when Trinidad was colonized by the British. His whole life was a product of English rule. His education, love for English literature and cricket came from an imperialist culture. Ghandi would most likely criticize James and Trinidadians for being slaves to the British, either for not being aware of their enslavement or giving the British hegemonic power. Ghandi preaches for absolute freedom, by living completely free from machinery, but a drawback is reverting back to undeveloped ways of living. I would see why people would disagree with Ghandi - his way of thinking would prevent society from advancing and deepen conflicts between countries. I think we can all agree now that colonization and imperialism is bad, but India also benefitted from British rule through the education, infrastructure, and economics. Ghandi's version of freedom is nearly impossible to achieve nowadays because of the level of global integration. We have no idea what the world would look like if history was absent of slavery, and for all we know, the present could be good or bad.

James, C.L.R –Beyond a Boundary & Hind Swaraj Cultural Resistance For April 27

Chia-Hao Chang

999672426

Prof. Abdullah

ASA 4

26 April 2017

James, C.L.R –Beyond a Boundary & Hind Swaraj Cultural Resistance For April 27

            In the article “Beyond A Boundary”, the author narrates his life through series of his early events such as cricket playing and his ways to education. He also addressed that more and kids from different races joined and play as a team. It was a cultural coordination in the cricket team. In the article by Hind Swaraj on Cultural Resistance, he explained how can India become free by introducing the concept of civilization. Hence, India has been long-influenced by western culture and this deeply rooted “western civilization” within India. Yet, introduction of machinery eventually turned the workers into slaves. But we cannot condemn mill-owners because they contribute the clothing and import outputs. In the article, C.L.R James also debates on cultural of resistance vs cultures of oppression, which is also referred to the culture of imperialism by British enforcement on colonies.

James and Gandhi - 04/26

Reading through James' memoir-like passages was interesting. It was personal and relatable. This way of telling his story made the ideas easier to grasp. With that in mind, the way James described hegemony through cultural literacy was interesting. He mentions how English authors and books were primarily circulated in these schools headed by Englishmen. The same thing can be said about the American school system. Throughout high school, the books we were told to read were by American or English authors. By installing popular Western ideas through education, it becomes very common sensical to think these ideas are legitimate. Criticizing these ideas become difficult because of how deeply rooted they are in our identities. Therefore, according to Gandhi, we must free ourselves first before we can free our country. America isn't enslaving through force, but through ideologies instilled in us through "popular culture". It is through a resistive culture that we can question the legitimacy of these claims.

Weapons of the Weak, Race Rebels, Laotian Daughters, and Monkey Dance

All three of these texts discussed the ideas and concepts of the subtle but effective ways that marginalized peoples challenge and subvert the perceptions and expectations enforced upon them by the dominant narratives by those socioeconomically superior to them. According to Weapons of the Weak, big revolutions are few and far between, so marginalized people have more subtle means of resistance in their everyday lives. It’s pointed out in Race Rebels how many low wage workers assert their agency and own free-will by ‘duping’ the system that underpays them, such as taking extra food home and styling their hair. These acts, not necessarily done as a political statement, are forms of resistance that show their control over themselves and their existence.
Laotian Daughters furthers this notion of challenging societal hegemonies. When these young Laotian women, daughters of refugees running from political strife, organize to improve their communities, they are already showing resistance. They refuse to conform to their stereotyped roles as model minority Asians and youth that are ‘at risk’ for violent behavior and not attaining a higher education. The documentary, Monkey Dance, further explores the low-income Cambodian communities in Lowell, Massachusetts. The youth show their resistance to the expectations set upon them by society by continuing to attend school to eventually pursue a higher education. At the same time, they remain true to their communities by engaging in traditional dances and incorporating hip hop into their lives.

As a person who graduated from Edison High School, a predominantly POC campus, it was difficult navigating the school in a way that maximized the students' true potential. Many of the teachers (who were mostly white) had little faith in the students, often dismissive of the students struggles. We were often seen as 'at risk' students who won't make it very far in life. This was also a huge part of why it was hard to thrive in this environment: we weren't expected to. To challenge this, many of us persevered and went to college, breaking the stereotype that South Stockton kids can't become 'successful'.