
Asian American Is Not a Color
Conversations on Race, Affirmative Action, and Family
OiYan A. Poon(Author)
Beacon Press
Published on 30. April 2024
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-8070-1362-5 (ISBN)
Available immediately
Description
A mother and race scholar seeks to answer her daughter’s many questions about race and racism with an earnest exploration into race relations and affirmative action from the perspectives of Asian Americans
Before being struck down by the US Supreme Court in June 2023, affirmative action remained one of the few remaining policy tools to address racial inequalities, revealing peculiar contours of racism and anti-racist strategies in America. Through personal reflective essays for and about her daughter, OiYan Poon looks at how the debate over affirmative action reveals the divergent ways Asian Americans conceive of their identity. With moving sincerity and insightful study, Poon combines extensive research with personal narratives from both herself and a diverse swath of individuals across the Asian American community to reflect on and respond to her daughter’s central question: What does it mean to be Asian American?
Poon conducts interviews with Asian Americans throughout the US who have been actively engaged in policy debates over race-conscious admissions or affirmative action. Through these exchanges, she finds that Asian American identity remains deeply unsettled in a contest between those invested in reaching the top of the racial hierarchy alongside whiteness and those working toward a vision of justice and humanity co-constructed through cross-racial solidarity.
Poon uses these contrasting viewpoints to guide her conversations with her daughter, providing a heartfelt and optimistic look at how understanding the diversity and nuances of the Asian American experience can help us envision a more equitable future.
Before being struck down by the US Supreme Court in June 2023, affirmative action remained one of the few remaining policy tools to address racial inequalities, revealing peculiar contours of racism and anti-racist strategies in America. Through personal reflective essays for and about her daughter, OiYan Poon looks at how the debate over affirmative action reveals the divergent ways Asian Americans conceive of their identity. With moving sincerity and insightful study, Poon combines extensive research with personal narratives from both herself and a diverse swath of individuals across the Asian American community to reflect on and respond to her daughter’s central question: What does it mean to be Asian American?
Poon conducts interviews with Asian Americans throughout the US who have been actively engaged in policy debates over race-conscious admissions or affirmative action. Through these exchanges, she finds that Asian American identity remains deeply unsettled in a contest between those invested in reaching the top of the racial hierarchy alongside whiteness and those working toward a vision of justice and humanity co-constructed through cross-racial solidarity.
Poon uses these contrasting viewpoints to guide her conversations with her daughter, providing a heartfelt and optimistic look at how understanding the diversity and nuances of the Asian American experience can help us envision a more equitable future.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Boston, MA
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
460 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8070-1362-5 (9780807013625)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
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04/2025
Beacon Press
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E-Book
04/2024
Beacon Press
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Person
OiYan Poon
Content
INTRODUCTION
“But Asian American Isn’t a Color”
CHAPTER 1
The Ancestors and Their Contrasting Dreams
CHAPTER 2
Commonalities Across the Affirmative Action Divide:
Do We Even Know What We Are Arguing About?
CHAPTER 3
Community Divides:
Theories of Change, Social Media, and Identities
CHAPTER 4
“If Not Me Then Who?”:
Chinese Americans Reacting to Racial Erasure
CHAPTER 5
“K(No)w History, K(No)w Self”:
Asian Americans in Solidarity for Justice
CONCLUSION
Asian American Identity Is a Solidarity Ethic and Practice
Acknowledgments
Interview Participants
Notes
Index
“But Asian American Isn’t a Color”
CHAPTER 1
The Ancestors and Their Contrasting Dreams
CHAPTER 2
Commonalities Across the Affirmative Action Divide:
Do We Even Know What We Are Arguing About?
CHAPTER 3
Community Divides:
Theories of Change, Social Media, and Identities
CHAPTER 4
“If Not Me Then Who?”:
Chinese Americans Reacting to Racial Erasure
CHAPTER 5
“K(No)w History, K(No)w Self”:
Asian Americans in Solidarity for Justice
CONCLUSION
Asian American Identity Is a Solidarity Ethic and Practice
Acknowledgments
Interview Participants
Notes
Index