Reimagining the COVID-19 Pandemic as a Portal to Justice for Asian American Students

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian violence in the United States has risen significantly. Many Asian American students have been disproportionately harassed in schools and fear resuming in-person learning. Thus, educators must resist returning to the old normal. Instead, they can reimagine the pandemic as a portal to justice for Asian American youth. The authors build on three hallmarks of ethnic studies curriculum as counternarrative, reclaiming cultural identities, and community engagement to suggest how ethnic studies commonalities can be mapped to social studies curricula to create a portal to affirm and empower Asian American students after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• ethnic studies
• social studies
• Asian American students