A Narrative Portraiture of Chinese Bilingual Educators Mitigating Racial Integration and Language Rights

• In Event: Reframing the Status Quo With Critical Voices From Minoritized Populations

Abstract

This narrative study examines how Chinese Americans mitigated language policies in Chinese bilingual education programs in San Francisco during the implementation of the Lau v. Nichols (1974) case on language access, alongside district-wide racial desegregation. Theorizing through critical language studies and racial triangulation, findings show that most Chinese educators racial and linguistic identities were richly affirmed by teaching Cantonese-bilingual education in integrated schools. Given a return to segregated schooling, regress in bilingual education, and anti-AAPI hate, this historical study illuminates how bilingual education and racial integration, when robustly conceptualized in solidarity with people of color, the conditions for equity-grounded schooling is the hopeful outcome. A matrix for analysis is furnished.

Author

• Trish Morita-Mullaney, Purdue University