5/2 "Deporting Cambodian Refugees"

Kwon’s work highlights the cultural struggle for Asian immigrants in the United States. It’s a scary and unfortunate situation because these people come to U.S. with the hopes of abandoning their homeland’s oppression and achieving greater opportunities here. However, if our government continues to keep up this perception of Asian immigrants as unwanted and irresponsible “criminal aliens,” then they will be forced to always live in a state of paranoia, wondering if their safety here will ever be protected. The youth activist group, AYPAL, as well as APEN in Shah’s “Politics of Race,” both demonstrate today’s youth being politically aware and involved in current issues. I find it inspiring to read about the young people in our world taking a stand for cultural resistance and going to the extent of directly engaging with the state and political processes. Reading about how AYPAL’s treatment by the congresswoman was empty and insignificant was not to my surprise. I feel like it is one of the more rare circumstances for the youth’s voices to be heard by political figures because we, as young people, are not taken seriously. If the congresswoman in the reading stopped to really hear about the deportation issues and stories that AYPAL had to share, then she would realize how the youth can be just as equally educated and politically aware about the topics of social injustice and deportation as any other adult.