In Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience, Angelo Ancheta suggests United States race relations have been framed by a black-white model of race that typically ignores the experiences of other groups, including Asian Americans. When racial discourse is limited to antagonisms between black and white, Asian Americans often find themselves in a racial limbo, marginalized or unrecognized as full participants.

The book centers on the distinctive experiences of racial discrimination faced by Asian Americans and how the American legal system fails to recognize that discrimination can differ among racial and ethnic groups. The intersection of these inquiries - how our civil rights laws affect Asian Americans and in turn are affected by them - is the central theme of the book.

Ancheta examines legal and social theories of racial discrimination, ethnic differences in the Asian American population, nativism, citizenship, language, school desegregation, and affirmative action. He supplies a fresh interpretation of U.S. civil rights from an Asian American perspective, providing readers with a fascinating mix of constitutional law, personal insights, and practical policy suggestions.