Up Against Whiteness

Pushing the boundaries of Asian American educational discourse, this book explores the way a group of first- and second-generation Hmong students created their identities as “new Americans” in response to their school experiences. Offering an opportunity to rethink the “norm,” this important volume pays particular attention to how race, class, and gender informed their experiences.

Revealing the complex dynamics between immigration and Americanization, this engaging volume:

• Shows how the culture of middle-class whiteness at a public high school in Wisconsin excluded and alienated Hmong American students, and how these students responded.
• Focuses on the ways the academic and social experience at school, including peer relationships, extracurricular participation, relationships with teachers, and academic achievement influenced identity construction.
• Makes connections between the experiences of one ethnic group of immigrant youth and the broader issues of race in the United States, showing how schools can better serve immigrant students of color.

Stacey J. Lee is Professor of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and the author of Unraveling the “Model Minority” Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth.

“A must read for those who have the goal of helping all children to reach their full potential.”

—Multicultural Review

“Lee’s careful attention to gender, social class and the production of raciality—specifically whiteness, blackness, and varying forms of becoming Asian-American—render this volume a cut above all others….a most provocative piece of scholarship.”
—From the Foreword by Lois Weis, University at Buffalo, State University of New York

“In this thoughtful and accessible book, Stacey Lee continues to break new ground in helping us understand the complex lives of Asian American immigrant youth as they define themselves, and are defined by the power majority in the process of becoming ‘American.’”
A. Lin Goodwin, Teachers College, Columbia University

“Stacy Lee’s research illustrates the critical agency Hmong youth develop in their resistance to the racism they face daily in schools….this is a terrific book.”
Donna Deyhle, University of Utah

“This is exciting, provocative work.”
Nina Asher, Louisiana State University

“With compelling themes and rich ethnographic data, this book represents a significant contribution to the fields of multicultural education, ethnic studies, and Asian American studies.”
Yvonne Lau, DePaul University