ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ways in which Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are positioned in mainstream discourse on access and equity in American higher education. In the high-stakes world of selective college admissions, AAPI enrollment trends have been coupled with a perception that AAPIs are succeeding to such an extent that it is occurring at the expense of other minorities. The ongoing tension around the role of race in college admissions, coupled with the significant demographic changes in the nation, where AAPIs are the fastest-growing racial group, demonstrates a need for a deeper understanding of how and why AAPIs are a factor in legal and societal discourse on race and the stratification of college opportunities. A Critical Race Theory (CRT) lens uncovers the ways in which structural racism operates not only through exclusionary policies and practices but also through the normative construction of racial inequality that sustains superiority for dominant groups.
