Graduation Date

12-2019

Document Type

Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Humanities and Cultural Studies

Department or Program Chair

Chase Clow, PhD

First Reader

Matthew S. Davis, PhD

Abstract

Asian-Americans have a historical legacy and a multiplicity of narratives that are often rendered absent in American culture. Our oppression is not commonly spoken about, but it is relevant. By decentering Eurocentric thought as the only valid philosophy, herein this study I perform Asian-American philosophy through an analysis of philosophical and sociological texts on race. I continuously echo George Yancy and Gloria Anzaldua, philosophers of race, respectively, on the African-American and Latin-American experience, for their philosophy has greatly lead me to understanding my own. In order to conceptualize what oppressive struggles Asian-Americans face, I delve into research that exposes these struggles and the oppositional powers, especially the White gaze. I use my lived experience and meta-poetic prose to illustrate the complexity of my racialized being. This essay contemplates what it means for Asian-Americans to find a spatiotemporal place we can call an authentic home, doing so by addressing what it means to acquire a voice and by exposing the stereotyped constructions we are veiled under. This is a work of hope that the world can move away from structures of oppression. This is the beginning to my philosophical endeavor as an Asian-American woman to stir up trouble and challenge the status quo.

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