The Empty Classrooms of ‘American Hagwon’
Foreign Policy · Nina Li Coomes ·
Min Jin Lee’s third novel struggles under the weight of its sociological questions.
Min Jin Lee’s third novel struggles under the weight of its sociological questions.
One of the first places I was made aware of my race was the classroom. Placed in a cohort for so-called gifted children, I quickly understood that while my white classmates were considered gifted because they were naturally inclined or exceptionally hard workers, my academic aptitude was seen as a facet of my ethnic background.
My classmates’ parents would pry, asking about my standardized test scores only to wave them off as a result of my supposed cultural upbringing. Friends assumed my Japanese mother was a tiger mom hounding me to finish my homework, when in fact it was my white father who pushed me academically.
Read the full story at Foreign Policy · All coverage of this story