The film Monkey Dance was relatable on many levels. It depicted the life of immigrant Southeast Asians and their assimilation into American culture. They moved to the United States in hopes to seek refuge from the Khmer Rouge, a political group in power that targeted the skilled and educated. Their family was temporarily located in Thailand, where they awaited their sponsorship to the United States. Similarly, this is a story many Asians share who were displaced from their home country. My father left Vietnam on a boat and sought refuge in Malaysia, while he waited his acceptance into the United States, as a result of the turmoil from the Vietnam War.
Immigration places much stress and expectations onto the children born in America. The main protagonist, Sam, had siblings who didn't finish their education or receive a high school diploma. Unlike his brothers, he is still enrolled and is on the gymnastics team. There is a lot off pressure placed onto Asian American students from their families to do well in school. The model minority myth assumes that all people of Asian descent should excel in academia; however that is not the case as there are many inequalities to access to resources and education within the Asian American community. There is a greater pressure on those who don't necessarily get the best grades or test scores.
Another reaction that I had to this film was how supportive his parents were that he was doing well in school and his mother accepted his participation in sports. Personally, I think many traditional Asian parents don't see the value or purpose of playing unconventional sports. Growing up, I played volleyball because it was what I was exposed to at school and something I was good at. My parents didn't encourage me to play, but didn't discourage it either. My opinion is that many Asian families would rather have their children play something more conventional, such as tennis, table tennis, or badminton.
In response to the Laotian Daughters article by Bindi V. Shah, there was a common theme of division of race in activism. Programs that were established to advocate on behalf of the minority Lao group in the school district sought to unify members. Many of the members they were able to recruit were also Latinx and included various other ethnic minority groups. There is an emphasis placed on overcoming this division between race and a racial hierarchy. In order to progress and achieve equality, we must ignore this notion of programs that are specifically aimed to help one group, and the boundaries of including others. In many if not historical incidences, pan-ethnic Asian efforts is required to make any societal progress. Whether it is some small everyday instances of resistance, or a small scale issue (improving education systems and resources, or a larger scale problem (awareness for Vincent Chin), panethnic collaboration helps members become unified under one goal.
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