Sociology Compass 7 (2013): 841–853, 10.1111/soc4.12071 And Neither Are We Saved: Asian Americans’ Elusive Quest for Racial Justice Rosalind S. Chou * and Susan Choi Department of Sociology, Georgia State University Abstract Derrick Bell, Civil Rights activist, legal scholar, and a founder of critical race theory, dedicated much of his life and scholarship to the pursuit of racial justice. Twenty-six years ago, in his work And We Are Not Saved, he recognized that racial progress has been stalled and racial equality would not be a reality in his lifetime. Bell passed away in October 2011, and we are reminded that there is still much work to do. He presented a conundrum that race scholars have said all there is to say about racial problems in the United States; yet, he encouraged scholars to keep moving the work forward. At the time And We Are Not Saved was written, much of the racial scholarship was centered on the Black–White paradigm. In the 26years since Bell wrote it, there has been a growth of Asian American research. This essay surveys some critical racial analysis of Asian Americans. There have been major contributions to the literature extending racial scholarship beyond the Black–White paradigm. Additionally, intersectional scholarship extends the discussion into other systems of oppression, highlighting how racism can be veiled in different systems. Critical race scholarship is imperative to keep Bell’s dream of racial equality alive. “Progress in American race relations is largely a mirage, obscuring the fact that whites continue, consciously or unconsciously, to do all in their power to ensure their dominion and maintain their control.” Derrick Bell, And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice (1987) Derrick Bell, Civil Rights activist, legal scholar, and one of the founders of critical race theory (CRT), dedicated much of his life and scholarship to racial justice. Twenty-six years ago, in his work And We Are Not Saved, he recognized that racial progress was nothing more than a pipe dream with the embedded structural barriers and failure of the government to enforce civil rights legislation. Bell (1987) lamented: I recognize that most of what can be said about racial issues in this country has been said, and likely more than once. Over and over, we have considered all the problems, tried many of the solutions, and concluded – reluctantly or with relief – that, while full racial equality may someday be achieved, it will not be in our time. (p. 4) With Bell’s passing in October of 2011, racial equality truly was not achieved during his time. Each day, we are inundated with news of acts motivated by racial hate. In the very same month of Derrick Bell’s death, a crime motivated by anti-Asian sentiment also claimed a life. Private Danny Chen, 19, committed suicide in his Army post in Afghanistan. Born in New York City, Chen was the son of two Chinese immigrants. In a personal journal and letters he had sent to his loved ones, Chen complained of constant racialized taunting and physical abuse by his superiors (Gonnerman 2012; Semple 2012). Just hours before his suicide, eight fellow soldiers “pulled Private Chen out of bed and dragged him across the floor; they forced him to crawl on the ground while they pelted him with rocks and taunted him with ethnic slurs” (Semple 2012). © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.