Sickening: Anti-Black Racism and Health Disparities in the United States

competition” (p. 229). Dhingra highlights the underlying White assumptions behind the expectations of what a “true” American is. Dhingra also notes that children are not passive participants in hyper education. For many, this is a space where they can freely express their social identities and bond with others who share similar passions and interests. These social spaces also offer a space for resistance against dominant racial narratives. One of the strengths of this book is the inclusion of a gendered analysis to examine how hyper education affects boys and girls differently, and how that speaks to broader racial expectations within the American racial order. For example, Dhingra notes that at the 2016 Scripps Spelling Bee, male participants did the “dab,” “a popular gesture of one’s arms and head that mimicked NFL superstar Cam Newton” (p. 230). This clip became a viral sensation on social media, and it challenged established social norms that racialize Asian boys as unmasculine and geeky. The book is, overall, a timely and important analysis of race in education. However, there are a few questions that remain unanswered. First, it would have been helpful if Dhingra had included commentary on Indian American families in similarly wealthy schools who choose not to engage in hyper education. Families who do participate in hyper education are often motivated out of the desire to minimize risk for their children and arm them with as many resources as possible to have stable careers and family lives. How do families who do not engage in this practice handle the intragroup pressure to participate and the external pressure to perform academically due to their model minority status? Another issue left unanswered is how a disability lens might contribute to an understanding of hyper education: specifically, what happens to intellectually disabled Asian youth in well-resourced schools given the intense markers for success in their environment. How do students with learning disabilities like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or dyslexia participate (or not) in hyper education? As a whole, Dhingra does an excellent job of unpacking racialized assumptions of Asian American families and education. His book provides a convincing rebuttal to the ill-informed “tiger parent” and “model minority” explanations that uphold White normativity and White supremacy. Hyper Education would be a useful inclusion in introductory and higher-level undergraduate courses on Asian American studies, race, and education. Sickening: Anti-Black Racism and Health Disparities in the United States