The Perspective of Asian Americans in the Fight Against New York City's Specialized High School Admissions Reform

• In Event: Centering Marginalized and Lived Experiences of Asians and Asian Americans

Abstract

This research paper engages in critical discourse analysis of texts containing the voices of Asian Americans in the debate over the proposal to reform the admissions process for New York City’s selective high schools (i.e., removing the “SHSAT,” the exam used for admissions to those schools) to inductively understand the ideological underpinnings of this debate and develop a framework for nuancing the interests of Asian Americans. We identify important themes in the testimonies of Asian Americans opposed to this policy, including colorblind egalitarian ideology, attribution of the policy problems to other structural issues, and perception that this proposal is anti-Asian discrimination. Our results emphasize the imperative for recognizing the precarious nature of Asian voices in the fight for equity.

Authors

• Shuang Fu, New York University
  Presenting Author

• Richard Blissett, University of Maryland - Baltimore County
  Non-Presenting Author