Asian American College Student Activism and Social Justice in Midwest Contexts

Abstract

The Midwest regional context complicates Asian American college student activism and social justice efforts; so understanding these dynamics can equip higher education practitioners to better support these students.

“We Really Have to Come Together”: Understanding the Role of Solidarity in Asian American College Students’ Social Justice Activism and Advocacy

“…For example, the model minority myth can make it more difficult to recognize anti-Asian racism [26], leading to the exclusion of Asian Americans from social justice agendas and discourses [25,27]. It is also important to note that, as Asian Americans highlight the injustices that they face to justify their inclusion in racial justice agendas and discourses, they can run the risk of equating their struggles with those of other communities and obscuring the unique ways in which different populations experience racism [28].…”

What's not in the grant: An exploration of project directors’ experiences at two‐year Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander serving institutions in the Midwest

“…In 2020, nearly 3 million Asian Americans and almost 116,000 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander individuals lived in the Midwest region (U.S. Census, 2020), and represented 12.2% of the Asian American and 7.3% of the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities in the United States. Existing scholarship describes how geographic contexts can shape the construction and expression of Asian American student racial identities, primarily through local and regional structures (like school systems) and historical and contemporary racism (Chan, 2017; Grim et al., 2019). For example, Asian American students from the Midwest may experience racialization in the form of peer interactions embedded within the regional predominantly Black and White racial dynamic (Chan, 2017).…”

The Centrality of Critical Agency: How Asian American College Students Develop Commitments to Social Justice

“…Because this myth depicts Asian Americans as relatively successful at assimilation and benefitting from the supposed meritocracy that exists within the United States, this trope often portrays this population as passive and less likely to challenge the status quo (Yi et al, 2020). This racial trope also functions to mask significant inequalities within Asian America and legitimize the exclusion of Asian Americans from higher education research and conversations about social justice (Grim et al, 2019;Hartlep, 2015;Museus & Kiang, 2009). Important to note is that some Asian American subgroups (e.g., Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, and Vietnamese) are especially underresourced, face significant inequities, and are often marginalized in larger Asian American discourse (Kiang, 2009).…”

“…In addition, evidence suggests that Asian American students report experiencing daily racism in the form of racial stereotypes, epithets, and profiling on their campuses (Chou & Feagin, 2008;Museus & Park, 2015). Yet, while evidence suggests that such systemic violence negatively influences Asian American undergraduates' experiences, questions remain regarding how such experiences might shape their commitments to and involvement in social justice (Grim et al, 2019).…”