Social Change and My Community by Valentina Ungoco

My Community Profile

valentinaungoco — 2025-09-29 02:06:08 UTC

I have been a part of the Asian American community throughout my entire life, although I have lived in areas that have been lacking in community and culture. As a third generation immigrant I grew up speaking English, never learning either of my mother tongues and often feeling very disconnected from my culture. Despite this, there was still an expectation from those around me to be immersed in my culture. There was a heavy stigma from the other Asian Americans around me to not be "white-washed". Because of this I often felt disconnected from the very culture I was apart of. As a teenager I put more emphasis into learning about my culture, joining clubs and spending more time with other Asian Americans. As an adult I still struggle to fully feel apart of my culture, often hearing from my peers that I'm white-washed or "not really Asian" due to my background.

COVID-19 and Hate Crimes

valentinaungoco — 2025-09-29 02:06:22 UTC

Violence against Asian Americans 2020-2022: Early 2020 was the quick rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, discrimination of Asian Americans ran rampant throughout areas with high concentrations of Asian Americans due to scapegoating against Chinese Americans for the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to note that this discrimination was not just against Chinese Americans, but different races within the Asian American Community, as well as those who were racially profiled as Asian.

This article depicts some of the hate crimes against Chinese and Asian Americans and the frequency throughout the duration of the pandemic.

How have historical events shaped the experience of Asian Americans?

valentinaungoco — 2025-09-29 02:06:27 UTC

Early 1849: The gold rush in California prompted a need for labor, Chinese immigrants filling it quickly. Over time, Americans began to blame Chinese people for the lowered wages and their success, leading to violence and discriminatory laws against Chinese Americans and other immigrants.

How have environmental changes shaped the experiences of Asian Americans?

valentinaungoco — 2025-09-29 02:06:37 UTC

This video describes the creation of Chinatowns in America and how they were created to prevent the areas from being gentrified and delegating Asian Americans to the slums in these cities.

How have changes in culture shaped the experiences of Asian Americans?

valentinaungoco — 2025-09-29 03:03:16 UTC

This article describes the correlation between racial identity and emotional and psychological well being within students. Many Asian cultures put emphasis on succeeding within their education and the ability to elevate their social class quickly through education. Knowing this, data within the article describes the amount of Asian values, the amount of conformity and the student's well being over time.

valentinaungoco — 2025-09-29 03:28:54 UTC

valentinaungoco — 2025-09-29 03:30:28 UTC

The Model Minority Myth

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-06 01:48:36 UTC

The model minority myth has been used to instill stereotypes that imply Asian Americans are inherently academically skilled and will choose STEM careers. This affects Asian Americans academically as they may receive biased treatment by teachers and other students. Additionally, this myth may also cause stress and negative psychological well-being when Asian Americans do not conform. As a community, many Asian Americans feel pressure from their families to succeed as well as pressure from stereotypes to conform.

Module 8: Education

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-06 03:32:03 UTC

As a policy, affirmative action has worked to even the playing fields for all people regardless of race, gender, and ethnic background in the institution of education. Within the Asian American community, affirmative action has been widely believed to to put Asian Americans at a disadvantage compared to their White counterparts despite equal or better academic performance. This article combats that belief, pointing out a different way Asian Americans are disproportionately affected in college admissions in what is referred to as negative action, where Asian Americans would be accepted into universities with their same academic backgrounds had they been White. Negative action can be seen in the form of implicit bias during interviews and through legacy and athletic admission.

Module 6: Economy

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-06 03:52:57 UTC

As more Asians immigrate to America, the income inequality within Asian American communities grow. In this video, they describe how legal laws and acts have been used to further the income inequality between Asian Americans through American capitalism by giving immigrants with high education more opportunities and ignoring the needs of other immigrants through the model minority myth. They describe immigrant selectivity, where Asian Americans are advantaged or disadvantaged based on socioeconomic background and receive different treatment by institutional bodies based on this phenomenon.

Module 7: Health, Safety, State

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-07 00:40:48 UTC

The impact of racism on health can be seen within this study. It describes the disproportionate manner in which Asian Americans are exposed to carcinogenic hazards which affect their physical health. Due to these man-made environmental hazards, Asian Americans face an increased risk of cancer compared to White Americans, greater than that of Latin communities and comparable to Black communities. Due to the model minority myth, Asian Americans face a lack of environmental and educational attention leading to a lack of awareness. This lack of awareness leads to an insufficient amount of suggestion from physicians for preventative care.

Module 7: Health, Safety, State

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-07 01:13:00 UTC

This video describes the barriers Asian Americans face regarding mental health treatment. In addition to the American stigmatization of mental health, Asian Americans face cultural stigmatization within the Asian community. Shame and embarrassment may come from admitting they need mental health treatment which in turn impacts their family. Additionally, Asian Americans, particularly immigrants, may face language barriers when receiving mental health treatment due to a lack of translators or translation errors.

Module 9: Religion

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-07 01:49:43 UTC

Religion has failed to offset impacts of racism in Asian American communities. This study measures mental health, anxiety, and stress and describes the ways in which religious coping mechanisms have failed to alleviate these issues. Religion has exacerbated mental health issues, particularly in events where racism was involved, seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. It goes to describe negative religious coping and the impacts of social isolation during the pandemic on mental health.

Module 9: Religion

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-07 02:14:41 UTC

Religious affiliation among Asian Americans has decreased regardless of faith. While religious affiliation has dwindled, many Asian Americans report feeling proximity to religion due to cultural and familial background. Religious practices may be intertwined within cultural practices, beliefs, and rituals.

Module 10: Social Movements

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-08 21:42:05 UTC

The Stop Asian Hate movement was founded in March 2020 following Asian hate crimes which resulted from xenophobia and blame during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stop Asian Hate impacted the Asian American community by bringing light to discrimination and harassment which was largely hidden by the model minority myth. Members of the Asian American community came together to establish the movement and work to raise awareness on hate crimes and other discriminatory practices. Community members also supported each other by donating and sharing GoFundMes for families affected by hate crimes. While the founding of the Stop Asian Hate Movement preceded the death of George Floyd, the movement gained traction after the Atlanta Spa Shooting in March 2021. The movement was inspired by the Black Lives Movement through campaigning and other methods of protest.

Module 4: Globalization

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-08 21:56:38 UTC

This video describes how the shortage of nurses in the US is solved through globalization and interconnectedness between the US and the Philippines. The shortage of nurses following the end of WWII was due to low pay and poor working conditions. Instead of improving these conditions, the US created a program called the Exchange Visitors Solution. This program opened the labor market for nurses to Filipinos, which led to high levels of immigration and the creation of strong Filipino communities in the US.

Top Social Change Influences

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-09 19:54:05 UTC

Health, Safety, and State

Health, safety, and state has impacted my community through both physical as well as mental health. The model minority myth has been used to obscure and minimize the importance of mental health in Asian American communities. Obstacles to physical health of Asian Americans are deemed less important than that of other marginalized communities, again due to the model minority myth. Social change of this lapse in awareness of physical health has been incited through community-driven political action of Asian American communities. The Asian Mental Health Collective has been established to alleviate cultural barriers and stigma around mental health and raise awareness in Asian American communities.

Education

Education has impacted my community by causing barriers to higher education due to the eradication of affirmative action. Social change has been incited through protests and campaigns to reinstate affirmative action. In this way, social change for the continued diversification of higher educational institutions has been used to bring together Asian American communities as well as other marginalized communities.

Social Movements

Asian American participation in social movements have existed long before the Stop Asian Hate Movement, working to protest against racist and discriminatory laws and practices, some examples being the efforts to save the I-Hotel and protests against the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Asian Americans have also participated in social movements affecting other marginalized communities, one key activist being Yuri Kochiyama in the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement. Most recently, the Stop Asian Hate Movement has worked to raise awareness on racial injustices, discrimination, and hate crimes following the COVID-19 pandemic. This movement was greatly influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement and included intersectional participation by many BIPOC communities.

Timeline of Asian American Social Movements

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-09 20:20:48 UTC

Yuri Kochiyama: Asian Activist

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-09 20:31:32 UTC

Lobbying For Policy Change Regarding Physical Health

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-09 20:48:47 UTC

Asian Mental Health Collective

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-09 20:52:36 UTC

Globalization and Income Inequality

valentinaungoco — 2025-12-09 20:56:08 UTC