Battling Asian Hate: Korean Students' Ethnoracial Identity Shifts and the Role of U.S. Higher Education

• In Event: Education and the Production of "Asian American": Institutional Racial Logics, Community Negotiations, and Their Implications

Abstract

This study examines how the anti-AAPI hate and Black Lives Matter movements impacted Korean college students’ ethno-racial identity shifts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and qualitative research, we investigate how the students’ legal status, class, and educational institution influenced the (re)formation of their ethno-racial identities. Emphasizing the significant role of educational institutions in addressing racial equity and supporting students of color, this study identifies policies and practices to enhance racial justice.

The COVID-19 pandemic and racist incidents of 2020-2022 exacerbated racial, social, and health inequities among Asian Americans and Asians in the US (Garcia, 2021; Hooper, Nápoles, & Pérez-Stable, 2020; Ruiz, Horowitz, & Tamir, 2020). It led college students with Asian heritage, whose lives were often shaped by the model minority trope, to experience greater disadvantages (Jiang, 2020; Horse & Nakagawa, 2020). In particular, the Atlanta spa shootings and other incidents targeting Korean Americans brought trauma and fear to the Korean community. While there are approximately 1.82 million Korean Americans, making them the fifth-largest Asian American subgroup (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015), and over 60,000 Korean international students reside in the US (“Korean students in US,” n.d.), their struggles during the pandemic have not been widely reported.

To remedy this, our study argues how anti-AAPI hate and Black Lives Matter movements during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Korean college students’ ethno-racial identity shifts. Drawing on research conducted on Korean American, Korean international, and undocumented Korean college students enrolled in the East coast, mid-west, and west-coast, we investigate how their legal status, class, and educational institution (re)formed their ethno-racial identities. We also explore shifts in ethno-racial identity and role of intra-racial othering, racial distancing, and/or ethno-racial identifications among diverse groups (e.g., Chinese, Black, White). Finally, we identify what resources, mentoring, and pedagogical support that students were (not) provided by educational institutions and examine their effects.

We understand dominant discourses as “particular ways of representing aspects of the world” (Fairclough, 2006, p. 11). We demonstrate how Korean students’ perspectives are affected by dominant discourses by analyzing U.S. and S. Korean newspaper coverage, addressing transnationality and complexity of the identity formation. We also interviewed 50 Korean students by Zoom or in-person. With this, we assess the influence of historical, political, and economic factors on re-articulation of ethno-racial identity participants experienced.

Centering on educational institutions and their role in addressing racial equity and supporting the students of color (Harper, 2020; Molock & Parchem, 2020), this study suggests more inclusive policies intended to enhance the role of U.S. higher education in advancing racial, social, and educational justice. Through a comparative analysis of how different institutions responded to these urgent needs, we intend to propose policies to advance social and racial justice in educational institutions.

Authors

• Ga-Young Chung, University of California - Davis
  Presenting Author

• Hwanseok Song, Purdue University
  Presenting Author

• Sujung Kim, Graduate Center - CUNY
  Presenting Author