Internalized Racism and Anti-Blackness Among Asian Americans

Abstract

There is significant theoretical and historical support for the idea that Asian American racial stereotypes are manipulations of White supremacy that are used to enrich anti-Black ideologies. Additionally, empirical research has supported the significant and negative impact that racial discrimination and stereotyping has had on the Asian American experience. Throughout U.S. history, Asian Americans have been racially triangulated vis-à-vis Black and White people as a template for understanding societal racial hierarchies. Specifically, Asian Americans are valorized relative to Black Americans yet are ostracized from civic participation and seen as forever foreigners. According to Racial Triangulation Theory, this pits the interest of Asian Americans against those of Black Americans in a competition for the privileges and opportunities ascribed to White people as a function of White supremacy. However, little to no research has examined the internalization of racial stereotypes within the Asian American community and how this internalization influences perceptions of anti-Blackness. The present effort utilized Racial Triangulation Theory, Asian Critical Race Theory, and Social Identity Theory to examine how internalized racism (i.e., model minority myth and perpetual foreigner stereotype) influences endorsement of Symbolic Racism and support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Findings indicate overall support of the notion that the internalization of racism within Asian Americans predicts perceptions of anti-Blackness. While Social Dominance Orientation was not found to mediate this relationship; moderation analyses revealed a nuanced influence of Ethnic Identity and Other-Group Orientation on the relationship between internalization of racism and anti-Black sentiment. Future research directions and limitations are discussed.