Racial Attitudes Among Asian American Parents and Their Influence on School Choice

Abstract

In this article Tiffany Wu, Adriana Villavicencio, and Verenisse Ponce Soria investigate how Asian American parents define and understand diversity and explore how racial attitudes influence parents’ school choices. Drawing on a broader study of a school choice policy designed to reduce racial segregation in a large, urban school district, the authors focus on interviews conducted in English and Mandarin with thirty-four Asian American parents to examine how they conceptualize school diversity and how, or if, race influences their school choices. In exploring the motivations behind their preferences, they found that parents’ statements reflected an internalization of the model minority myth and that their preferences were also based in their beliefs about school and neighborhood safety, including concerns over growing racial discrimination against Asian Americans. This study is aimed to help policy makers better understand the complex motivations within multiracial communities when designing and implementing school integration plans.