“No role models and I’m here 

right now

No role models to speak of
Searchin’ 
through 
my 

memory, my memory, I couldn’t 
find one” – J. Cole

Think of the first person 

you’ve ever admired. Perhaps 
you thought of someone in your 
neighborhood growing up or a 
family friend.

Maybe you struggled with 

finding 
someone 
nearby. 

Role models do not have to 
be limited to older members 
living in your community. For 
many, to fill the void of suitable 
role models, there are always 
figures in culture to hold in 
high regard. Even growing 
up in a community where you 
feel like the outsider, at least 
there is always someone to 

relate with through another 
medium, the messages society 
and media feed to you as the 
ideal to aim to be. Think of the 
poise and confidence of Tom 
Brady evading defenders left 
and right in the passing pocket. 
The furrow in his eyebrows 
while being brought down by 
a defensive lineman, eyes still 
locked downfield to see if his 
receiver made the catch, crowd 
roaring. Or maybe it’s the 
character in the sitcom who 
is slightly awkward but still 
becomes the mediator at the 
right times and shines during 
their moment.

Growing up can be hard, 

and part of that process of 
discovering 
yourself 
and 

finding 
your 
uniqueness 

inevitably involves having role 
models: individuals who you 
can look up to for assurance 
that going down your current 
path will be able to lead 

to a desired outcome. For 
individuals with the privilege 
of having someone who looks 
like them represent them on 
media, they are able to validate 
their every nook and cranny 
of their personality. For every 
quirk in character or behavior, 
human beings want to know 
they are normal. And for most 
people, there is that somebody, 
whether it be in the community 
or in media, who normalizes 
your behavior or personality 
and who acknowledges and 
represents your full humanity, 
full of nuance and complexity. 

For most of my life, I had no 

conception of what it meant to 
be a Korean-American man, to 
be able to envision myself in 20 
years. The best representation 
was always my dad. Stern and 
stoic, his only interests were 
to make sure my sisters and 
I enjoyed prosperous lives in 
the future. His perceived one-

dimensionality, 
a 
common 

stereotype of Asian parents, 
carried into the one-on-one 
conversations we had in car 
rides. (It would only be years 
later when I first initiated 
a conversation with my dad 
about my struggles when he 
shared his own hardships.) 
Feelings were never discussed. 
Instead, 
food 
was 
on 
the 

table, and I was put in varying 
extracurriculars to fill the time 
not in school. It was assumed 
that I would end up becoming 
successful somehow, always 
biding my time for a mythical 
future. What I didn’t have was 
any fathom of was what to do 
with the time in between.

Looking for myself among 

the sea of faces on television, 
there was no one. Instead, 
the few times that do pop into 
mind 
were 
always 
varying 

permutations 
of 
the 
same 

stereotype of the nerd or the 
martial artist. Was it okay to 
be introverted but still possess 
a deep personality? Could I 
be interested in humanities 
but still pursue a career in the 
STEM field? It felt as though 
every time I deviated from my 
parents’ wishes, I was pushing 
the envelope in what society 
and the messages I grew up 
with expected of me, when it 
shouldn’t be that way. There is 
an undeniable connection that 
comes from seeing someone 
like you on television that 
can’t be mimicked no matter if 
there was a person of another 
background playing out your 
life’s key events.

Representation also extends 

beyond just having role models. 
Representation also involves 
other 
deeper 
underlying 

issues. From corporations in 
America to the locker rooms, 
voting booths and Hollywood, 
Asian Americans are not being 
represented. This past year 
included both highs as well as 
lows in progress for increasing 

diversity 
in 
Hollywood. 

Though there may have been 
a slight mishap during the 
Oscars, “Moonlight,” a movie 
portraying 
a 
gay 
African-

American 
teenager 
growing 

up in Miami won Best Picture. 
It’s a full-length movie that is 
able to portray the protagonist 
Chiron’s 
myriad 
of 
social 

identities as well as his daily 
struggles. 
The 
movie 
does 

a masterful job of depicting 
Chiron’s transition from boy 
to man, trying to figure out life 
like the rest of the audience. 
However, a low point last year 
was Matt Damon being casted 
as the lead for “The Great Wall,” 
a movie set in China where he 
“discovers” the secrets behind 
the Great Wall and plays savior.

I know many people who 

ask, “What’s the big problem? 
Why does it matter who gets 
the lead role in a movie?” 
But when you’ve never come 
into contact with someone of 
another race in your entire 
life, the only image of a person 
that comes to mind are ones 
that are already saturated in 
culture. Unconscious bias plays 
a huge role, and media shapes 
it. This is a well-documented 
psychological 
phenomenon 

called implicit bias. 

Perhaps it doesn’t matter as 

much in casual social settings, 
but what about in the rooms of 
corporations while choosing 
new 
potential 
candidates? 

Think of a scenario when it 
comes down to two people, one 
with a more “exotic” sounding 
name and one with a generic 
English name, but with the 
exact same specifications. In a 
study from Ryerson University 
and University of Toronto, job 
applicants with more Asian 
sounding names such as “Soyou 
Han” were 20 percent less likely 
to get called for an interview 
than Anglo names like “John 
Smith.” As the person hiring, 
you can only think of the 

numerous shows you’ve seen 
with the immigrant speaking 
broken English, meek and shy, 
unable to be seen as a leader. In 
a 2015 study of Silicon Valley, 
Asian-Americans represented 
27 percent of workers but only 
14 percent of executives at 
the surveyed big tech firms. 
Perhaps for the company it was 
only a decision, but for me the 
message I got was simple: Asian 
Americans aren’t leaders. Who 
would you hire them?

Representation matters. I’ll 

say it again. Representation 
matters. It is not just Asian 
Americans. There are other 
groups in this country who 
also 
do 
not 
have 
proper 

representation, 
such 
as 

those 
with 
disabilities. 

Representation 
that 
means 

being cast in those lead roles 
and being in front of the 
spotlight, but not in a way that 
relegates my heritage to the 
level of food on a sampler plate, 
only thought of as extra and 
as an appetizer for the main 
course. Representation in all 
its entirety and nuance, and all 
with individuals one can aspire 
to become.

At the end of the day, human 

beings want few things. As 
social creatures, we desire 
friends and acceptance. For 
many individuals, there are 
ways to validate themselves 
through media. Nerdy band 
geek? You got it. Jock with 
a passion for art? You got it. 
However, 
there 
are 
people 

who do not have this same 
opportunity to feel empowered. 
Be that role model for another 
person. Show them that life 
does not have to be defined 
in neat little categories. Your 
quirks and character “flaws” 
can be your greatest assets. 
Maybe I would have still gone 
down my current path in life 
without any representation or 
role models, but damn, would it 
have been easier.

No Role Models

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
Monday, January 22, 2018— 3A

YOUNG LEE
MiC Columnist

On 
the 
anniversary 
of 

President 
Donald 
Trump’s 

inauguration, 
congressional 

Democrats 
and 
Republicans 

failed to agree on a budget 
that would secure continued 
protection for the Children’s 
Health Insurance Program and 
Deferred Action for Childhood 
Arrivals.

As of now, this has resulted 

in political gridlock: While 
Republicans 
have 
pushed 

for 
CHIP, 
the 
Trump 

administration seems to be 
against protecting DACA. On 
the other hand, Democrats 
have been fighting to continue 
funding and support for both. 
While an argument can be made 
that this government shutdown 
is a direct result of the fight to 
protect CHIP and DACA — two 
programs that benefit people 
of color — it is important to 
understand the impact this 
fight will have on marginalized 
communities.

Lack of action on CHIP and 

DACA

More specifically, CHIP helps 

children across the country 
live healthier lives by granting 
children 
from 
low-income 

families access to medical care. 
Unfortunately, this program’s 
funding expired this past year, 
and no agreement has been met 
on supplying its future funding. 
Though CHIP only represents 
3 percent of our total Medicaid 
costs, Republican opposition 
to the program may condemn 
low-income children across the 
United States to being raised 
without access to necessary 
vaccines 
and 
other 
health 

coverages. Up to 1.7 million 
kids may lose their healthcare 
in the upcoming weeks. In 2017, 
around 67 percent of CHIP 
recipients identified as people 
of color, which is why the loss 

of this program would result in 
severe ramifications for these 
communities. 

DACA, on the other hand, 

is a provision from President 
Barack Obama’s administration 
that 
guarantees 
two 
years 

of safety for undocumented 
individuals 
who 
arrived 
in 

the United States as minors, 
as long as they are registered 
with the federal government. 
Today, there are approximately 
800,000 registered Dreamers 
who have been promised they 
could stay in the country. 
However, 
the 
current 

administration 
has 
issued 

threat 
after 
threat 
against 

undocumented 
individuals. 

This 
means 
that 
Dreamers 

— our friends, neighbors and 
classmates — who took a huge 
risk by sending their personal 
information 
to 
the 
federal 

government in order to register 
for DACA may now see this 
information be used against 
them.

Even 
on 
campus, 
DACA 

has sparked a larger dialogue 
about 
what 
students, 
staff 

and faculty can do to protect 
undocumented 
students. 

Earlier in Trump’s presidency, 
Central Student Government 
even passed two resolutions 
supporting DACA. Later, after 
the president tried to pass 
his travel ban, University of 
Michigan 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel stated the University 
is committed to protecting 
the rights of all community 
members and will not release 
the immigration status of any 
students. 
Additionally, 
he 

assured students that campus 
police would not ask them about 
immigration 
or 
citizenship 

status 
while 
working 
on 

campus.

“The 
leadership 
of 
the 

university 
is 
committed 
to 

protecting 
the 
rights 
and 

opportunities 
currently 

available to all members of 

our 
academic 
community, 

and to do whatever is possible 
within the law to continue to 
identify, recruit, support and 
retain academic talent, at all 
levels, from around the world,” 
Schlissel wrote in his Jan. 28 
notice. 

The Trump administration’s 

visible disdain for people of 
color has been the cornerstone 
of 
the 
president’s 
policies 

since 
the 
beginning 
of 

his 
campaign. 
With 
this 

government shutdown, which 
we, the editors of Michigan 
in Color, feel is a testament to 
the lack of value the current 
administration 
places 
on 

undocumented individuals, his 
racist ideas and rhetoric are 
resulting in widespread failures 
of government that will cut off 
resources for many Americans. 
And perhaps unsurprisingly, 
people of color will be forced to 
bear a disproportionate amount 
of the burden.

Effects of the shutdown
Perhaps the most apparent 

consequence of a government 
shutdown 
is 
its 
effect 
on 

payment for federal employees. 
Those deemed “unessential” 
— roughly 700,000employees, 
the vast majority of all federal 
government workers — are 
now placed on furlough until 
Congress can reach a deal. This 
means that while Congress gets 
paid during the gridlock they 
created, over three-quarters 
of a million federal employees 
will not see a paycheck until a 
deal is reached (assuming that 
Congress passes a deal similar 
to one passed after the last 
shutdown, which granted back 
pay to furloughed employees). 
This pay freeze may seem 
relatively innocuous in the 
bigger picture; however, it’s 
crucial to understand the effect 
this will have on individual 
federal employees — especially 
those 
from 
marginalized 

groups.

Starting 
after 
the 
Civil 

Rights Movement of the 1960s, 
African 
Americans 
began 

flocking to federal jobs with 
newly-available positions for 
Black applicants. While jobs 
in the private sector were (and 
still are) limited by racist and 
exclusionary policies, federal 
jobs were largely seen as open to 
all racial identities and agents 
of upward mobility. According 
to a study from the University of 
California, Berkeley, which was 
reported on by NPR, “among 
industries that pay blacks the 
highest 
wages, 
the 
biggest 

proportion 
of 
those 
blacks 

work in the public sector.” The 
article went on to state that 
the report found “the earnings 
gap between whites and blacks, 
which exists in all industries, is 
the narrowest in government…
[and] for every dollar earned 
by white government workers, 
black women in government 
earn 89 cents and black men 
earn 80 cents. Overall, black 
women earn 85 cents and black 
men earn 74 cents for every 
dollar earned by whites.”

As 
a 
result 
of 
this 

history, 
Blacks 
are 
vastly 

overrepresented 
in 
federal 

government 
roles. 
Despite 

making 
up 
only 
about 
13 

percent 
of 
the 
country’s 

population, African Americans 
occupy almost 20 percent of 
all federal jobs. As a result, 
it’s easy to see why this 
shutdown 
disproportionately 

affects 
the 
group. 
This 

inequitable 
distribution 

isn’t a crazy coincidence or 
an inconsequential fact, it’s 
representative 
of 
a 
bigger 

problem: People of color, and 
members of other marginalized 
identities, all too often must 
unfairly bear the burden of 
government gridlock.

Additionally, 
the 
impact 

of halting the services these 
federal employees offer will 
harm 
some 
groups 
more 

than others. For example, 96 
percent of Housing and Urban 
Development (HUD) will be 
furloughed as a result of the 
government shutdown. HUD 
was created to address housing 
needs 
for 
“America’s 
most 

vulnerable 
populations” 
— 

which the department defines 
as the working poor, minorities, 
Native Americans, people with 
disabilities, people with AIDS, 
the elderly and the homeless. In 
other words, the majority of the 
groups described as “America’s 
most vulnerable populations” 
are 
minority 
groups 
(and 

even 
groups 
that 
aren’t 

exclusively made up of people 
of color, like the homeless, see 
a disproportionate share of 
minorities).

Services 
provided 
by 

other 
government 
agencies, 

such as the Environmental 
Protection Agency, will also be 
drastically reduced. According 
to 
Parlapiano 
and 
Yourish, 

95 percent of employees at 
the EPA would be affected 
by a government shutdown, 
meaning many of the EPA’s 
services will be halted. Though 
this agency has a contingency 
plan that will allow it to 
operate for one week through a 
shutdown, if Congress is unable 
to bring this gridlock to a swift 
conclusion, crucial services — 
such as the regulation of air, 
water, pesticides, hazardous 
waste and the climate — will 
be delayed. The suspension 
of these services are more 
likely to impact people of color 
in a multitude of ways. For 
example, the regulation of air 
is imperative in safeguarding 
the health of people living 
near factories and other smog-
producing 
industries, 
urban 

areas populated primarily by 
people of color.

The final victims of the 

shutdown 
are 
children 
of 

color. According to a White 
House report from the 2013 

fiscal year, over 6,300 low-
income 
kids 
in 
six 
states 

couldn’t 
attend 
their 
Head 

Start programs in preschool 
during the shutdown, leaving 
them in need of a place to stay 
while parents were at work. 
The majority of the children 
who comprise these Head Start 
programs are ethnic minorities 
— 29 percent Black, 4 percent 
American 
Indian/Native 

American, 2 percent Asian, 
and 37 percent of Hispanic or 
Latino origin, according to a 
2016 national report. Similarly, 
Women, Infants, and Children, 
a program that works to fund 
supplemental 
nutrition 
for 

women and their children has 
also been compromised. This 
program not only gives support 
for 
low-income 
families 

through educational programs, 
but also supplies postpartum 
and 
breastfeeding 
women 

with supplemental foods and 
vitamins for their newborns. 
This not only creates issues for 
many of the families that may 
already live in food deserts, 
but 
also 
for 
women 
who 

desperately need nutritional 
foods to nourish their child 
within the vital time period of 
the first 28 days to one year of 
breastfeeding.

In short, the government 

shutdown 
disproportionately 

puts 
a 
further 
burden 
on 

marginalized 
communities. 

While we firmly believe that 
CHIP and DACA are important 
policies that should stay, people 
of color should not be the 
ones to bear the weight of this 
government impasse. What we 
see with this shutdown down 
is the further exacerbation 
of systemic inequality that 
negatively affects the income, 
occupations, living conditions 
and the health of people of color. 
Ultimately, this shutdown sends 
a message from the Trump 
administration that the needs 
of marginalized communities 

MiC Editorial Staff

IMO (In MiC’s Opinion): The Government Shut down

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