Inclusive assimilation: middle-class Asian parenting in suburban America

Abstract

ABSTRACT Previous studies find that Asian American parents enforce a strict academics-centered success frame upon their children. However, there is limited research on the actual standards of successful childrearing from the perspective of parents. Drawing on in-depth interviews with middle-class parents of Chinese and Indian descent in New Jersey (N = 44) conducted between December 2020 and January 2022, I contest the conception of a unidirectional parental assimilation process that presumes White middle-class families to be the default destination for assimilation. I argue that middle-class Asian American parenting can be better understood as an ‘inclusive assimilation’ process. Parents not only aim for a well-rounded education for their children as touted by White parents but, similarly to Black and Hispanic families, also embrace racial socialization efforts in their parenting, partly in response to the rise in anti-Asian violence observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.