In this dissertation, I present findings from a two-year long ethnographic study of Mandarin world language in two public high schools: primarily, an urban, working-class, ethnically/racially diverse school, and secondarily, an affluent ethnoburban high school. I study how local discourses among school participants, at the primary field site, create educational equity as a cultural object, imbued with meanings of race. I then discuss the implications of this version of equity for Mandarin language education at the primary field site, as its teachers are motivated by goals and ideals of racial equity. I show how these goals and ideals exist in tension with the heritage language multilingualism of the program's Chinese- and Asian-diasporic students, which is further illuminated by data from the secondary field site. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]