Teaching the Invisible Race: Embodying a Pro-Asian American Lens in Schools

by Tony DelaRosa, Liz Kleinrock (Foreword)

Transform How You Teach Asian American Narratives in your Schools! In Teaching the Invisible Race , anti-bias and anti-racist educator and researcher Tony DelaRosa (he, siya) delivers an insightful and hands-on treatment of how to embody a pro-Asian American lens in your classroom while combating anti-Asian hate in your school. The author offers stories, case studies, research, and frameworks that will help you build the knowledge, mindset, and skills you need to teach Asian-American history and stories in your curriculum. You’ll learn to embrace Asian American joy and a pro-Asian American lens―as opposed to a deficit lens―that is inclusive of Brown and Southeast Asian American perspectives and disability narratives. You’ll also An essential resource for educators, school administrators, and K-12 school leaders, Teaching the Invisible Race will also earn a place in the hands of parents, families, and community members with an interest in advancing social justice in the Asian American context.

Genres: Professional Development, Nonfiction, Teaching

256 pages, Hardcover

Published October 24, 2023

Reviews

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, there is an Asian focus, and yes, this is a general consideration of culturally responsive teaching that then translates into what that looks like for Asian content/students/staff/etc. DelaRosa comes from a good place. That said, it feels impossible to do all that he recommends while also being responsive to every other identity. That's not to say that one shouldn't. It's just that in attempting to do this, the most well-meaning and dedicated teacher will be unable, in a K-12 setting, to do the kind of focus that would be ideal while doing justice to all of the other salient segments. It felt, as it has with advocacy for other identity markers to be centralized in the curriculum, that it is more suited to the more deep and focused curricula in universities. That isn't to say that everything possible shouldn't be done to find more ways to represent a variety of voices and less white-washed histories. I was just overwhelmed by the the number of suggestions in this book that would be utterly impossible for a single teacher/class grade to implement without it being nearly the whole curriculum. Spread over all grade levels, though, yes. And I guess this is the goal.

He centralizes what the calls "the invisible race" because so much has been for Black and Latin(x) work, and Asian backgrounds, perceived as white-adjacent to many (or "compliant") end up falling through the cracks. This is valid and important. And he focuses on different identities within the Asian "umbrella" (some attention to different ethnic backgrounds, and more on LGBTQ+).

Overall, I think this is helpful for teachers and/or schools for whom this population may be somewhat invisible (in the student body or in the curriculum). I think it should, though, make all of us constantly aware of all of the blind spots that we may have.

[Emily L · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Without looking this up, name five Asian American social movements in history.” (DelaRosa, 2023). Could you? I could not—before this book. The book is an invitation to educate ourselves and rethink our teaching: to center Asian American histories and current leaders as a vital part of teaching for racial equity.

As a teacher, I loved that the book also had sample activities and lesson ideas grounded in the work of teaching Asian American histories to actively combat the erasure of these stories. One of the most helpful sections for me was the timeline of Asian American racism and violence. My students did an activity centered around this timeline which led to them drawing connections between past, present, and futures of violence and resistance. This book helps teachers see a knowledge gap they may have representative of larger systemic oppression and silencing of Asian American stories and histories, and provides tools to educate yourself and iterate your curriculum to be more inclusive and empowering. A must-read for anyone in a classroom.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book on how to not only bring Asian American stories into the classroom, but how to proactively promote a "pro-Asian American lens". I think this book is good as a clearinghouse to which I'll return, with recommendations of articles and resources I can use in my classes. Where I struggled with this book is the Manichean nature of DelaRosa's outlook. It felt as if following his prescriptions would mean that my classes would only address Asian Americans, and failing to follow his prescriptions would mean that I'm embodying white supremacy and failing all my students. I appreciate the book as a "bent stick remedy" to American curricula that so often ignore, minimize or erase the role of Asian Americans, but the tone struck me as unnecessarily absolutist. That being said, I would recommend this book to history or English teachers - I have already found it a good challenge to my own practice.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full to the brim with teachings, offerings, exercises, and reflections applicable to anyone interested in deepening (and broadening) their understanding of both Asian America's vast history and its complex present realities. While there is a myriad of learnings to be gained throughout the book, I particularly gravitated towards Tony's chapter on Praxis: Action & Reflection, and the concept of multi-partiality - the ability to hold multiple perspectives, but centering the narratives of historically and systemically marginalized communities within a specific topic. It's a useful framework for how identities operate with or without power in a given space, both for Asian American topics and any other identity marker and I've found myself returning to this chapter frequently. Highly recommend!

[Myeong Ji · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony Delarosa points out the Black and White binary racism in education today and challenges it with cross-ethnoracial movements highlighting Asian Americans' involvement in education. His theoretical framework and praxis push the educational practices toward shedding light on forgotten Asian American theorists and activists. The praxis this book delineated has great potential as practitioner-friendly guidelines for educators to identify the students' specific backgrounds and as exemplars for other ethnicities, historically perceived as deficient, to develop specific educational frameworks based on their stories. Highly recommend this book to scholars who are deeply interested in educational practices rooted in theoretical background and develop a specific framework based on the recognition and understanding of the research gap of an invisible specific ethnicity in education.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I didn’t know, what I didn’t know”, was the mantra on repeat in my head as I read the aptly titled book Teaching the Invisible Race. The authors do a superb job in weaving together storytelling, historical knowledge, liberatory pedagogy, and reflective practice into a masterfully-crafted teaching roadmap of how to make visible Asian Americans. I cannot stress enough how “invisible” my ignorance has been about Asian American history, socio-political context, and lived realities until I read this book cover-to-cover. Not only does this book increase knowledge and awareness, it also provides practical lessons for educators to implement in their classrooms. Poignant. Necessary. Liberatory.

[Adina Goldstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read for all educators! It is simultaneously educational and empowering as it traces the history of Asian Americans and offers hope for continuing to build a brighter future for and with Asian American teachers and learners. As an Asian American educator, this book not only fills an important void in representation in the conversation about culturally relevant education and opens an even more important conversation about empowering and sutaining Asian American educators in the classroom.

[Sam Lim · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a scholar-practitioner working at the intersections of K-12 and higher education, I find Tony's work an invaluable contribution to the scholarship. This is one of the first recent works to offer a truly pro-Asian American framework to analyze educational systems and pedagogy. It will surely have meaningful implications for future research and practice, and greatly assist educators in empowering Asian American students.

[Morgan Mayer-Jochimsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I assigned the first chapter of Teaching the Invisible Race to students in my ethnic studies and educational policy class. Students found it to be a moving and accessible introduction to the various ways Asian American students have been racialized across history and the present. As an instructor, I especially appreciated the praxis section for students and future practitioners to reflect and take action. I'd recommend it for your college courses!

[Kwame Sarfo-Mensah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony DelaRosa is someone who has taught me so much about the diversity, complexities and nuances of the Asian American community from a historical and intersectional lens. The way he shows up for humans and intentionally keeps the fight for liberation the main thing is honorable and inspiring.

If you’re looking for a book that provides a comprehensive overview of how to honor Asian American students via curriculum, policies, and storytelling, then this is the book for YOU.

[Sayoko Osada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony writes from a desire to enrich people’s lives. As an Asian American man grounded in his deep experience in poetry and knowledge in education, he sheds humanitarian light onto many ways Asian Americans and our diverse ways of being, and how they all interact with frameworks of society. He includes words from his diverse Asian American community to provide warm and realistic accounts.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and applicable guide to incorporating Asian American perspectives in the classroom. I really love the mix of theory with lesson-ready excerpts. A clear and at times beautiful text, I found it one of the best books on the subject.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of notes to bring into my classroom