Dozens of Asian-American parents filtered into a Queens auditorium in January, gathering to protest a local school desegregation plan that they said would drive their children to low-performing schools in far-off neighborhoods. But their anger was really directed at one person: Richard A. Carranza, the leader of New York City’s schools.

They chanted: “Fire Carranza!” and accused the schools chancellor of forcing integration and of discriminating against their children.

The scene — groups of parents venting frustration with Mr. Carranza and his vision for the nation’s largest school system — has been repeated in recent months, from City Hall Park to a dim sum restaurant in Brooklyn.

Those rallies are led by a small yet highly organized group of mostly Asian-American families who travel to the school chancellor’s appearances, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with anti-Carranza messages and holding signs with messages like, “Carranza breeds racism in the name of diversity.”

Mr. Carranza’s focus on racial inequality in city schools has drawn ire from prominent conservatives across the country, many of whom are white. But the Mexican-American chancellor has faced his strongest critics closer to home, from some of those in the city’s Asian community.

That rift, which is at the center of an emotional debate among families of color about merit and fairness in city schools, threatens to undermine the chancellor’s remaining two years as one of the most influential education officials in the country.

“You have this chancellor and this mayor who have all these great ideas, but the ideas don’t include Asians,” said Amy Tse, a Queens mother who frequently attends anti-Carranza rallies.

“They never even mention Asians. It’s always a white-black thing.”