“Asians Are at the Bottom of the Society”: Chinese International Students’ Perspectives on Asian Americans

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 10:50 am
  In Roundtable Session: Foregrounding the Importance of Chinese Language, Cultural Heritage, and Lived Experiences (Table 21)

Abstract

This article examines how Chinese international students perceive racial identity of Asian Americans and how they position this group in relation to other racial and ethnic minorities. Drawing upon world racial system and racial triangulation theory, this article argues that Chinese students’ ideological socialization in the home country and college experiences in the host country jointly contribute to their knowledge of Asian Americans and race relations. To be specific, Chinese students subscribe to the racial stereotype of Asian Americans as “perpetual foreigners,” and insist that they are difficult to unite but they have more racial consciousness as a minority. The research finding further indicates Chinese students subjectively think Asian Americans are positioned at the bottom in U.S. racial hierarchy.

Author

• Jing Yu, University of Wisconsin - Madison