Study: US history textbooks marginalize and misrepresent Asians
By Ryan General
A recent study from Stanford and UC Berkeley researchers reveals that U.S. history textbooks continue to render Asians and Asian Americans virtually invisible — and when they do appear, the portrayals are overwhelmingly negative.
- About the study: Using AI to examine 30 widely used high school textbooks from California and Texas, the researchers found that a mere 1% of sentences referenced Asians or Asian Americans. Nearly half of those mentions were tied to war or conflict. “There’s very little discussion about Asian Americans in these textbooks, which is especially surprising for states like California and Texas, which have a huge Asian American population,” said co-author Minju Choi.
- Language of hostility: The analysis found that verbs used in connection with Asians — such as “attack,” “invade” and “threaten” — carried significantly more negative sentiment than verbs used to describe other ethnic groups. By contrast, actions linked to Germans or the British included softer terms like “begin,” “want” or “believe.”
- Erased contributions and flattened identities: Wong Kim Ark, whose 1898 Supreme Court case established birthright citizenship, is mentioned in only one textbook. None included Japanese American activist Yuri Kochiyama. Even when Asians or Asian Americans are referenced, nearly two-thirds of named individuals in those sentences were white.
This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices.
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