Made in the (Multicultural) U.S.A.

: Unpacking Tensions of Race, Culture, Gender, and Sexuality in Education Author(s): Nina Asher Source: Educational Researcher, Vol. 36, No. 2 (Mar., 2007), pp. 65-73 Published by: American Educational Research Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4621076 . Accessed: 06/06/2013 17:48
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Features

Made

in

of

Race,

U.S.A.: (Multicultural) UnpackingTensi and Culture, Gender, Sexuality in Education

the

by NinaAsher
The author discussesthe challengesof educatingteachers to engage, ratherthan deny or repress, differencesthat emerge at the dynamic, context-specificintersectionsof race, culture,gender, and sexuality. educationdiscourseis well established, stereoAlthoughmulticultural typic representationsand repressivesilences persist in the sphere of practice.Interweaving postcolonialand feministtheories with reflections emergingfrom her multicultural teacher educationpractice,the author highlights tensions of doing multicultural work. She discusses how silencingforces operate even in seemingly "open" micro and macrocontexts. To illustrate these arguments, the authorengagestwo areas that have received limitedattention in multicultural discourse itself:representations of AsianAmericansand differencesof sexuality. She recommendsthat the multicultural teacher educationclassroom serve as a site for modelingcritical, self-reflexive engagementwith difference and democraticparticipation, even as she acknowledgesthe limits of individual efforts in the process of educationaland social change. Keywords: multiculturalism;postcolonial and feminist theory; teacher education

ulticultural discourseand practiceare now well establishedin thefieldof education. Asscholarship on focused the of diverse students and commuaddressing struggles nitieson the margins hasevolvedovernearly it has threedecades, drawn on various theoretical such as and perspectives, ideology economicreproduction and (see,e.g.,Apple,1982);critical pedagogy culturalstudies(see, e.g., Giroux& McLaren,1994); feminism (see, e.g., Luke & Gore, 1992); criticalrace theory (see, e.g., andrepresentation 1999);race,identity, (see,e.g., Ladson-Billings, McCarthy,Crichlow,Dimitriadis,& Dolby, 2005); and such as postmodernism, and,morerecently, "posts" poststructuralism, Scholars have a articulated postcolonialism. rangeof approaches, suchasethnicstudies(see,e.g., Banks, 2003), culturally responsive multiculturalism (see, teaching(see,e.g., Gay,2000), and critical edi1993).And today,not onlyaretheremultiple e.g., McCarthy, tionsof widelycitedtexts(see,e.g., Banks, Grant & 2002; Sleeter,
Educational Vol.36, No. 2, pp.65-73 Researcher, DOI:10.3102/00131 188 89X07299 @2007AERA. http://er.aera.net

education courses and 2006; Nieto, 2004), but also,multicultural content-areas coursesemphasizing a multicultural focusarenow aspartof the education we offerfutureteachers andedurequired cational researchers. Differencesacross the myriad iterations in education multiculturalism is nowa given; one notwithstanding, that it has arrived. recent to indeed, However, maysay, according reviewsof the research on preparing teachers to work preservice with diversestudents,the cultural between teachers and stugap dentsis growing(Ladson-Billings, 1999;Sleeter, 2001). Preservice studentscome to the craftof teachingwith little cross-cultural andknowledge andtendto havelimitedvisionsof what experience multicultural entails (Sleeter,2001). This lag between teaching and discourse also manifests itselfvia the persistence of practice in of"others" For as instance, stereotypic representations practice. PatelandCrocco(2003) noted,"stereotypical viewsof SouthAsia or Islam can be particularly troublesomefor South Asian or Muslimstudentsin American classrooms" (p. 25). Indeed,I find that studentsin my teacher education classes or regularly portray refer to "Middle womenasmonolithically Eastern" and oppressed view "their culture" as lessadvanced than"ours." Or, as hasbeen documented 1997;Crocco, (see,e.g.,Cohen& Chasnoff, 2002)and is confirmedyear afteryear by preservice studentsin my classes-teacherstypically let homophobicslursgo unchecked in schools. Such practice,then, reifiesstereotypesand "us"-and"them"binaries,continuesto essentialize identities,and denies andnuances. One mayarguealsothatmulticultural multiplicities education hasgenerally focused on raceandculture, limited paying attentionto differences of sexuality,gender,and class. Framed thus,by theWhite man'sgaze(Fanon,1967;Trinh, 1989), multiculturaleducationdoes not, ultimately,shakethe patriarchal foundationsof "the master'shouse" (Lorde, 1984), much less dismantle them. Scholars havearguedthat such a multiculturalism, implicated in extantrelations of powerthatreinforce the mythicnormof the ableindividual as White, male,heterosexual, upper-middle-class, the central of reference for and of all can definition "others," point on a seemingly relativism get co-optedinto relying benigncultural Asher & Crocco, 2001; Hoffman, 1996; McCarthy, (see, e.g., 1993; McCarthy& Crichlow, 1993). Rather,when both discourseand practice and critically interroconsistently, explicitly, the historical and intersections of race,culture, gate present-day gender, and foster a self-reflexive engagementwith difference,

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teachers canopen up moremeaningful, situated waysof knowing self and otherand rethinking extantrelations of power(Asher& StanKarp's of Crocco,2001). Highschoolteacher (2001) narrative hisprocess of rethinking and is culture, identity, pedagogy apropos. with his Bangladeshi worked American student asshe Jihana Karp with from to home married and pressure struggled balancing get her own desireto pursuefurtherstudies.As studentand teacher and pedagogical dialoguedto craftcurricular spacesthat would allowJihanato workthroughthis conflict,Karprecalled his own farlesssensitive some 10 years student, response, prior,to another a similar He wrote, Rafia,who wasexperiencing struggle. As I recall, consisted of expressing mymainreaction myoutrage that were women thiswayinherculture. . . . I somewhat oppressed toldhershecouldstayat my housefor a whileif she flippantly to runaway. decided When it waswithmore than Jihana's story mymemory, jogged a littleembarrassment thatI recalled howmyreaction to Rafia had beenfoolish andnota littlearrogant. At thetime,I hadacted asif themostimportant to Rafia's dilemma wasto showher response thatnoteveryone wasso "backward" asherparents, andthatthere were inherright folks like who believed swell, myself "enlightened" to shape herownfuture Ineffect, I wasshowing andeducation. off the"superior" values and"advanced" of westthinking "progressive ernculture," of radicals likemyself, it to andcontrasting especially the "underdeveloped of herown community whichI practices" herto reject. (p. 190) encouraged researchers andpractitioners So, evenaseducational agreeon the need to address the struggles of those on the margins,theirperthe relevance, spectivesand approaches regarding scope, metheducationdiffer. ods, and intendedoutcomesof multicultural However,the issueof preparing teachers,especiallyin times of to teachdifferentstudentsin increasing globalinterdependence, nonessentialist that foster the democratic of all ways participation in frontof us. The questionswith which I wrestle,then, remains to identify,engage, are,Whatdo we needto do to enableteachers differences at the interand unpackthe nuanced,context-specific sectionsof race,culture, thattheyencounter gender,andsexuality How canwe fostercritical,self-reflexive on a dailybasis? waysof And waysof being? teachingthatpromoteequityanddemocratic what arethe implications of such for socialtransformation? In this article,I unpackthe dynamic,context-specific, and at of race, timescontradictory tensions attheintersections culture, gentheoretical with reflecder,and sexuality by interweaving analyses tionson illustrative culledfrommy ownteaching examples practice. To setcontext, I firstdescribe the contextin whichI teachandprovide an overview of my multicultural teacher education pedagogy. I engage thediscussion, andfeminist Then,asI develop postcolonial to articulate theories an analysis of the institutionalized of rejection difference and its impacton multicultural and practice. discourse on theworkof a number of scholars (suchasChow,2002; Drawing howsuchintersecting forces Eng,2001;Lorde,1984),I interrogate as capitalism, and colonization workto maintain the essentialism, statusquo by silencing, in terms and effacing difference closeting, of race,ethnicity, I alsoconsider how those gender,and sexuality. on themargins areimplicated withintheselarger evenasthey forces,

andworktowardtransformaresist,negotiate self-representations, tion. Forinstance, in her eloquentessayon "homeplace" as a "site of resistance," bellhooks(1990)notedthatBlack womensucceeded in creating a spaceof dignityand safetywithin the home, evenas worked andstruggled withinthe larger contextof racism and they sexism.Thus, boththe micro-processes of resistance on the partof individualsand communitiesand larger,systemicmovements areintegral to our (suchasthe civilrightsmovement,forinstance) toward progress equityandjustice. To illustrate thesevarious on two tensions,I focusmy analysis distinctand intersecting areas thathavegenerally received limited in multicultural attention education discourse itself: multiplex representations of AsianAmericans and the challenges of addressing In so doing,I hopeto underscore differences of sexuality. theargument thatwe need to relocatenuancedrepresentations of difference as integral to the curriculum we offerour studentsin teacher educationas well as K-12 classrooms. And finally,I discussthe formulticultural teacher education thatsucimplications pedagogy ceedsin "queering the gaze"(Doll, 1998) of all teachers. Such a multiculturalism affirms on both simexplicitly diversity, focusing ilarities anddifferences in school and (Nieto, 2004). present society Sucha multiculturalism is aboutasking andtellingabout-and, of course,listeningto and seeing-the differences, contradictions, and in-betweennesses fromwhichone tendsto shy away.

Struggling to Open Closets in the MulticulturalTeacher Education Classroom in the Deep South
Like otherstate universities, LouisianaState University(LSU), where I teach, drawsstudentsfrom all over the state, many of whom come fromsmalltowns. Similarly, the undergraduate eleteacher education is and secmentary program large, multiple tions of requiredcourses, such as the multiculturalteacher education course, are offered each semester. Severalsections of such coursestypicallyare taught by graduatestudents and adjunct facultymembers.And, in keeping with the profile of teachereducationprogramsnationwide,the typical elementary studentis a Whitewoman in her early20s. the educational Not surprisingly, contextat LSU is shapedby the troublinghistoryof racerelationsin the South. Indeed,the in termsof the political, and racialsegregation, impactof slavery of southern has economic,andeducational Blacks, marginalization been well documented(seeJ. D. Anderson,1988; M. Anderson, & Caldas, 1966;Bankston 2002; Pinar, 2001). LSUitselfhasbeen a primarily White institution(withSouthern University beingthe Black in Baton and even today, historically university Rouge), about80%of its undergraduate studentpopulation is White and in various about 10%is Black(Asher, 2005). Likeschooldistricts where EastBatonRougeParish (EBRP), partsof the UnitedStates, placedfor theirfieldworkand student our studentsaretypically with racismand segregation. However,EBRP teaching,struggles of beingtheschooldistrict withthe alsohasthe dubious distinction case.Bankstonand Caldas(2002) longestrunningdesegregation noted that underthe desegregation mandate,therewas a White exodusfrom publicschools,and "bythe late 1990s, nearlytwothirdsof the studentsin the publicschoolsof Baton Rougewere

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minoritystudentsand the trendseemedto be continuing-and (p. 17). accelerating" Multicultural TeacherEducation:Pedagogy Over the past 7 years,I have taughtthe required, multisection, education courseabout multicultural, elementary undergraduate, a dozen times. The typicalclasscomprisesabout 22 to 26 students,most of whom areWhitewomen in theirearly20s. On an average,2 of 20 studentswill be AfricanAmericans(only very rarelyis there a student of Native American,Asian, or Latin American will be male,and 1 of 20 will descent),1 of 20 students be an older or returningstudent. Even though nearly80% of LSU'sundergraduate studentpopulationis White, formanystua bewildering of different ethdents,LSU represents racial, array nic, linguistic,and religiousgroups.And when studentsgo into the public schools,which have a predominantly Blackstudent the is further shock intensified. 2005, for Asher, (See population, a moredetaileddiscussion of contextand pedagogy.) knowthatmy goalis not to Rightat the start,I let the students offerthem"foolproof' methods of teaching Nor do multiculturally. we beginwith race,then moveon to culture, then gender,and so on. Rather, the emphasis is on recognizing and examining differin ences terms of thecontext-specific intersections of race, class, genTo that end, I require der, sexuality, culture,and language. my to engage with the issues in course students texts(suchas presented OurClassrooms: andJustice,Vol.2 for Equity Rethinking Teaching & White and Teacher Miller, 2001] Harvey, [Paley, Karp, [Bigelow, 1979])andfilms(suchasIt'sElementary: GayIssues TalkingAbout in School[Cohen& Chasnoff,1997]) and, at the sametime, to reflect on theirownstories viaautobiographical and critically essays In reflective so I in praxis response journals. doing, not onlyengage andpedagogy a butalsoworkto create by bringing theory together safe spacefor my studentsto express theirdifferences, including theirresistance to socialtransformation, so thatwe canengage these them.As I havewrittenelsewhere, issuesrather thanignoring I amvery aware of mystudents, thatformany thisparticular course timethattheyarebeing asked to focus on,analyze, maybethefirst andrethink their withregard to race-class-gender experiences .... Not surprisingly, I encounter a number of different from responses to rethinking issues of race-class-gender, to to resistance, openness to painanddefensiveness rageanddenial, .... I makeit a point,
to focusmy assessment on the students' with therefore, engagement them, rangingfrom a sense of a new/developingawareness,to

theseself-reflexive exercises andtheir of responsibility assumption fortheir own"conscientization" thansimply (Freire, 1982),rather on thecontent of their I alsoofferdetailed feedback assignments. on written work andencouragement class askdiscussions, during to explore further their andquestions ingstudents insights regardownhistorical andpresent-day encounters withdifference. ingtheir I believe thatthisapproach makes it "safe" forthestudents to grapaswellastheir internalized withissues plewiththeir pasts struggles of race-class-gender. Thus,sucha multicultural begins pedagogy withthetransformation of theself,notjusttheother. 2005, (Asher, pp. 1090-1091) asMiller(1998)suggested, aneducator to Indeed, "Byencouraging examine in... her andfractures disjunctures, ruptures, break-ups,

own andothers' educational canfunction practices, autobiography to 'queer' or to maketheory,practice, and the self unfamiliar" (p. elsewhere thatsuchpedagogical workis 370). I havedocumented evendraining I persevere with (Asher, 2003). However, demanding, critical and self-reflexive rather than simanalyses, fostering relying of the ply on offeringstudentsa much-easier-to-digest sampling of diversity, because I believethatthe teacher educasmorgasbord tion classroom can serveas a site for modelingthe possibility of democratic and dialogueacrossdifferences. At the participation sametime, of course,I do not assumethat this pedagogical space leadsto the enduring transformation eitherforindividnecessarily ualstudents or on a larger socialscale.Rather, I attempt to "domy of my multicultural teacher education classbit,"in themicrocosm so that at least some of students in room, my perhaps may turn theirowncritical, self-reflexive andinvite, rather develop pedagogies thanrepress in theirown classroom. or deny,difference I find that most studentstodayareat leastawareof the need to acceptand engageracialdifference. However,only once ever, as I discussin one of the vignettesin this article,has a student fromthisregion"comeout"in classaboutherhybrid,racial backthe silence around the of racial So, ground. history miscegenation in the South prevails. When the classdiscussionfocuseson differencesof sexuality-that is, when we deconstructthe mythic heterosexual normandengagethe struggles of homosexual, bisexual, and transgender students,parents,and educators-students and often, but not always,respondwith trepidation, resistance, evenanger.Furthermore, althoughI makeit a point not to introducereligionas a topicin theseclasses, studentsalmostinevitably it with their beliefs. manyproclaiming bring up, strongChristian The three I illustrative in the sections vignettes present following reflect how students "outed" themselves within have,on occasion, the contextof the multicultural teachereducationclassroom by the silencearounddifferences of race,religion, and sexubreaking theCreole I discuss howonestuSelf," ality.InVignette1, "Outing dent acknowledged her mixed racialheritageand how the class to this"coming out."In Vignette2, "Family I Values," responded discuss howtwostudents members whowere spokeupaboutfamily lesbian orgay.Vignette focuses on religious 3, "TheWiccaCloset," I believethat theseclosetshaveinterconnected difference. doors, eachof whichneedsto be opened,so thatwe canairthe issues and see the spectrum of differences reflected in the mirrors within.At the sametime,I noteherethatdespite all myefforts to create a safe these And, therefore, space,suchoutingshavebeen rare. perhaps, out" are even more significant.What else remains "speakings I wonder? Whattensions arewe repressing? At whatcost? silenced, Erasing Difference, Enforcing Silence AudreLorde(1984) wrote, Institutionalized of difference is anabsolute in a rejection necessity needs outsiders which as As members profit economy surplus people. of suchaneconomy, we haveall beenprogrammed to to respond human differences between uswithfear andloathing. (p. 115) Indeed, as we know from history, racial,cultural,and sexual "others"-perceived as strange,odd, unfamiliar,or queer by

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those who see themselves as characterizingthe apparent but alsohaveendured "norm"-not only havebeenmarginalized violence' (see, e.g., Chow, 2002; Fanon, 1967; Pinar, 2001). Eventoday,fear,anger, and evenhatred defensiveness, resistance, towardsuch"others" arenot uncommonresponses. As notedearcomments are a common and unchecked lier, homophobic occurrence in schools.And in termsof racialand culturalothering, for instance,Sanjoy,an IndianAmerican(his parentswere from India)high school studentin New YorkCity immigrants whom I interviewed for a study,narrated the following: Oncewe're in school, I'veevenheard a when .... I mean kid,.... like, we hadthisdiscussion aboutbeinghyphenated Americans, do youhaveto saythat? Indian-American, "Why Whycan't you American?" And can't out the thatI justsay you bring argument I amnotawhole amhalfIndian. American. Andthere's thisthing thatyou shouldembrace American whichis in essence culture, culture. That's not realized The fact European by manypeople. thata lotof people thatAmerica hasa distinct believe culture that canembrace. withdiversity Anda thing ... I don'tthink everyone
that'sadvocated influby anyone,that ... you shouldhavediverse

of race relationsin Louisiana,her words could also be interherself"above" "Blacks" in pretedas her statementestablishing the racialhierarchy. Afterall, she did not join the groupof three Blackstudents,and they did not invite her to do so. Although these speculations remain, one thing is clear: Speaking out about racialmiscegenation,acknowledgingracialhybridity,is still difficult. For the most part, I find that silence shroudsthe past and the presentof such miscegenationin the teachereducation classroom. We saw earlierthat in a verydifferenteducational and social context, Sanjoy, too, encounteredrepressive messages regarding his cultural hybridity as an Indian American.If we wereto get pastthe silenceand engagefullyour within historyand its effects,would we not makemoreprogress and beyond the teacher education and K-12 classrooms? Would not our studies of history and geography,culture and identity, languageand literaturebe more complete and meaningful if we were to engage, instead of repressor deny, our hybrididentities,our in-betweenlocations?

theIntersections Engaging
Such repressive effects are also evident in discursivepractices when differences are silencedand multiplicitiesand contradictions denied or ignored. Indeed, as Arvind Rajagopal(2004) wrotewith regard to the United Statesand "itsothers," Fewcountries reveal forinstance, contradictions between, sharper theblandness of itsmulticultural surface anditsactual turbulences andmissed encounters within. class andgender areterms to Race, these of sexuality tensions, but,aswe know,thelanguages explain
and religionslide pastsuch termsto form the tissueof most social

ences in howyoulead thathomogeneous, homoyourlife.I think is that likes, geneity something everyone conformity. Something likes'cuzthat's where from.If everyeveryone people getsecurity one looksthe sameas you,you don'thavethatmuchto worry about. 1999,pp.65-66) (Asher, And this was at a school at which 50% of the studentbody was AsianAmerican! Anyvisitorto the schoolwouldnoticeits apparent "diversity," for instance,by the variousstudent represented, andMuslim,to list a few. Indian, Korean, Jewish, organizations: the presence of diversity However,as Sanjoy's attests, experience is not necessarily indicative of the acceptance of difference.

connection. (p.324) AlthoughI developthe discussionof this point a bit laterin this article,I note herethat it is not only the "dominant" groupthat diversecommunitieson attemptsto rejectand erasedifference; the margins are also implicated. For instance, queer Asian Americans areoften marginalized within theirown ethnic communities(Kumashiro, 2004). We knowtodaythatraceis gendered andclassed andthatgender is raced and classed (see Chow, 2002; Eng, 2001; Lorde, 1984; Pinar,2001). Echoing Lorde(1984), Rey Chow (2002) with regard to the exploitation of the colonized,that"the argued, for the and imperialist agenda transforming worldinto observable hencemanageable fromthe units .. mustbe seenas inseparable historicalconditionsthat repeatedly returnthe material benefits of such processes to European (p. 2). As she presubjectivities" sentedshrewd,complexanalyses of how the forcesof capitalism, ethnic relations continueto marginalracism,and cross-cultural ize racialand ethnicminorities,"keeping them in theirplace"in obviousandsubtleways,Chow foregrounded the intersections of race,ethnicity,and sexuality: Raceand ethnicity with sexuality, arethuscoterminous just as
sexualityis implicatedin raceand ethnicity.To that extent, any analyticaleffort to keep these categoriesapartfrom one another

1: Outingthe Creole Vignette Self

Michelle2 When was Creole,mixed race,a nativeof Louisiana. she "outed" herselfas such in class,the tensionwas palpable: a mixture of hushedness and some uncomfortabletwitching. thiscourse,Michelle Duringthe 7 yearsthatI havebeenteaching has been the onlyundergraduate studentnativeto Louisiana to about her racial the Indeed, hybrid speakopenly identity. given troubledhistoryof racismand slaveryin the South, I find that discussions aroundracialhybridity arealwaysrather charged. When I askedthe studentsto get into groupsto workon projects,the threeBlackstudentsin that classformeda group.Such is typicalin theseclasses and,giventhe hisrace-specific grouping toricalcontext,not surprising. All the othergroupswere (at least all White. Michelle,the openlyin-betweenstudent, apparently) was the only one who did not fall automatically into any of the she joined two of her White peers,and, the groups.Eventually, tensions notwithstanding, largermulticultural they all worked ever after." at least that was the resolutionthat (Well, "happily served fortheduration of theassignment andtherestof thecourse!) As I reflected on this episode,I wonderedaboutthe contextof both Michelle's herself specificsignificance publicly identifying as "Creole" and the obviousdiscomfortof her classmates when she spoke up. Yes, Michellecertainlybrokethe silencearound racial At the sametime,giventhe complexhistory miscegenation.
68

for it is theircategorical mayturnout to be counterproductive, enmeshment-their so to speak--that categorical miscegenation, to beforegrounded. needs (pp.6-7)

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We see, then,thatto address racial andethnictensionseffectively, queerness (whichin itselfis a troublingnotion), it does not make in its racism.As Rajagopal it any less dangerous we need alsoto acknowledge and engagegenderand sexuality. (2004) noted, "such forms of violence provide an illusorysense of forward aswe in thefieldof education historical and confront Therefore, of powerthat shaperaced,classed,and gendered movementwhereasthey, in fact, tend to deepen the problems extantrelations identitiesand cultures,we can work on "queering the gaze"of they areaimedat resolving" (p. 326). teachersby enablingthem to engage these issues in complex, Of course,one sees such co-optationat the larger,systemic andcontext-specific nuanced,self-reflexive, patriways.It is alsoimpor- level.On one hand,the post-9/11 climateof self-righteous otism reinforcesthe mythic norm of the god-fearing(White) of color tant thatwe enablefutureteachers--queer and straight, and White-to see how we areall implicatedin these relations. American,brimmingoverwith familyvalues.However,no one can miss the queer contradictionthat, in recent times (right themulticultural canbe the teacher education classroom Certainly, a critical, before the 2004 presidential was idealspacein whichto initiate self-reflexive elections),same-sexmarriage interrogation of suchissues,on the partof both students issuesin termsof current, domesand teachers. one of the mostlyhotlydebated tic politics.Ironically, evenasvarious U.S. citiesandstatesrushed The Contradictions of a Closed Openness to legislateagainstsame-sexmarriage,capitalismreigned. For The close-mindedness that Sanjoy encounteredat his school, how those instance,a reporton NationalPublicRadiodiscussed with its "diverse" studentpopulation,can also, of course,afflict in the started lesbian had on the and industry" "wedding focusing thosewho see themselves or at the cuttingedge of "progressive" with discounts and promotions on photographs, gay market, "radical" discourses.3 For instance,in her criticalanalysisof the gowns,and so on (Sydell,2004). So, somehow,betweenheteroWeedon (1999) noted that when institutionof heterosexuality, and capitalistexploitation, sexist,homophobicmarginalization the feministmovementfirstcritiqued as a tool of heterosexuality becomes mentionable. queerness it marginalized heterosexual women and reinglobalpatriarchy, A "closedopenness," then, which can appear,on the surface, forcedtheirsilenceon the issueof theirsexuality.Furthermore, to be is ultimately and "inclusive," democratically progressive as Crary(2004) noted, "Capitalism alwaysrecoilsfromanything narcissisticand fear driven and effaces the other as subject. that might propelisolatedindividualsinto a collectivitywith a KirinNarayan(1993) wrote, Anthropologist sharedsenseof purpose, whetherof the left or right"(p. 425). To understand the paradox of increased racialand ethnictenGiven themultiplex nature of identity, there willinevitably becersions and violencein the verylocationswherethereis the most tainfacets of selfthatjoin us upwiththepeople other we study, talkaboutdiversity, Chow (2002) discussed facetsthat emphasize the "disavowal" and our difference .... we [anthropologists] are all biin to cultural that we worlds on the the of cor(or multi-) incipiently belong "displacement" part "contemporary, politically bothpersonal andprofessional, in thefield whether orathome.... rectwhite subject" who has come to believethat racismhappens When efface situated andexperipersonas professional altogether elsewhere She wrote, (pp. 14, 15). thismakes formisleading evenasit does selves, encing scholarship violence to therange of hybrid andprofessional identities personal fora Humane, genteel, philanthropic, ever-expanding, ever-eager in that we our lives. 680-681) daily (pp. negotiate thisliberalist andbrighter alibiis itselfgenerating future, bigger endless discourses of further differentiation and discrimination This analysis is aspertinent to educators as it is to anthropologists evenas it serves as enlightened correction/civilized prohibition and to and identities in personaland andbrutal andit is theglaring schism racial,cultural, violence, gendered physical against its life that discourses on needs contexts. When teachers and students end up closby unstoppable produced positive professional to be confronted asthebasis in theconof racial andethicunrest certainaspectsof theirhybrididentities,they eting or repressing world in not only silencingmultiplicities today. temporary (p. 15) and erasingparts participate of themselves but alsolimitingthe overall educational experience. Again, although it is understoodthat not everyindividualVignette2: Family Values of color or White, femaleor male, homosexualor otherwiseor participates in actsof violenceanddiscrimination, In class discussions,following a viewing of It's Elementary experiences a rangeof these forcesremainpresentwithin the largersocialcontextand (Cohen & Chasnoff,1997), studentshave expressed and reactions. Fromscowlsand frownsto tight-lipped with diverseothers.WitnessSanjoy's and responses shapeour encounters to exchanged abouthavingone'sown Michelle'snarratives. One can also recognizethe reinscribing silences, looks,to comments effectof such liberalism of "exposin the highlypopularprimetimesitcom opinionabout"suchtopics"and the inappropriateness to them,students(and,once, evenanotherinstrucWill& Grace. On one hand,the showwaskey in pavingthe way ing children" torwho hastaughtthiscourse) for gay-themed haveconveyed televisionshows.And yet, on the other,one may and hostility, anger, resistance. students havealsoexpressed also note that in termsof gender,a similarlesbian-themed toward show However, openness and acceptanceof lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered has not appeared on the networks.Furthermore, one may note theissues forinstance, that underthe guiseof gay-affluent-urban-chic (LGBT)peoplesandengaged humor,the show by discussing, how in their about and lesbian issues with racist and classist at the of the theymightgo addressing gay getsaway jokes(often expense A fewhaveevendeveloped contexts. unitson curricular character of Rosario,who of courseis the immigrant,Spanish- particular some havespokenout aboutgayand lesbian (even if only in its affluent, the subject.Bravely, speakingmaid). Even as "gayness" In fact,duringthe monthsthatmediaattention to the centeras regular-White, maleguise)has been relocated familymembers. wasfocusedon the issueof same-sex the numberof stueven, dareI say,"normal"-sitcom fare,the ethnicotheris kept marriage, dentswho outed relatives and werekeen to discussLGBTissues in her place.Just becauseWill & Graceis apparently coolin its MARCH 2007 IE

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Patdeclared thatshehadtwogayuncles,so the "gay spiraled. thing waslikealloverthefamily." Another student talked abouttheemotional upheavalher familywent throughin acknowledging an Several students about and lesbian aunt's identity. spokeup gay lesbian cousinsandfriends. werethe bravest andVeronica of them all.An older But Sarah sturather wastypically student,Sarah quiet.However,asvarious it wasto acceptLGBTissuesand dentsweredebating how "okay" students,and so on, Sarahraisedher handand bravely spokeup herson'shomosexuality. And of accepting aboutherown process her in out about alsotypically class, Veronica, spoke sibling, quiet who had beenmarried with childrenand had come out recently. Shewonderedandwas not too sureabouthow theywerecoping with this shift. that althoughmy effortsto createa safespace Again,I realize in my classroom haveallowedsome studentsto speakup, silencing forcescontinue to prevail.For instance,althoughstudents haveouted familymembers,not once in 7 yearshas any student felt safeenoughto out himselfor herself. Also, I had noticedthat was the topic du jour, rightbeforethe when same-sexmarriage 2004 presidential elections, greaternumbersof studentswere lesbianand gayfamilymembersand friends. out about speaking Since then, the closet doorshave closedagain.So, I ask myself, teachereducation how much of whatwe do in the multicultural classroom reflects an "illusorysense of forwardmovement" arewe making 2004), and how much "real" progress (Rajagopal, towardsocialtransformation? The ClosedOpennessof the "Model Minority" withregard arealsoevident The contradictions of a closedopenness A numberof scholars to representations of AsianAmericans. (see, e.g., Asher,2001a, 2001b; Chin & Chan, 1972; Lee, 1996) have flatterthe apparently the "modelminority" stereotype: critiqued Americans Asian as of monolithically high ing representation and successful. and They academically economically achieving is an insidious,racist, arguethat the model minoritystereotype to Asian Americans' ensure which device, operates hegemonic of ... of White standards objectivity andachievement "acceptance & asbeingmorally absolute" (Chin Chan,1972, p. 67). Indeed,as Lee (1996) documentedin her ethnographicstudy of Asian American youthidentities, theteacher in charge of thecomputer AsI sittalking to Mr.Engen,
surfaces. studentachievement room,the subjectof AsianAmerican

pointed out, forinstance,that althoughracistrejectionof Blacks happensalsoamongAsiansin Asiaand in the United States,it is White stereotypes of Blacksthat receivethe most mediaattention. The catch-22 then becomes that, in acknowledgingthe prestereotype,one may fall back into the patternof "focusing dominantlyon the powersthat be"(p. 60). theorists (seeEng,2001; Eng & Hom, QueerAsianAmerican the contradictions 2001, 2004) havediscussed 1998; Kumashiro, at the intersections of race,ethnicity, AsianAmericans encounter the to Asian American and sexuality. man, (2001), According Eng "oriental" construed asthesubmissive, feminized, other,undergoes in the U.S. culturalimagination.Discussing castration" "racial in such oppressive forcesas AsianAmericans' own participation heterosexismand the model minority stereotype,Kumashiro maroften experience (2004) noted that queerAsianAmericans ginalizationand silencingwithin their own culturaland ethnic whetherimposed When suchessentialist communities. identities, whether somefromwithoutor internalized, areusedto determine or one mayor maynot belongto a particular group community, they work to maintainextantpower relations.Ultimately,they indiserveto keepthe White, Western,heterosexual, upper-class orin some andothers-queer, "ethnic," vidualat themythiccenter locations. way different-in theirdesignated marginal

Beyond Repression:Toward a Self-Reflexive Multiculturalism

In recent I havenoticedthatstudents havefeltauthorized years, Bushin papersand classdiscusto pledgeallegiance to President beforethe much debated sions. In one instance,which occurred even as I menfilm Fahrenheit 9/11 (Moore,2004) was released, tionedin classthatwe mightwatchMichaelMoore's(2002) film one studentlashedout, beforeI couldgo BowlingforColumbine, "our notwatchit, giventhathe insulted that she would anyfurther, I Here was an erat demonstrandum,thought. president."Quod to the fear of the that, according Moore, governs very example strikeon a differentper(U.S.) Americanpsyche:a preemptive the killingvioto understand on actually lookinginward spective, As Trinh lence afflicting the United States,evenyoung students. (1989) wrote, on to breed fears continue Crossed wars,fortheyfeedendlessly outwithcanpossibly be carried eachother untilno conversation easier todisIt is,indeed, much outheaping upmisunderstandings. the other of difference on the pretext missor eliminate (destroy withandwithin thanto livefearlessly in ourminds, in ourworld) difference(s). (p.84) And, indeed, Crary(2004) posited that institutionalresponses followingthe attacksof September11, 2001, workedto nip the in the bud by emergingmood of self-reflexivity ofshopping, of habitual acontinuation routine, carefully soliciting state to allow sense of crisis andshock ofwork butwithjustenough conduct restraints ontheir to modify andagencies legal apparatuses to anymilitary or security non-resistance andto ensure complete theworld. around measures undertaken (p.425) Both Craryand Rajagopal (2004) noted that these intersections arenot coincidental; and repression of consumerism, capitalism,

American stuwithpraise forhisAsian over Mr.Engen is bubbling

dents. After listeningfor some minutes,I decide to questionhis

Mr.Engen asmodel minorities. Americans of Asian understanding I cancombutbefore I amcritical ofthestereotype, that understands "Please don't ruin he me and says, mystereomythought, stops plete I learn oneofthesecrets once anice one." Itissuch Thus, again, type. to theendurance of themodel minority stereotype. (p. 125) no longerneeds Mr. Engen'swordsindicatethat the stereotype is legitimatedin the to operateinsidiously:The objectification perceptionof Asian guise of a ratherpleasant,complimentary Americans,makingit so easyto applyand so difficultto relinthatone needs Chow (2002) argued quishor resist.Furthermore, but alsowho is to considernot only the powerof the stereotype perpetuatingthe stereotypeon which one tends to focus. She
70 RESEARCHER EDUCATIONAL

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rather,theyaredevicesto maintainthe statusquo, to continueto then, the most exploit,isolate,and containthe "other." Perhaps, that Columbine can "subversive," unsettlingmessage Bowlingfor send to those who see themselvesas comfortably,righteously ensconcedin that mythic center is askingthe question,Why? Why areyoungchildrenin U.S. schoolsdrivento suchdesperate violence?Why, for that matter,are so many homosexualteens drivento suicide? Why is it so difficultto listento another's point of view?Or to evenengagethe rootsof one'sown prejudice? And, if so, thenwhy is authorizing and self-reflexivity, sayforeducators of stanpolicymakers-instead mind-numbing, soul-chilling dardization and violence-such a scarily queeridea? It is sucha cultureof fixatingon the otheror elsewhere in lieu of self-interrogation andthe rightherethatshapesa multicultural others." In its otherpracticethat is limitedto defining"diverse such a multiculturalism is focusedness, then, actuallyself(ishly)centered.By contrast, a multicultural thatis alsofocused practice on developinga self-reflexive insteadof provingselfawareness, movesbeyondrepression and allowsfor the engageassuredness, ment of one's self in relationto one's difference-what one is not-leading to a fuller,morecompleteaccessto the pastandthe present(Pinar,1993). Vignette3: The Wicca Closet Studentsin the undergraduate classon multicultural education classroutinely"out"themselves as Christian or Catholic,as havvalues.Havingtaughtat LSU for ing strongsouthern,Christian several areno longera novel years,now, such religious"outings" encounterfor me. Only once has a studentwho followeda faith thatis generally viewedas "odd" or different in the larger context of the United Statesouted herself.Marge"cameout" as being Mormonin a classdiscussionof balancing affiliation with one's churchand acceptinghomosexuality in one's family.Typically, do not however,studentswith religiousminorityidentifications mentiontheirfaithin class.Forinstance,Laura cameup to me at the end of classone dayand askedif it was okayfor her to write about beingWiccan.Laura said that althoughshe felt comfortable mentioningthis identificationto me, she did not want to shareit with herpeers. Then, of course, there is the other side of the coin. For who identifiedherselfas instance,Amanda,a White southerner her she Christian, deeply expressed indignationat the stereotype encountersof religiouspeople such as herself being antigay. box Evidently,then, somewho critiquehomophobiathemselves in peoplesuchasAmandaon the basisof theirown unexamined assumptions(in this case about religiousidentifications)and identities. therebyfallinto the trapof essentializing on Laura's confidence,once again,I encounterthe Reflecting limits of my efforts.Even as studentsfind waysof speakingup, the silencesresound.Why does Laurafear"comingout" to her classmates aboutherreligious And whatfearsregardpreference? ing religiousdifference governher peers?Clearly,the multiculturalteachereducationclassroom, in this instance,did not serve as a safeenoughspacein which to be "fearlessly with andwithin What difference(s)" (Trinh, 1989, p. 84). strugglesdoes each teacher faceto balance his or herparticular valuesandbeliefswith the professional to fosteropenness,democratic responsibility parwith differences? And, as Amanda's ticipation,and engagement

likeStanKarp's us, eventhosewho see narrative, (2001), reminds themselvesas open or "progressive" can sometimesfall shortof jourexaminingthe limitsof theirown vision.The self-reflexive canallowone'smultiple,contradictory identifications ney inward and locations-in termsof race,gender,sexuality, and cultureto emerge,to "comeout." Then, perhaps, we can free ourselves and repressive maneuvers to ask,to listen, up fromour defensive and to tell and fostera cultureof acceptingbothour commonalities and our differences.

Unpacking the Tensions: Implications for Curriculum and Pedagogy

A multicultural tensions pedagogythat engagesthe intersecting of race,culture,gender,and sexualityin critical,dialogical, and self-reflexive ways goes beyond the limited scope of race and culture.Just as teachereducatorswork to foster a racialconsciousnessin White teachers(see, e.g., McIntosh, 2000; Paley, in 1979; Sleeter,1993), so can theycreatea queerconsciousness heterosexual-identified teachers (see, e.g., Kumashiro,2001; Sears breaks & Williams,1997).Sucha multiculturalism silences; offerswaysof rethinking the oppressive binaries of selfandother, hereandthere;andcanopen up spacesforthe queerandstraight, of emergence new, hybrididentitiesand cultures(Asher,2002). Insteadof adhering to a cultureof "don'task,don'ttell"and "see no race,differences of sexuality,or relationsof power,and hear no talk about any of them," we can move toward explicitly (Nieto, 2004) by unpackingthe complex diversity" "affirming andcontradictory tensionsof multiculturalism andcreating a culture of "doask, do tell."Such a disruptionof the facadeof normalcy can allow us to get past cultural relativismto "learn 2000). throughconflict"(Kumashiro, When the teachereducationclassroom servesas a safe space for students to express theircontradictions, doubts,andquestions, as well as theirresistance and connectionto issuesof race,culture, and gender, we createopportunities for queeringthe gaze of futureteachers. A multicultural education located"atthe pedagogy interstices"-thein-between allows nuanced difspaces-not only ferences to emerge butalsooffersstudents andteachers the opporand relatedemotional tunity to work throughtheir resistance for when students (Asher, 2005). Thus, instance, struggles speak up aboutlesbian andgayfamilymembers, theirpeers, those including who perceive orpositiontheheterosexual selfat thecenter, areconfronted withthefactthatthehomosexual "other" is notjustlocated "there" or "elsewhere" but ratheris also presentright "here." Students thatsuchissues asdifferences of sexumaythenrecognize arenotjusttheoretical notionsortextbook alityandracial hybridity recommendations but in factareissuesrelevant to theirlivesand rolesas multicultural practitioners. suchoutingsarerare. And neither However,asI notedearlier, do theyguarantee the transformation of individual students,nor aretheyindicative of impending socialchange.Nonetheless, such can be At the serve as minimum, episodes productive. very they "sites of resistance" (hooks,1990), in the K-12 andmulticultural teacher educationclassroom, whereindividual students-such as andothers-can resistthe oppression of Sanjoy,Michelle,Sarah, theirdifference. Indeed,according silencingforcesby expressing to Bhabha(1994), "Each timethe encounter with identityoccurs at the point at which somethingexceedsthe frameof the image,
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it ... leavesa resistant trace,a stainof the subject,a sign of resistance"(p. 49). Such episodesalso allow us to model for future teachersthe possibilityof dialogue acrossdifference.Also, as remindus, such disrupAmanda's and Karp's(2001) narratives for thosewho see themselves tions canalsoserveas opportunities and so or "liberal," as "multiculturally open" (or "progressive," theirown assumptions and the limitsof on) to confrontsquarely of its location,is neverexempt. theirvision.The self, regardless I realizethat I too need to engagein my own ongoing, selfreflexive border nuance,and dialogue work,as I invitedifference, in the classroom (Asher, 2005). At the sametime, I am compelled narratives of effectof engaging thatthecumulative to acknowledge to socialtransresistance racismand prejudice and encountering formation,semesteraftersemester,is exhausting,draining(see sucha pedaAsher,2003). Forall the effortit takesto implement and I arefew andfarbetween. Yes,my students gogy,the rewards As we haveseen,a few of them havesomegreatclassdiscussions: Buthow much theirdifferences. havebeenableto speak out, assert What else can of this do my studentstakeinto theirclassrooms? and practitioners do to fosterequityand educational researchers we have fromthe progress we can drawstrength Perhaps justice? and the civilrights,schooldesegregation, madein recentdecades: studethnic women's of as of such areas studies, study development same At the and studies. time, education, queer ies, multicultural to teachin in theworkwe do on a dailybasis-preparingteachers a contextof increasing globalinterdependence-we continueto And we of silencingforces. and the presence confrontstereotypes we encounter, withthecontradictions wrestle on a dailybasis given in and our implicatedness, collectively, systemic individually thesearethe of race,class,gender,and nation.Perhaps inequities even as we in for our individual reasons efforts, very persevering whatelsewe maydo collectively. consider
NOTES My sincere thanks to Michdle Foster, editor of the Educational and the three anonymous reviewersfor their thoughtful Researcher, draftsof this article. on previous with andhelpfulfeedback engagement I refer term here in the note that violence, (asdo the scholars using 1I I cite) not only to physicalactsof violencebut alsoto the psychological effectsof havingone'sself effaced,evenby as much as a look, a word,or a gesture.For instance,in his classicBlackSkin, WhiteMasks,Fanon on being perceivedas a (1967) wrote about the violence experienced Blackman by Whites: stimulusthatflickedoverme It wasan external "Look,a Negro!" as I passedby. I madea tight smile. . . "Mama,see the Negro!I'm frightened!" Frightened! Frightened! of me.. to be afraid Now theywerebeginning with the unableto be abroad On thatday,completely dislocated, other, the white man, who unmercifully imprisonedme, I took farindeed,andmademyself myselffaroff frommy own presence, an object.What else could it be for me but an amputation,an thatspattered excision,a hemorrhage my whole bodywith black blood?(pp. 111-112) 2Allstudentnamesin this articlearepseudonyms. areneithersynand radical 3Inote herethatsuchtermsasprogressive indias the discussion it. Far from nor Indeed, onymous interchangeable. itselffromthe Rightby its critique cates,the Left,evenas it distinguishes
RESEARCHER 721 EDUCATIONAL

itselfrepresents andfocuson socialtransformation, of dominant structures to issuesof race, a rangeof identifications and positionalities pertaining I have andthe passages andso on. My arguments, class,gender, sexuality, thatevenseemingly transof fellowscholars, illustrate citedfromtheworks radsuch words formative (whether by asprogressive, practices distinguished be implicatedin can themselves ical, liberal,or some other descriptor) structures anddiscourses. oppressive REFERENCES in theSouth,1860-1935. Anderson, J. D. (1988). Theeducation ofBlacks Hill: of North Carolina Press. University Chapel New York: Straus. M. (1966). Thechildren Farrar, Anderson, oftheSouth. in economic M. W. Cultural and (1982). (Ed.). reproduction educaApple, and thestate.New York:Routledge on class, tion:Essays Kegan ideology, Paul. Indian Asher, N. (1999). Margins,center,and the spacesin-between: at and school. school lives home American students' Unpublished high TeachersCollege,ColumbiaUniversity. doctoraldissertation, Asher,N. (2001a). Checkingthe box: The label of "modelminority." and politics In G. Hudak & P. Kihn (Eds.), Labeling:Pedagogy (pp. 75-91). New York:RoutledgeFalmer. Asher,N. (2001b). Rethinkingmulticulturalism: Attendingto Indian American high schoolstudents'storiesof negotiatingself-representaon tions. In C. C. Park,A. L. Goodwin, & S. J. Lee (Eds.),Research and Americans theeducation Greenwich, 55-73). (pp. ofAsian Pacific CT: Information Age. Asher, N. (2002). (En)genderinga hybrid consciousness. Journal of Curriculum 18(4), 81-92. Theorizing, Towardsa pedagogyof interbedifference: Asher,N. (2003). Engaging 235-247. Education, 14, ing. Teaching and feminist Asher,N. (2005). At the interstices: postcolonial Engaging in education for a multicultural pedagogy the South. perspectives Teachers Record, 107(5), 1079-1106. College identities multicultural Asher,N., & Crocco,M. S. (2001). (En)gendering in SocialEducation, and Research and representations. 29(1), Theory 129-151. education to multicultural Banks,J. A. (2002). An introduction (3rded.). Boston:Allyn & Bacon. studies ethnic Banks, (7th ed.). Boston: J. A. (2003). Teaching strategiesfor Allyn & Bacon. dream:The Bankston,C. L., III., & Caldas,S. J. (2002). A troubled TN: Louisiana. in Nashville, desegregation andfailureofschool promise Press. Vanderbilt University New York:Routledge. Bhabha,H. K. (1994). Thelocation ofculture. S., & Miller,L. (Eds.).(2001). Rethinking B., Karp, Bigelow,B., Harvey, WI: andjustice,Vol.2. Milwaukee, ourclassrooms: Teachingfor equity Schools. Rethinking Chin, F., & Chan, J. P. (1972). Racistlove. In R. Kostelanetz(Ed.), Schuck (pp. 65-79). New York:Ballantine. Seeingthrough New ethnicand thespiritofcapitalism. Chow, R. (2002). TheProtestant Press. York:ColumbiaUniversity about D. (1997).It'selementary: Cohen,H. S., & Chasnoff, gayissues Talking Media. SanFrancisco: Women'sEducational in school [Video]. of security. 6(3), 424-430. Interventions, J. (2004). Conjurations Crary, Crocco, M. S. (2002). Homophobic hallways:Is anyone listening? in SocialEducation, and Research 30(2), 217-232. Theory theDoll, M. A. (1998). Queeringthe gaze.In W. F. Pinar(Ed.), Queer Erlbaum. (pp. 287-298). Mahwah,NJ: Lawrence oryin education in Asian Managingmasculinity Eng, D. L. (2001). Racial castration: America. Durham,NC: Duke UniversityPress. Eng, D. L., & Hom, A. Y. (Eds.). (1998). Q c A: Queerin Asian America. TempleUniversityPress. Philadelphia:

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as a queer curriculumpractice.In Miller, J. (1998). Autobiography W. F. Pinar(Ed.), Queer in education (pp. 365-373). Mahwah, theory Erlbaum. NJ: Lawrence Moore,M. (Writer/Producer/Director). (2002). Bowling for Columbine United States: United Artists. [Motion picture]. Moore, M. (Writer/Producer/Director). (2004). Fahrenheit9/11 [Motion picture].United States:LionsGateFilms. American Narayan,K. (1993). How nativeis a "native" anthropologist? 95, 671-686. Anthropologist, Thesociopolitical context Nieto, S. (2004). Affirming diversity: of multicultural education Boston: Pearson Education. (4th ed.). V. (1979). White teacher. MA:Harvard Press. Paley, University Cambridge, Patel,V., & Crocco,M. S. (2003). TeachingaboutSouthAsianwomen: SocialEducation, 67(1), 22-26. Gettingbeyondthe stereotypes. curriculum as racialtext. Pinar,W. F. (1993). Notes on understanding In C. McCarthy& W. Crichlow(Eds.),Race,identity, and representationin education (pp. 60-70). New York:Routledge. and violence in America: Pinar,W. F. (2001). Thegender of racial politics and the crisis New York: PeterLang. Lynching, prison rape, ofmasculinity. A. America and its others: terror asglob(2004). Rajagopal, Cosmopolitan alization? Interventions, 6(3), 317-329. Sears,J. T., & Williams,W. L. (Eds.).(1997). Overcoming heterosexism and homophobia: thatwork. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Strategies Press. Sleeter, C. E. (1993). How White teachers construct race. In C. McCarthy & W. Crichlow(Eds.),Race,identity, andrepresentation in education (pp. 157-171). New York:Routledge. in research on preservice Sleeter,C. E. (2001). Epistemological diversity teacherpreparation for historically underserved children.Reviewof Research in Education, 25, 209-250. L. edition[Radio broadcast]. Sydell, (2004,April5). Morning Washington, DC: NationalPublicRadio. and Trinh, T. M. (1989). Woman, native,other:Writingpostcoloniality IndianaUniversity Press. feminism.Bloomington: Weedon, C. (1999). Feminism,theory,and the politics of difference. Malden,MA: Blackwell. AUTHOR NINA ASHER is an associate in theDepartment of Educational professor and Practice in and the Women'sand GenderStudies Theory,Policy, at Louisiana StateUniversity, 220 Peabody Hall, BatonRouge, Program LA70803;nasherl@lsu.edu. Herresearch interests include and postcolonial feminist multicultural andAsianAmerican education. education, theory,

received April2, 2005 Manuscript Revisionsreceived April 18, 2006, andAugust 21,.2006 Accepted September4, 2006

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