“TEACHING THE INVISIBLE RACE: EMBODYING A PRO-ASIAN AMERICAN LENS IN SCHOOLS”
Tony DelaRosa (he/siya)
Author of Teaching the Invisible Race
PhD Student in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Introduction by Rep. Francesca Hong
As of 2021, Asian American Education Policy has been sweeping the nation as a response to the rise of anti-Asian hate and racism. For Wisconsin, Act 266 was passed by Governor Tony Evers in 2024, which amends Wisconsin’s Ethnic Studies statewide policy, Act 31, and includes Hmong and Asian American History education as a mandated practice. This book talk will be an event discussing the implications of policy for both practitioners and researchers, and will ultimately help participants strengthen our community’s broader Asian American racial literacy through both theory and practice. Tony conceptualizes Pro-Asian Americanness to be grounded in cross-racial solidarity with being pro-Black, pro-Indigenous, pro-LGBTQIA+, and pro-disability. His book is an homage to the fight for Ethnic Studies, and hopes that it serves as a tool to continue the original promise of critical anti-colonial Asian American pedagogy.