Systemic bias against Asian-Americans in schools

[Anonymous]

We are at a school with a significant percentage of Asian-American students but mostly white teachers. We've noticed over the past year that when teachers have a choice to choose students for leadership positions such as for panels, if they have a request from an outside entity for students to speak with, student hosts for assemblies, or for leaders for class project they are not selecting AAPI students. It's really striking and when parents first brought this up to us I was skeptical but then we saw it happen again and again. They will choose students from other minority groups who comprise only a small percentage of students at the school so it is not all white students who are being chosen.

We moved to the area from California where we were at a school with a similar percentage of AAPI students and did not see this issue. What is going on? Is it just gross stereotyping that AAPI students are not good leaders or speakers? Are we just at a terrible school?

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you've described a school that selects URMs. That's not anti-AAPI bias.

Fwiw, there a number of AAPI students in FCPS of different backgrounds and some are high achieving and others are average. Don't have all the same concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you've described a school that selects URMs. That's not anti-AAPI bias.

Fwiw, there a number of AAPI students in FCPS of different backgrounds and some are high achieving and others are average. Don't have all the same concerns.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you've described a school that selects URMs. That's not anti-AAPI bias.

Fwiw, there a number of AAPI students in FCPS of different backgrounds and some are high achieving and others are average. Don't have all the same concerns.

It is biased if the selection is not based on merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are at a school with a significant percentage of Asian-American students but mostly white teachers. We've noticed over the past year that when teachers have a choice to choose students for leadership positions such as for panels, if they have a request from an outside entity for students to speak with, student hosts for assemblies, or for leaders for class project they are not selecting AAPI students. It's really striking and when parents first brought this up to us I was skeptical but then we saw it happen again and again. They will choose students from other minority groups who comprise only a small percentage of students at the school so it is not all white students who are being chosen.

We moved to the area from California where we were at a school with a similar percentage of AAPI students and did not see this issue. What is going on? Is it just gross stereotyping that AAPI students are not good leaders or speakers? Are we just at a terrible school?

You are overthinking this. I’m so tired of these flimsy, racist threads.

[Anonymous]

The way this area handles race is very different than how they do it out West. Race is much more explicit here, everything is about race. It's really strange, coming from other parts of the country. Doesn't seem to be better, either. But that's how they roll here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The way this area handles race is very different than how they do it out West. Race is much more explicit here, everything is about race. It's really strange, coming from other parts of the country. Doesn't seem to be better, either. But that's how they roll here.

Lol clearly you’ve never been to Seattle or SF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you've described a school that selects URMs. That's not anti-AAPI bias.

Fwiw, there a number of AAPI students in FCPS of different backgrounds and some are high achieving and others are average. Don't have all the same concerns.

It is biased if the selection is not based on merit.

No it isn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you've described a school that selects URMs. That's not anti-AAPI bias.

Fwiw, there a number of AAPI students in FCPS of different backgrounds and some are high achieving and others are average. Don't have all the same concerns.

OP, if you are wondering what's going on. Above poster is a good example. In their mind, it's perfectly normal. No different than what white folks used to think slavery was okay. Yes, CA is much different than DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way this area handles race is very different than how they do it out West. Race is much more explicit here, everything is about race. It's really strange, coming from other parts of the country. Doesn't seem to be better, either. But that's how they roll here.

Lol clearly you’ve never been to Seattle or SF.

Those aren't representative of anywhere besides themselves.

[Anonymous]

Moving to the DMV from CA with AAPI kids is likely to be a shock.

I don’t know if you have been reading DCUM long but the anti-Asian posts on here get bad. Jeff is good at deleting and he has no tolerance for it, but nonetheless they show up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moving to the DMV from CA with AAPI kids is likely to be a shock.

I don’t know if you have been reading DCUM long but the anti-Asian posts on here get bad. Jeff is good at deleting and he has no tolerance for it, but nonetheless they show up.

True but that's not what OP is describing. Conflating the two doesn't help her. Or anyone.

[Anonymous]

I have heard teachers make stereotypical comments about Asian American students in social settings and sporting events many times. I have also had parents say things to me and about me (an American born person of Indian heritage) that are based on stereotypes. It’s very hurtful and I didn’t experience this in the midwest probably because thwre were fewer Asian American students in my area and people were not concerned about “cultural” changed. This area is tough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are at a school with a significant percentage of Asian-American students but mostly white teachers. We've noticed over the past year that when teachers have a choice to choose students for leadership positions such as for panels, if they have a request from an outside entity for students to speak with, student hosts for assemblies, or for leaders for class project they are not selecting AAPI students. It's really striking and when parents first brought this up to us I was skeptical but then we saw it happen again and again. They will choose students from other minority groups who comprise only a small percentage of students at the school so it is not all white students who are being chosen.

We moved to the area from California where we were at a school with a similar percentage of AAPI students and did not see this issue. What is going on? Is it just gross stereotyping that AAPI students are not good leaders or speakers? Are we just at a terrible school?

Are AAPI kids never being selected, or just not being selected at a proportion equivalent to their representation in the school? So, let's say the school is 50% Asian American, 25% white, and 25% Black. If a panel has 3 kids on it, are there zero AAPI kids, or just one from each group?

If the former, that's an issue. If the latter, I think there are good reasons to include a diverse cross-section of kids in leadership positions. It's good for the under-represented groups to see themselves in leadership roles. Yes, that might make "competition" for the majority group a little more intense, but it's not "systemic bias." It is weighting the good of multiple different groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are at a school with a significant percentage of Asian-American students but mostly white teachers. We've noticed over the past year that when teachers have a choice to choose students for leadership positions such as for panels, if they have a request from an outside entity for students to speak with, student hosts for assemblies, or for leaders for class project they are not selecting AAPI students. It's really striking and when parents first brought this up to us I was skeptical but then we saw it happen again and again. They will choose students from other minority groups who comprise only a small percentage of students at the school so it is not all white students who are being chosen.

We moved to the area from California where we were at a school with a similar percentage of AAPI students and did not see this issue. What is going on? Is it just gross stereotyping that AAPI students are not good leaders or speakers? Are we just at a terrible school?

Yes, OP, we see that too, in our daughter's private school in the New England area. The only prize my daughter this year was in a sport she excels in, and it was for "not complaining" - probably because she kept her disappointment to herself when she was passed over for team captain for a WM. The coach said he "needed leadership opportunities to get into college." OP, I didn't hear you complaining that other minorities were doing better, just that Asian kids were left out. We see the same pattern, where white kids and non-Asian minorities get most of the opportunities.