Lau v. Nichols and Chinese American Language Rights

Trish Morita-Mullaney is an Associate Professor of Literacy and Language and holds a courtesy appointment in the Asian American Studies program at Purdue University, USA. Trish is a licensed K-12 teacher, instructional coach and administrator. She is Co-Associate Editor of the Bilingual Research Journal and is the Principal Investigator for the Office of English Language Acquisition grant Parental Inclusion and Language and Research. Guided by critical and feminist thought, her research examines how individuals’ claimed racial and linguistic identities shape educational decision-making for multilingual families.

• AcknowledgementsForewordIntroductionSection 1: Before Lau: The SunrisesChapter 1. Before Lau: Chinese ExclusionChapter 2. Before Lau, there was Mrs. LauChapter 3. Before Lau, There Was School Desegregation and Bilingual EducationChapter 4. Before Lau: Personalized Curriculum Writers, not PublishersChapter 5. Before Lau, Chinese Educators Were Assigned Outside of ChinatownChapter 6. Before Lau, Collective Advocacy Had Many TentaclesChapter 7. Before Lau, Community Agencies at the Core Chapter 8. Before Lau, a 'Reggie' Found a WayChapter 9. Before Lau, An Idealistic Lawyer and Public Servant is Appointed to the School BoardChapter 10. Before Lau, There Was School Desegregation and Mandatory Busing        Section 2: After Lau: The Sunrising QuicklyChapter 11. After Lau: Remedies and More RemediesChapter 12. After Lau: California’s Proposition 227 and English for the ChildrenChapter 13. A Third World Rights Federation Activist in the MidstChapter 14. Remedies and Remediation in Higher EducationSection 3: Beyond Lau: The Sun SettingChapter 15. Post Lau: The Association of Chinese TeachersChapter 16. Post Lau: The Chinese PrincipalsChapter 17. The Modified Lau Consent Decree to the SunsetChapter 18. Sunset and Beyond: Language as Problem, Right, Resource or Choice?Chapter 19. Sunsetting and Choice: Co-Articulating Language Rights, Affirmative Action, and Voting RightsReferencesIndex

Professor Morita-Mullaney's book is a fascinating account of the Chinese American struggle and victory for bilingual education. Employing powerful first-hand accounts, she details not only this community's valiant efforts to win language rights but also to implement bilingual/bicultural education as fully as possible.