South Asian Americans’ Microaggression Experiences in School - Retrospective Reflections on Interactions with K-12 Teachers

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man

South Asian Americans, like other students of color, experience racial microaggressions in school settings, including the model minority myth and the spokesperson phenomenon. This paper reviews related research and analyzes qualitative, retrospective reports from 10 college-aged South Asian Americans describing experiences with K-12 teachers. Three themes guide the discussion: students positioned as spokespersons as a learning barrier, the phenomenon as racial trauma, and power imbalance reflected through such positioning. The work concludes with implications for culturally responsive invitations and directions for future study.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Research context and significance

Focus of the study and participant reports

Key themes and implications

UC Berkeley Berkeley Review of Education Title South Asian Americans’ Microaggression Experiences in School: Retrospective Reflectionson Interactions with K-12 Teachers Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3vz660gp](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3vz660gp) Journal Berkeley Review of Education, 9(2) Author Rice, Punita Chhabra Publication Date 2020 DOI 10.5070/B89239600 Peer reviewed [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Available online at [http://eScholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre](http://eScholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre) Spokespersons: South Asian Americans’Microaggression Experiences in Schools Seen Through Retrospective Reflections on Interactions with K-12 Teachers Punita C. Rice1 New Northeast Consulting Abstract South Asian Americans—like other students of color—experience racial microaggressions in schools, including the model minority myth and the spokesperson phenomenon (McCabe, 2009). This paper discusses these phenomena and relevant research before examining qualitative, retrospective reports from 10 college-aged South Asian Americans who described experiences with racial microaggressions in K-12 settings, selected from a larger source study. These participants’ reports—related to being asked to speak about Indian or South Asian culture or history—are explored in the context of three themes: (a) the positioning of students as spokespersons as an obstacle to learning, (b) the spokesperson phenomenon as a form of racial trauma, and (c) the positioning of a student as a spokesperson as a reflection of an imbalance and misuse of power. This paper offers implications for inviting students to share culture without positioning them as spokespersons. Possible paths for future research into student experiences with this phenomenon are offered. Keywords: Asian Americans, K-12, microaggressions, minority group students, model minority myth, racism, South Asian Americans, spokesperson phenomenon 1 Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Punita Rice at[punita@newnortheastconsulting.com](punita@newnortheastconsulting.com). Berkeley Review of Education Vol. 9 No. 2 Rice Spokespersons: South Asian Americans’ In today’s sociopolitical climate, teachers across the United States have a growing responsibility to support our students by condemning and working to minimize racism in schools. However, various manifestations of racism persist; students in schools around the nation continue to experience overt and subtle kinds of racism, and since the start of President Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign actions motivated by racism in America has increased (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2016) . Discussions of racism have often been in the context of the Black/White binary and antisemitism and, more recently, in the context of Islamophobia and anti-Latinx immigrant sentiment. However, there may be less public visibility of the experiences of Asian American students’ experiences of racism. South Asian American2—who comprise one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States (Samuel, 2017; South Asian Americans Leading Together, 2015)—often experience racism in schools. In fact, South Asian American students have faced an increase in racist violence and bullying in recent decades (Desai, 2017; Iyer, 2015; Rice, 2019), despite the common and longstanding perception that Asian Americans are a non-oppressed group (Kitano & Sue, 1973; Leong, Chao, & Hardin, 2000) . Frequently, the racism takes the form of microaggressions: the little, day-to-day manifestations of racism, which are often normalized and overlooked as innocuous or insignificant (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; McCabe, 2009; Ong, Burrow, Fuller-Rowell, Ja, & Sue, 2013) but have the potential to cause significant pain and longlasting harm (Comas-Díaz, 2016; Sue et al., 2007) . One such microaggression with particular relevance for Sou

FAQs

What are the model minority myth and the spokesperson phenomenon in this paper?

The paper describes the model minority myth as a racialized narrative in schooling and the spokesperson phenomenon as a pattern where teachers or peers position students as representatives for their race, often with harmful effects.

How does the study examine students’ experiences with microaggressions?

It analyzes qualitative, retrospective reports from 10 college-aged South Asian Americans who described experiences with racial microaggressions in K-12 settings.

What three themes does the paper use to organize the findings?

The themes are: (a) positioning students as spokespersons obstructs learning, (b) the spokesperson phenomenon functions as a form of racial trauma, and (c) positioning a student as spokesperson reflects imbalance and misuse of power.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man