Supporting Asian American Students’ Internalized Racism and Identity Conflicts (Poster 6)

• In Event: Everything Everywhere All at Once: Asian Math Ed Edition

Abstract

Background

Asian American students face both interpersonal and internalized racism (Alvarez & Helms, 2001). Indeed, the Asian American and Pacific Islander student population has reported the “highest rate of classroom bullying, 20 percent higher than any race or ethnic group” (White House Initiative, 2018). Teachers, as first responders to student well-being (Beard et al., 2021), are in positions to support and guide students in negotiating these trying junctures. But the stereotype of Asians as ‘good at math’ often leads math teachers to ignore Asian American students’ struggles, including bullying, internalized racism, and resulting socially produced mental health challenges. This poster seeks to elevate these aspects of experience to complicate conversations about what Asian Americans need in math class, as whole people, drawing on autoethnographic methods.

Methods

This poster is guided by the qualitative approach of autoethnography allowing me to reflect on personal and interpersonal experiences (Ellis et al., 2011) and to “think with my story instead of about it” (Ellis & Bochner, 2000, p. 735). Autoethnography, hence, is “not simply the retelling of stories” but “adheres to the rigors of research” (Blalock & Akehi, 2018, p. 93). Data sources such as journal excerpts, social media, personal text messages, photographs, and memos were coded inductively to reach themes.

Preliminary Findings

With my identity as a cis-gender female, Muslim revert, F/Pilipino, I resonate with the theoretical framework of Nadal’s (2004) nonlinear Pilipino American Identity Development Model. My sibling and I had parents who strove to blend in and were not ones to confront these complex issues of racism and bullying. Moreover, our immigrant parents were occupied. Yoon et al. describe this “survival mode” (2017, p. 74) as a prioritization characterized by extensive working hours carried out by parents in order to provide for their families. This lack of physical presence may result in a negative impact on Asian American children, since immigrant parents may lack awareness, knowledge, and even the emotional capacity to attend to their child’s identity development or cultural integration (Yoon et al., 2017). The P/Filipino core values held by my own family, such as unity with others in Kapwa (fellow being), avoidance of Hiya (loss of face), and thriving on Pakikisama (social acceptance) were many times compromised in the predominantly White community we found ourselves, leading us, particularly my brother, to dark states of confusion and hopelessness.

Significance

Asian American students need to be provided access to counseling and support, starting from grade school when bullying begins to adulthood when they are hate crime targets. Most importantly, educators and clinicians need to consider the impact of “acculturation mismatch” and intergenerational cultural conflict on outcomes such as depression and low self-esteem, particularly for immigrant offspring (Lui, 2015, p. 437). Placing mental health at the forefront of conversations within the mathematics classroom, hallways, and afterschool, can help destigmatize the critical decision for Asian American students to seek mental health support when needed.

Author

• Joanne Baltazar Vakil, Joyce University