Helen Zia's "Civil Rights, Asian Americans, and Marriage" -Outside Cultural Event #2

            As a young Asian-American in New Jersey, Helen Zia states that she "felt like a second class citizen." Hurtful and derogatory names haunted her throughout her childhood. This lack of belonging prompted her to become a civil rights, women's rights, and LGBT rights activist. In her lecture, she concludes that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extended civil rights to all Americans. These Americans include Vincent Chin, who was brutally murdered in Detroit after being mistaken for a Japanese-American, and Zia herself whose marriage to her wife has been invalidated numerous times. She quickly learned that, despite her efforts to confront injustice, division in humanity has made it challenging to create change that everyone can benefit from. She was confronted and threatened in college by fellow activists for displaying "lesbian tendencies." However, despite this division in humanity, she claims that anyone can bring about change by addressing the injustices of world. She concludes the lecture by making a plea for young Americans to never allow stories of injustice to go "missing in history."

            I thoroughly enjoyed Helen Zia's lecture. I am proud of our diverse student body at UMBC for attending this lecture and empathizing for those who have experienced injustice. When I heard that the lecture was going to be focusing on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, I immediately thought Zia would be discussing inequality within the African American community. However, she enlightened me on the impact of the act on all United States citizens. I was ignorant to the fact that Civil Rights leaders throughout our country's history were fighting to make America a just and opportunity-rich environment for all people. While it is evident that inequalities still exist in our society, Zia states that we can be the individuals to change this. 

(WC: 296)