Critical Consciousness of East Asian Racism Among International Students in Canada


Amy Choi, York University

The Model Minority Myth (MMM), coined by sociologist William Petersen, describes Asian Americans as a “hardworking, successful and law-abiding ethnic minority that has overcome hardship, oppression and discrimination” (Chao, Chiu and Lee, 2010, p. 44). The terminology arose in the 1970s in the United States as Asian migrant populations drastically increased (Shih, Chang and Chen, 2019). In the age of globalization and transnational migration, contemporary discourse expanded the MMM incorporating Asian- Canadians into the context. Despite the proliferation of literature that demonstrates the dangers of the stereotype towards Asians, this public perception towards Asians has persisted through mainstream media. The MMM is called a myth because it oversimplifies the realities of many Asian Americans. Stereotyping, positive or negative, is dangerous because it confines subjects within narratives that are neither created nor controlled by the subject group. Scholars in many different fields such as sociology, education, psychology and law have critiqued the model minority stereotype to increase awareness of anti-Asian racism, marginalization and equity (Shih, Chang and Chen, 2019). The widespread criticism of the model minority stereotype includes claims that the myth 1) denies Asians the assistance they deserve, 2) hides and conceals discrimination against Asians, 3) divides Asians among other minority groups and 4) generalizes a racially diverse group consisting of more than 30 ethnic subgroups (McGowan and Lindgren, 2006). Furthermore, the myth creates an assumption that East Asians are self-sufficient minorities who do not need benefits from policy to help them with integration, settlement, and equity. There is a gap in the literature on East-Asian lived experiences in the Canadian context stemming from a lack qualitative studies. The current quantitative data cannot capture the true lived experiences of East-Asian minorities. The current literature on debunking the model minority myth has four major themes: confirming the perception of the model minority stereotype, focusing on examining the myth in the US context, case studies on all Asians not specifically East-Asians, and a quantitative approach instead of collecting qualitative data. My research question is ‘how do East Asian international students’ understand model minority stereotypes and anti-Asian racism’? I conducted a qualitative study interviewing 11 Chinese international students at the University of Toronto. A total of 27 open-ended interview questions were asked to participants. Participants were encouraged to share their lived experiences in comparison to the model minority stereotypes and discussion of racism, discrimination and microaggression encounters were discussed. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed through Nvivo. My preliminary findings demonstrate that 1) positive stereotypes among East Asian international students are considered motivating for the Asian community, 2) international students often do not recognize or identify microaggressions as discrimination, and 3) Chinese international students believe most of the model minority stereotypes are accurate depictions of Asian Confucian culture.

This paper will be presented at the following session: