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Event: Moderated Conversation with Cathy Park Hong

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Event: Moderated Conversation with Cathy Park Hong

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Description: Cathy Park Hong will engage in a moderated conversation with members of the University of Iowa focused on her book, Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning (2020). Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in America. Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this collection is vulnerable, humorous, and provocative—and its relentless and riveting pursuit of vital questions around family and friendship, art and politics, identity and individuality, will change the way you think about our world.

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Our society is and has been struggling with issues of race and currently Asian Hate is a big thing in the media and there have been a lot of incidents around this. Cathy Park Hong’s book was published last year and is about growing up as an Asian-American here in the United States. The title of the book itself reckons with the marginalized groups here in our predominantly white society. I personally have little to no personal experience when it comes to experiencing racial discrimination and I hoped that perhaps Dr. Hong's thoughts would be insightful.

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I hope that this event will make me analyze and change (for the better) my viewpoints on race/ethnicity, economic standing and sex. I hope that it will shed some light on the privilege which I experience but may not be aware of. I have no personal experience when it comes to experiencing racial discrimination and I think that this event will be beneficial for myself and is pertinent to the current events in society.

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I really enjoyed Cathy Hong's discussion about her book and experiences. I have not read her book personally, but it is on my list now! She talked about her role as a mother and how it empowers her to share her voice, and she said that her book was "a long time coming". She expressed surprise at the level of interest in her work and gratitude for the amount of reader responses. It seems to me that her intentions are not to be in a leading position as an advocate for Asian-Americans but it seems that her readers see her in that light after reading her book.

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What I learned, Personal Feelings, Thoughts & Reactions to the experience:

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What I learned, Personal Feelings, Thoughts & Reactions to the experience:

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Dr. Hong said, "The pandemic has exacerbated segregation." She talked about redlining and gave the example of Orange County in California. Redlining is a fairly new concept to me, one we talked about in class at one point, she furthered my understanding and it was interesting to hear her thoughts on it as well as to gain insight on the way that different communities have experienced the pandemic because of it. She said that Covid has personified xenophobia, hate, racist language, infestation and disease.

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Dr. Hong said, "Racism is indescriminate and that coalition building needs to be among us." This was thought provoking for me, it made me consider how I can curb racism in my future classroom and create community as opposed to division.

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Many times Dr. Hong repeated the phrase, "Take up space!" She said this in regards to not being apologetic for who you are, to not shy away or hide when you're in a group of people who maybe aren't like you. She said, "A racialized body doesn't melt into the background like a white one does". This had me turning this thought over in my head even after the event. This was the first instance that has caused me to take a real hard look at the privilege I experience as a white individual.

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Dr. Hong was asked about the importance of language because she used some Korean words in her book. She said that language is innate, and that there is "a feeling of loss" when it is surpressed or when an individual doesn't get to learn their home language because their parents won't teach it to them. She said that there is a disconnect but that you can find cultural connection in other ways. She highly encouraged those of racialized groups to find community in one another. I thought this was interesting, especially because she frequently spoke abput the Black, White, Asian triangle, as she called it, that is here in America. Dr. Hong said, "We need to find bridges to build between Black and Asian Americans".  It had me questioning what role do those of minority groups play in the racialization of other minority groups, how do they contribute? This isn't something I had considered before because most often racism is portrayed as going one way: From white individuals, to those of another race/ethinicity.

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Dr. Hong was asked about her hopes for her daughter. She said that her daughter is 6 years old, half white and half Korean but that she already identifies as Korean. She said that she knows her daughter is going to have complicated feelings growing up and that "racial categories are constantly evolving". She said that her and her husband read her a variety of cultural stories and that they work hard to be honest with her about the racial truths in our country. This was the first time that I have heard an individual who is a parent openly say that they don't hold things back from their children. What harsh truths do children of Asian parents have to learn/know? What does she tell her daughter about the events happening currently? Is it similiar to the idea that African American parents have to teach their children not to engage in certain behaviors because of the way they are targeted for their skin color? This made me feel sad for these children who have to be prepared so young for the harsh realities of our world. I am wondering what teachers in classrooms currently say about the Asian-hate events, if there are children whose parents are informing and preparing them, how does that translate into the classroom.

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Dr. Hong said that she feels "frustrated by respectability politics and that they are a comodified form of trauma". To be honest, this is completely new to me and I am stumped trying to conceptualize the meaning behind this. I made note of it because she expressed it's importance in the role it plays in racism, but I need to do more research on this.

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Dr. Hong said that white supremacy pitts us against one another and that people feel upset that they've been seen, that there is a ruthless mirror and window for minority individuals. She said that she feels like a model minority and that she hates it, she feels removed and it's damaging. Dr. Hong said that her book only touches on current issues and that she felt like what she wanted to write about was too much. She said "I struggled to find a voice where I felt like I was being honest with myself". I found her honesty to be compelling, almost refreshing. Her personal insights were meaningful to me and thought provoking.

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How This Class Has Affected Me & Will Inform And/Or Shape My Future Classroom And Myself As An Educator:

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How This Class Has Affected Me & Will Inform And/Or Shape My Future Classroom And Myself As An Educator:

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This semester we have been over a lot of topics which are controversial in nature. Most of them, I have never even had a full conversation about. We dug into; sex, gender, sexuality, social & economic class, race & ethnicity, religion and disability. This class has been very insightful for me as we have discussed and analyzed these topics. I have found that I have very little understanding in the way of how complex we really are individually. I am beginning to understand how our larger society and its ideals play a large role in persepective as well as influence. This class has made me more aware of how I interact with others and has made me more considerate. As a future educator, I hope to be able to translate this awareness into my classroom. I plan to continue to expand my knowledge on these topics so that I might be able to better understand my students and their viewpoints. I hope to be able to encourage my students to question and seek why we are accepting(or not) of certain ideals over others, as I have begun to as a result of the discussions in this course.

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Main Takeaways From My Three-Part Analysis Journal Entries:

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Main Takeaways From My Three-Part Analysis Journal Entries:

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Part 1:
As an audience member and with this being on zoom, I put away anything that could pose as a distraction and I listened attentively and took notes. I ended up with two pages of notes with quotes from Dr. Hong, as well as paraphrased ideas, thoughts and experiences which she shared.  I made sure to note anything which was particularly insightful, made me have questions or feel confused, and which was impactful to me.
Part 2:
I really enjoyed Cathy Hong's discussion about her book and experiences. I have not read her book personally, but it is on my list now! Something I learned about myself after attending this event was that I know very little about the role that racism plays on the larger community. I am aware that racism is damaging on the individual level, but that is as far as my understanding really goes. I am also finding that I am incredibly unaware of the way in which I freely get to engage in the world. I learned that I hold the assumption that most other people experience the world in the same way that I do. I say this because I find myself continually surprised and caught off guard by the injustices that others face. Honestly this makes me feel inconsiderate and oblivious.
Part 3:

Attending Dr. Hong’s conversation was a learning stepping stone for me personally. She brought to the event her personal experiences and viewpoints, which were valuable and impactful in meaning making. There was a quote that I found at the beginning of the semester that said, “It is disheartening to think of oneself as a member of a stigmatized group, just as it is disheartening to think of oneself as thoughtlessly perpetuating stigma”(p.43). While I do not have the experience of being a member of a racialized group, it was important that I attended that event so that I can begin to make personal changes in my beliefs and viewpoints about the issues faced by other members of my society.