Demystifying and addressing internalized racism and oppression among Asian Americans.

Abstract

Asian Americans (AAs) are a diverse group who come from many different cultures, backgrounds, immigration histories, geographic regions, and experiences. Unfortunately, AAs are commonly stereotyped as a model minority, used as an intermediary minority, and consequently have been marginalized and left out of dialogues of racism and discrimination. Internalized racism (IR), defined as the internalization of bias and oppression toward one’s group, is an especially insidious form of divisive racism that remains largely misunderstood and unaddressed in AAs. In addition to devaluing oneself, IR creates division in communities and reinforces systems of oppression. This paper reviews the extant literature on IR among AAs and discusses the importance of addressing this deleterious issue and its consequences on individual, family, and community mental health. Moreover, I discuss and elucidate how stereotypes about AAs (e.g., model minority, perpetual foreigner, gendered stereotypes, and conceptions of beauty) directly promote and reinforce different types of internalized oppression (e.g., intraracial hierarchies, intraethnic othering, gendered emasculation, and hypersexualization, colorism and Western standards of beauty). Clinical and community recommendations are provided through a multilevel preventive intervention framework.

Rendered invisible: Are Asian Americans a model or a marginalized minority?

“…For example, using a large, nationally representative sample of high school students, Cooc and Kim (2021) empirically demonstrate that Asian American adolescents have far more nuanced career interests, expectations, and paths than might be understood from the model minority stereotype that pigeon-holes Asian Americans as singularly STEM focused. Hwang (2021) also directly interrogates the dangerous role that stereotypes (model minority, in addition to perpetual foreigner objectification and gendered conceptions of beauty) can have on Asian Americans, through mechanisms of internalized oppression that not only devalue the self but also one’s community and coethnics. J.…”

Who are the Asian Americans? Commentary on the Asian American psychology special issue.

“…Even high achieving Asian American students face prejudice and discrimination that affect their well-being (Luthar et al, 2021). Hwang (2021) and Cooc and Kim (2021) also point to the pervasive perpetual foreigner stereotype in which Asian Americans are not felt to be "real" Americans. The effect of this stereotype is to discourage attention and aid to these "foreigners."…”

“…Perhaps the model minority image has promoted the erroneous belief that Asian Americans do not face much racism or have somehow overcome the effects of racial prejudice and discrimination. The pressing needs and plight of other ethnic minority groups such as African Americans, Latinx Americans, and Native Americans are highlighted and sometimes used as a contrast with those of Asian Americans (Hwang, 2021). This has frequently caused friction between Asian Americans and other ethnic minority groups.…”

“…Had immigration to the United States occurred randomly, America would be largely Asian. Finally, the perpetual foreigner stereotype (Hwang, 2021) has the unfortunate effect of weakening the priority of Asian American needs. Those who believe the stereotype may feel that attention should be paid first to "real" Americans and then to foreigners.…”

“…In addition to the effects of racism on the psychological well-being of Asian Americans, they can cause within group conflicts. Hwang (2021) has developed a conceptual framework to explain how the internalization of racism can divide Asian Americans, some of whom exhibit forms of self-hatred and other forms of defensive reaction. Some Asian Americans want to be respected and respectable as members of a minority group.…”