Bullying Victimization and Its Impact on Delinquency: The Case of Asian American Adolescent

Despite a great deal of research on Asian American students that mainly highlight the eccentric academic performance, previous research has not deeply shed light on the obstacles that Asian American students face in their life path. One of them that those previous studies pay less attention to is bullying victimization many Asian American students experience due to their racial and ethnic status in the U.S. Using the data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) targeting Asian American students aged between 12 and 18, this research aims to examine (1) how serious it is for Asian American adolescents to commit delinquent activities due to bullying victimization and (2) how much impact each social institution makes on young Asian Americans’ potential criminal activities after being victimized by bullying. The results suggest that bullying experience makes its victims having a higher risk of engaging in criminal activities. Especially, physical bullying makes a considerable impact on the future delinquent behavior of Asian American adolescents that leads to commit various crimes ranged from serious violent crime to nonserious misdemeanor crime. In addition, certain institutional conditions also increase the risk of criminal offense committed after being victimized by bullying, such as a consistent interaction with delinquent peers but decrease the chance of engaging in criminal activities despite having bullying victimization, such as a tight parental supervision.

The Cultural Production of Racial Narratives About Asian Americans in Mathematics

Although considerable literature illustrates how students’ experiences and identities are racialized in mathematics education, little attention has been given to Asian American students. Employing ethnographic methods, this study followed 10 immigrant Chinese-heritage families to explore how the racial narrative of the model minority myth was locally produced in mathematics education. We draw on constructs of racial narratives and cultural production to identify the local production of the narrative Asians are smart and good at math during K–12 schooling. Specifically, the Asian American students (re)produced racial narratives related to three cultural resources: (a) Their immigrant parents’ narratives about the U.S. elementary school mathematics curriculum; (b) the school mathematics student tracking system; and (c) students’ locally generated racial narratives about what being Asian means.

The Role of Ethnic and National Identifications in Perceived Discrimination for Asian Americans: Toward a Better Understanding of the Buffering Effect of Group Identifications on Psychological Distress

A robust relationship between perceived racial discrimination and psychological distress has been established. Yet, mixed evidence exists regarding the extent to which ethnic identification moderates this relationship, and scarce attention has been paid to the moderating role of national identification. We propose that the role of group identifications in the perceived discrimination–psychological distress relationship is best understood by simultaneously and interactively considering ethnic and national identifications. A sample of 259 Asian American students completed measures of perceived discrimination, group identifications (specific ethnic identification stated by respondents and national or “mainstream American” identification), and psychological distress (anxiety and depression symptoms). Regression analyses revealed a significant three-way interaction of perceived discrimination, ethnic identification, and national identification on psychological distress. Simple-slope analyses indicated that dual identification (strong ethnic and national identifications) was linked to a weaker relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress compared to other group identification configurations. These findings underscore the need to consider the interconnections between ethnic and national identifications to better understand the circumstances under which group identifications are likely to buffer individuals against the adverse effects of racial discrimination.

“Over-zealous Parents, Over-programmed Families”: Asian Americans, Academic Achievement, and White Supremacy

Discussions of white supremacy focus on patterns of whites’ stature over people of color across institutions. When a minority group achieves more than whites, it is not studied through the lens of white supremacy. For example, arguments of white supremacy in K-12 schools focus on the disfranchisement of African Americans and Latinxs. Discussions of high-achieving Asian American students have not been framed as such and, in fact, can be used to argue against the existence of white privilege. This article explains why this conception is false. White supremacy can be active even when people of color achieve more than whites. Drawing from interviews and observations of mostly white educators in Boston suburbs that have a significant presence of Asian American students, I demonstrate that even when Asian Americans outcompete whites in schools, white supremacy is active through two means. First, Asian Americans are applauded in ways that fit a model minority stereotype and frame other groups as not working hard enough. Second and more significantly, Asian Americans encounter anti-Asian stereotypes and are told to assimilate into the model of white educators. This treatment is institutionalized within the school system through educators’ practices and attitudes. These findings somewhat support but mostly contrast the notion of “honorary whiteness,” for they show that high-achieving minorities are not just tools of white supremacy toward other people of color but also targets of it themselves. Understanding how high-achieving minorities experience institutionalized racism demonstrates the far reach of white supremacy.

Buddhist Healthcare in Philadelphia: An Ethnographic Experiment in Student-Centered, Engaged, and Inclusive Pedagogy

This essay describes the Jivaka Project, a pedagogical experiment undertaken at a public liberal arts college outside of Philadelphia. A multi-year ethnographic survey of Buddhist healthcare in the greater metropolitan area, this project has come to constitute a major part of my general education course on American Buddhism. As I argue, this project serves as a model for student-centered, engaged, and inclusive approaches to pedagogy. It is particularly notable for centering the intercultural competency of international and first-generation Asian American students. I discuss how this project was inspired by a bilingual Chinese American student; how it developed into a large-scale effort involving about a hundred students in ethnographic research in Philadelphia’s Asian American neighborhoods; how it was a transformational educational experience for a diverse group of participating students; and how in the process it pushed my pedagogy in a more relevant and personally fulfilling direction.