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Asian American Awareness and Activism: The Silver Lining of COVID-19 and Racism Pandemics?

Wed, April 7, 1:10 to 2:40pm EDT (1:10 to 2:40pm EDT), Virtual

Abstract

The WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020, with the U.S. quickly following suit by declaring a national emergency. These announcements cast doubt and fear into the world, as cases rise beyond 7 million in the U.S. alone. Coupled with this health crisis, social justice movements surged in May after the murder of George Floyd, who became an image of racial injustice. Further injustice and discrimination has been disproportionately directed towards Asian Americans during this tumult. Political figures have used discriminatory rhetoric, such as President Trump referring to COVID-19 as the “China Virus.” Xenophobic dialogue has increased rampantly; discriminatory attacks committed against Asian Americans exceeded 1,500, including over 125 physical attacks (e.g., STOP AAPI HATE; Pew Research Center, 2020).

Yet, in the face of such divisiveness comes opportunities for resiliency, activism, and the promotion of empirically established resources for minoritized youth and families (e.g., ethnic/racial identity, socialization). For example, 67% of U.S. adults have expressed support for BLM, and “#BlackLivesMatter” has been Tweeted ~47.8 million times. With awareness of inequality, engagement in social justice movements has substantially increased, and could be a key component of systematic social change (Arora, 2020).

This presentation will focus on Asian Americans, a group that has been demonized and repudiated post-COVID-19. We examine (1) their awareness of discrimination toward their own and other minority groups since COVID-19 and racism pandemics, (2) their civic engagement and activism post-pandemics, and (3) whether such awareness and activism are associated with their own ethnic/racial identity and communication of ethnic/racial socialization messages to their children.

Participants were 200 parents (58% mothers; 63% first-generation/foreign-born, 29% second-generation/U.S.-born, 8% third-generation) recruited through Qualtrics Panel and instructed to respond to a survey with their oldest child under age 18 in mind (Mage = 13.94 years, SD = 2.44; 51% daughters). Questionnaires included identity measures (Phinney, 2006; Sellers et al., 2007) and ethnic/racial socialization (Juang et al., 2016). Three items were created for this study that assessed awareness of discrimination towards “Blacks/African Americans”, “Asian Americans”, and “Latin Americans/Hispanic descent”, and an additional three items assessed activism or civic engagement (e.g., Since COVID-19 and recent social movements surrounding racism and police brutality, I have become more involved in challenging racism and social inequality by participating in social justice organizations, joining marches, or being more politically active).

Awareness of discrimination tended towards the high end, with means above each item’s midpoint (see Table 1). Activism was also relatively high. Preliminary analyses suggest that discrimination awareness and activism post-COVID-19 are positively associated with multiple dimensions of identity as well as socialization messages that emphasize pluralism and that do not minimize the importance of race. In-depth modeling and analyses will be conducted (e.g., moderation by gender, generation, and age; considering discrimination, both lifetime and during pandemics). Discussion will center on challenges and opportunities in moving forward from our nation’s current crises.

Authors