Anti-Asian Racism and the Critical Identity Development of Asian American College Students During COVID-19

Abstract

Asian Americans have long been targeted and blamed for problems in social, political, and educational realms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this racial bigotry contributed to hostile environments for Asian American college students. While previous research has discussed the negative impacts of racism on this population, my study explores how Asian American students understood themselves in relation to racism. Specifically, I investigate how racial identity is shaped by social relationships, college environments, and sociopolitical contexts. With an anti-oppressive approach in mind, I used narrative inquiry guided by Museus and Iftikar’s (2013) Asian Critical Theory to center students’ lived experiences and voices throughout this research. Twelve Asian American college students from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities participated in two interviews, which were used as primary data sources for this study. The findings are presented in two components—written student narratives and thematic results—that portray the diversity and commonalities among participants’ racial identity journeys during the early 2020s. These stories and thematic findings demonstrate Asian American college students’ intimate experiences of race and identity that are interconnected with multiple dimensions of oppression in students’ lives. This study reveals that Asian American college students negotiated their racial identities through dimensions of language, hypervisibility, race-based education, social relationships, and cross-racial dynamics. The findings of this research affirm the need to deeply recognize Asian Americans’ racial experiences, especially as it pertains to identity labels, racial violence, and tensions with the model minority myth. From these findings, I recommend that researchers, professionals, students, and non-academics alike embrace the power of storytelling in their lives and work to make Asian Americans visible in the conversation on race.