Dedicated to a better understanding of the diversity of children being taught in American public schools, this book includes the experiences of groups (e.g. Haitians, Dominicans, Indians, and Vietnamese) not often represented even in the multicultural education literature. It also includes the experiences of often marginalized groups such as lesbians and gays, Appalachians, and white working class males. Most contemporary work on education that takes into account differences among students in schools in the United States focuses on African American and white students, rather than recognizing the complexity of the current population. Beyond Black and White opens a discussion of diversity that goes beyond the notion that white or black can be looked at as any kind of homogeneous groupings. While numerous studies focus on the ways in which schools privilege some groups of children and marginalize others, such work tends to construe differences along a narrowly constructed black-white dichotomy. Beyond Black and White forces the reader to abandon this construction. The book encourages the centering of voices often not heard, even in volumes whose aim it is to center historically silenced voices. The contributors probe the experiences of "Familiar Minorities," such as African Americans, native Americans, and Mexican Americans, as well as those among "Newcomers," such as Haitians, Dominicans, Indians, Salvadorians, and Vietnamese. In the final section, "Other Minorities" are encountered—groups struggling for recognition such as lesbians and gays, Appalachians, and white working class males. This interdisciplinary volume stands as vivid testimony to the myriad of voices in today's schools.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction Maxine Seller and Lois Weis I. Rethinking Familiar "Minorities" 1. Marbella Sanchez: On Marginalization and Silencing Ann Locke Davidson 2. The Chicago American Indian Community: An "Invisible" Minority David R. M. Beck 3. The Voices of Chicano Families: Life Stories, Maintaining Bilingualism, and Cultural Awareness Irene Villanueva 4. "Those Loud Black Girls": (Black) Women, Silence, and Gender "Passing" in the Academy Signithia Fordham II. Newcomers: School and Community 5. "Becoming Somebody": Central American Immigrants in U.S. Inner-City Schools Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco 6. Dominicans: Forging an Ethnic Community in New York Patricia Pessar 7. Sex Education among Haitian American Adolescents Michel S. Laguerre 8. Changing South Asian Identities in the United States Karen Leonard 9. Social Capital in Chinatown: The Role of Community-Based Organizations and Families in the Adaptation of the Younger Generation Min Zhou 10. Education and Ethnicity in an Urban Vietnamese Village: The Role of Ethnic Community Involvement in Academic Achievement  Carl L. Bankston III III. Hearing Silenced Voices: "Other Minorites" 11. Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community Dennis Carlson 12. "The Soup Pot Don't Stretch That Far No More": Intergenerational Patterns of School Leaving in an Urban Appalachian Neighborhood Patricia Timm and Kathryn Borman 13. White Loss Michelle Fine, Lois Weis, Judi Addelston, and Julia Marusza Contributors Index