Recently, a school district in Washington state excluded Asian American students from their “students of color” category in their latest equity report. While the district included Black, Latinx, Native American, Pacific Islander, and multiracial students in the “students of color” category, Asians were included in a “White/Asian Student” category. This news received a lot of backlash from the Asian American community, and the school district has since apologized. But what caused them to separate Asians from other students of color in the first place?
North Thurston Public Schools, which oversees 22 public schools and over 16,000 students, released a statement that their motto is “Continuous Growth — All Students, All Subjects.” To achieve this, they wanted an “increased growth rate of underperforming groups eliminating achievement and opportunity gaps.” In their graph labeled “Monitoring Student Growth,” White and Asian students were grouped and shown to have higher overall “achievement” than the other students of color. This graph was not only meant to see gaps in grade averages, but also “highlight opportunity gaps for historically underserved students of color,” a group of which they believe that Asian American students did not belong to (according to the graphs). They said that their disaggregated data revealed that the district is “systemically meeting the instructional needs of both our Asian and White students” while not meeting the needs of those in the “Students of Color” category.
Many members of the Asian American community found this decision extremely problematic. Mocking the school district’s choice, lots of Twitter users tweeted comments like “Welcome to the Privilege Club!” and “We finally assimilated enough. Cause to celebrate.” One of the main points of contention was that Asian Americans do not have the same privilege as the group they are placed in. Another journalist criticized the graph’s suggestion that students’ “color” is defined as their race’s performance in school.
When speaking to Asian American students at GA, many of them found the decision to be harmful. Emily Wang ‘21, one of the leaders of Asian American Alliance (AAA), says that since they grouped Whites and Asians together because of success, she feels as if they are implying that POCs are not successful, a narrative that hurts other minority groups. Riya Palker ‘22, another leader of AAA, agrees with the idea that Asians do not get the same privilege White people get in other societal issues, even if they are considered “successful.” Rishi Mandapaka ‘21, a leader of Indian Culture Club (ICC), says that this method of grouping students can be harmful to those who are Asian who aren’t as successful, making them feel inferior because they don’t meet the expectations.
Adding to these points, Helen Wu ‘21, a leader of Asian Culture Club (ACC), mentioned that POC isn’t a distinction that goes away when one suddenly passes a socioeconomic bar. She explains, the reason for distinguishing POCs is so that Americans can properly address privilege and historical oppression. This school district’s decision seems to negate years of injustice, like the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese internment camps, yellow peril, and much more. Additionally, she believes that this grouping of achievement by these two groups is problematic and inaccurate in itself. There are many other factors that can influence achievement like family situation, income, etc., which could provide greater insight into how they can increase opportunities for underperforming than just grouping POCs with underperforming groups.
After hearing lots of backlash, the district released an apology, stating that their intention was never to exclude Asian Americans from POC and ignore all of the systemic disadvantages they have faced. They said they will change their methods of assessing student success and will “continue to learn and grow in our work with equity as a public-school system, and we will ensure that we learn from this and do better in the future.”
While this situation was shocking to many, it’s not the first time that education systems have perpetuated the “model minority myth.” Many view North Thurston Public School’s decision as ineffective in evaluating their students’ achievements and offensive to members of the Asian American community.
Sources:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/asian-color-category-washington
https://nextshark.com/students-of-color-washington-asians-with-whites/
All this is saying is that white Americans realize that Asians are just as white in skin color and successful as they are. If you are lumped with the white Americans, then there shouldn’t be racial discrimination against you since they see themselves in you. In view of the prudential light, shut up about it and enjoy the privileges granted to Asian Americans for the success, culturally assimilated attitude and acceptance of skin color that the majority white Americans have started to recognize to be the same as their own. Racism will never go away against black and brown people. Remember. During the pandemic, the attacks on Asian Americans were mostly from blacks, not whites. Just remember that. I would much rather be lumped with white Americans than blacks / Hispanics with all the negative stereotypes that go along with it.
All this is saying is that white Americans realize that Asians are just as white in skin color and successful as they are. (When I say Asian Americans, this EXCLUDES SOUTH ASIANS- India, Pakistan, who are collective blacks). If you are lumped with the white Americans, then there shouldn’t be racial discrimination against you since they see themselves in you. In view of the prudential light, shut up about it and enjoy the privileges granted to Asian Americans for the success, culturally assimilated attitude and acceptance of skin color that the majority white Americans have started to recognize to be the same as their own. Racism will never go away against black and brown people. Remember. During the pandemic, the attacks on Asian Americans were mostly from blacks, not whites. Just remember that. I would much rather be lumped with white Americans than blacks / Hispanics with all the negative stereotypes that go along with it.