nwasianweekly.com
Feb. 23, 2008

Photo by Rebecca Ip

Leslie Lum (right) speaks with Ron Chow (center), of the Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, and Damien Lee, Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner.

Women of color receives support in battle with bcc

By James Tabafunda
Northwest Asian Weekly

With a combined 45 years of instruction at Bellevue Community College, three members of its faculty are “willing to take some risks,” according to Kim Pollock, in their fight against alleged discrimination.

They now have others in the Asian American community willing to provide a sympathetic ear and help as they push for an 11-part solution they’ve named “What Justice Looks Like.”

Pollock, Leslie Lum and Akemi Matsumoto — three of six women known as the BCC Women of Color — presented their cases at a community information session Feb. 11 at the Chinese Information and Service Center.

About 20 people gathered to hear the responses from BCC administrators and some Caucasian faculty members to both their formal complaints and suggested remedies, which include increasing the number of minority employees and students, accountability and “progressive discipline” for those engaged in harassment.

According to Matsumoto, a total of four Asian/Pacific Islander American female faculty members filed complaints, including about the lack of advancement opportunities and inequity in pay. Lum, a faculty member for the last 10 years, made about $74,000 less in 2006 than a Caucasian female instructor with only five years of teaching experience.

Matsumoto feels institutional racism exists at BCC. “Another one (APIA female) has undergone retaliation for her complaint. So, this is just a pattern, and it’s pervasive, and it’s almost every woman of color at the college,” she said.

According to Lum, BCC’s response to a complaint filed by Matsumoto of the lack of advancement opportunities was that “President (Jean Floten) may have missed some candidates who would have been strong candidates. That said, there is no legal mandate to use the best, possible hiring practices or open each position to all who may be interested.”

Pollock, an African American faculty member for the last 16 years, told the group Executive Dean Ron Leatherborrow approved her idea to establish a department of ethnic and cultural studies in 2001 but provided no support. With “no compensation,” she explained, “I created a whole department on my own, creating the courses, growing the courses, finding faculty members to teach in it.”

For the last five years, Matsumoto – a faculty member for the last 19 years – worked on a program called “Courageous Conversations About Race,” a weekly “interracial dialogue” about “race, racism and whiteness” that required her to work extra hours on weekends and evenings.

She said BCC continues to undermine the program and the response to her complaint was as insulting as BCC’s lack of support.

“The vice president for human resources (Lucy Macneil) said the reason why there wasn’t support for my program was because she has a history of letting things fall through the cracks and she was really, really busy,” Matsumoto noted.

Just two years ago, a question derogatory to African Americans on a 2004 BCC math practice exam became “a national embarrassment to the college,” said Lum. Yet in 2006, BCC was one of only five community colleges recognized as one of the “Nation’s Leading Colleges and Universities Committed to Diversity.”

Matsumoto defined pluralism as “what you do with the diversity once you have it.”

“When we do the work of pluralism that gets the college noticed, and yet, we are not compensated for our work, it tells the college community, it tells the community at large, that work on issues of race, class and gender are not important,” said Pollock.

“Therefore, the work itself is devalued along with the people who do the work,” she continued.

Diane Narasaki, executive director of Asian Counseling and Referral Service, asked the three women if their information had been brought to the attention of state officials. They said it had been.

“Two cases are pending before us. One is yours,” said Ron Chow, a commissioner with the Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. He offered to meet with the BCC Women of Color and reminded them, “The (BCC) board of trustees is appointed by the governor.”

Pollock reminded the audience, “Racism happens for profit. It would not happen if there were not someone profiting from racism.”

James Tabafunda can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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