Non-Asians Are Affected By Anti-Asian Racism Too, BUSSW Researchers Find
A study led by BUSSW Professor Hyeouk Chris Hahm shows that Asians and Asian Americans aren’t the only ones impacted by anti-Asian racism in the United States – all populations feel the effects.
Using qualitative data collected through Hahm’s CARES study – a survey of more than a thousand young adults conducted from March to September of 2020 – the authors found that participants of non-Asian racial backgrounds had not only witnessed or vicariously experienced anti-Asian racism, but that it took an emotional toll.
The cause of the toll varied: some participants reported that they were afraid for the safety of their Asian and Asian American friends and family members. Others identified the rise of anti-Asian racism in the political and public sphere as the source of their distress, noting that stigmatizing, weaponized narratives and phrases like “Kung Flu” abounded in the media.
Participants’ reactions, which ranged from anxiety and fear to hopelessness and depression, underscored the deep societal impact of the anti-Asian rhetoric that proliferated during the pandemic.
“We found two overarching themes from this qualitative investigation,” Hahm says. “The first theme was the types of discrimination – societal, interpersonal, intrapersonal – and the second theme was the affective reactions to discrimination – fear, anxiety/distress, hopelessness/depression, and avoidance.”
From the data, Hahm says, “we conclude that Anti-Asian discrimination affects both Asians and Asian Americans, and non-Asians. In other words, this finding suggests that anti-Asian discrimination is a societal illness that impacts all populations in the U.S.”
Luckily, there are actions that everyone can take to counteract anti-Asian racism.
According to Hahm, “[These results] call for cross-racial coalitions and solidarity in the fight against discrimination and racism.” Large-scale collaborations between educational systems, community organizations, law enforcement, and the media are essential to dismantling harmful biases against people of Asian descent.
At a smaller scale, solidarity and allyship within Asian and Asian American communities and outside of them are critical first steps.
In addition to Dr. Hahm, the study was authored by BUSSW Associate Professor Yoonsook Ha, Sargent College alum Kana Tsurudome Garcia (Sargent’20) and student Anna Cavallino (Sargent’22), BU School of Public Health Associate Professor Dr. Yvette C. Cozier, Dr. Casey D. Xavier Hall of Northwestern University, and Dr. Cindy Liu of Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Titled “Experiences of COVID-19-related anti-Asian discrimination and affective reactions inn a multiple race sample of U.S. young adults,” the study is published in BMC Public Health.