Privilege or Marginalization: How Chinese Youth from Divergent Class Backgrounds Perceive Racism

• In Event: 30803 - Inequality and Diversity among Asian Americans and Beyond

Abstract

This study explores how Chinese youth in the U.S. and Australia perceive and respond to racism as temporary migrants, focusing on the influence of pre-migration class positions and host-country contexts. Based on interviews with 60 Chinese undergraduate students in the U.S. and 45 Chinese working holiday makers in Australia, we find that students in the U.S., predominantly from urban, upper-middle-class backgrounds, face a status shock as they encounter systemic racial hierarchies and institutional barriers. This fosters a heightened sensitivity to racism and a strong racial consciousness. Conversely, Chinese working holiday makers in Australia, largely from rural or economically disadvantaged areas, experience an uplift in status and a sense of empowerment. Viewing their host country’s multiculturalism and social mobility opportunities as a significant improvement over the class-based discrimination in China, they tend to normalize or downplay racism. These contrasting responses are further shaped by each country’s immigration policies and labor markets. This study advances understanding of immigrant racialization by advocating for a comparative and intersectional framework.

Authors

• Qing Tingting Liu, University at Albany, SUNY

• Weirong Guo, Harvard University