Disability, model minority myth, and white supremacy: Struggling, reimagining, and becoming through mother–daughter counter storytelling

Abstract

We – as daughter and mother – offer our stories humbly as a love letter to our Asian American community, our Black and Brown siblings, and the broader education community. White supremacy has weaponized the model minority myth – the belief that Asian Americans have “made it” despite obstacles – to invalidate claims of systemic racism and ableism. We draw on Disability Critical Race Theory and Asian American Critical Race Theory to center intersectionality and the interwoven nature of racialization, gendering, and disablement. Using collaborative storying, we showcase our (un)learning and (re)learning about normativity, identities, and belonging with and from each other as dialogic and reciprocal. Although both of our voices contribute to this dialogic storytelling, this paper centers on the stories of the first author – as a neurodiverse 15-year-old youth – as there is much we can learn from listening to our disabled youth of color and their resistance practices.

Keywords:

• DisCrit mothering
• AsianCrit
• model minority myth
• DisCrit
• collaborative storying

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The Nikkei Japanese American basketball leagues started shortly after the end of World War II. During World War II, sports such as baseball and basketball were an integral part of the experience in the concentration camps. After Japanese Americans were allowed to leave the camps, they wanted to continue playing sports. However, it was hard to find any league to play in. Not many recreation centers, clubs, or other organizations would allow Japanese Americans to join their leagues due to lingering resentment towards them after the war, so Japanese Americans had to start a league of their own. The Nikkei Basketball Heritage Association is made up of various Japanese American basketball organizations in Southern California. See Saito (2020) for more about the history and impact of the Nikkei league.

2 Stimming is short for self-stimulatory behavior and it’s characterized by any action that soothes or stimulates the senses. A stim is any action or object that provides sensory input and helps to regulate mood and body functions. This can look different for everyone.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emy Chen

Emy Chen, a junior, attends McCallum High School in Austin. Emy has been actively involved in organizing since elementary school, from organizing for immigrant rights to ethnic studies to Asian American Studies in Texas. Whether learning, playing basketball, or organizing, she hopes to follow others’ legacies and create her own.

Cathery Yeh

Cathery Yeh (she/her) is an assistant professor of Curriculum and Instruction and a core faculty at the Center for Asian American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. As a community-based researcher, her scholarship centers on creating change in education systems through collective leadership of educators, youth, families, and the community served.