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.