Few studies have attended to the complex and often conflicting representations of Cambodian students, a critically underserved group in US schools. For example, recent US census data reported that of Cambodians (age 25 and over) living in the USA, 34% have less than a high-school diploma and only 16% have a four-year degree, far below the national averages for Asian Americans and the overall US population (Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, 2011). At the same time, Cambodian students’ experiences in research and practice tend to be lumped into an aggregate Asian American category that masks the group’s unique struggles and contact with school adults in their local communities (Chhuon, Hudley, Brenner, & Macias, 2010; Ngo & Lee, 2007; Reyes, 2007). Alternatively, this investigation shows how particular ideologies about Cambodian male students, as reflected by the dominant discourses in the community and of male youth of color broadly, are routinely practiced and circulated at CHS. I describe how these ideologies influence how Cambodian students see themselves and approach schooling. As well, I show how educators at CHS utilize particular discourses of Cambodian male youth to deflect attention from larger school and institutional inequities. I conclude with a
discussion of the significance of understanding these discourses for improving the education of Cambodian students and other immigrant youth of color in US schools.