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Asian Americans and Internalized Racial Oppression

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Asian Americans and Internalized Racial Oppression SREXXX10.1177/2332649217725757Sociology of Race and EthnicityTrieu and Lee 725757research-article2017 The Impact of Self and Other on Racialized Realities Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 2018, Vol. 4(1) 67 –82 Asian Americans and © American Sociological Association 2017 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649217725757 10.1177/2332649217725757 Internalized Racial sre.sagepub.com Oppression: Identified, Reproduced, and Dismantled Monica M. Trieu1 and Hana C. Lee1 Abstract Internalized racial oppression among Asian Americans is currently an understudied topic in the social sciences. In this article, the authors draw from 52 in-depth interviews with 1.5- and 2nd-generation Asian Americans to examine this phenomenon. Although previous studies have examined individuals who engage in, and reproduce, internalized racial oppression from static lenses, the present research shows that individuals can (and do) shift out of perceptions and behaviors that perpetuate internalized racism. This research pinpoints the factors that assist in this fluid process. The findings show that the factors are centrally framed around the theme of critical exposure. In particular, it is the critical exposure to ethnic and racial history, ethnic organizations, and coethnic ties that ultimately leads to the emergence of an empowering critical consciousness, which is the necessary key in diverting Asian Americans away from behaviors that perpetuate internalized racial oppression. Keywords internalized racial oppression, Asian Americans, children of immigrants, racialization, inequality, racism Our skin can be an incredible source of pride thing,” and “want[ing] the kids to have the better and power, but it is equally a source of opportunities in the States.” unbearable pain, frustration, and—in our Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1980s, weakest moments—shame. Ava keenly recalls being only one of a handful of students of color at her schools. Ava shares that her Viet N. Trinh (2015) self-perception was greatly influenced by how she compared with her white peers: In 1966, Ava’s parents journeyed from South Korea to the United States for their medical residency. I was always self-conscious about how I looked. Initially, they had every intention of returning to I always hated my eyes, they were too small, [I] South Korea at the end of their stint. However, it never happened. The family’s decision to stay in 1School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Purdue University, the United States was driven both by personal and West Lafayette, IN, USA larger structural factors unfolding during that time Corresponding Author: period. These factors included the passing of the Monica M. Trieu, Purdue University, School of Hart-Cellar Act of 1965, a high demand for medi- Interdisciplinary Studies, American Studies/Asian cal doctors in their area, and the birth of their first- American Studies, 500 Oval Drive, G7 Heavilon Hall, born in 1967. According to Ava, her dad’s rationale West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA for staying was centered on “the American Dream Email: [email protected] 68 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 4(1) wanted blonde hair, I was always too short, looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of always wanted to look different, and [I was] not measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that popular. I had a small group of friends, mostly looks on in amused contempt and pity,” to explain white friends, but never really had boyfriends, racial subordinates’ self-perception as heavily and I attribute that to being Korean. influenced by the dominant group’s negative gaze. Clark and Clark’s (1947) now famous doll test Ava reflected ethnic self-shame and attributed her study, conducted on African American children, self-perceived shortcomings to her Korean identity. provided empirical evidence that internalized racial Moreover, Ava saw herself as “very Americanized,” inferiority exists. They posited that psychological an identity that she associated exclusively with consequences for this mind-set included preference whiteness. She carried these sentiments into col- for whiteness and the overall belief in the superior- lege. She says, ity of the white dominant group over racial subordinates. The first year [in college], I remember meeting In the mid-twentieth century, Memmi (1965) some Koreans through intervarsity and feeling touched on this process of IRO in his writings really uncomfortable and saying, “I’m not about the oppressive colonial relationship between really Korean.” My experiences with Korean the French colonizers and the North African colo- Americans have been really negative. I don’t nial subjects in French-occupied North Africa. feel like I belong. I want to joke that I was Memmi described the internalization process of like Ivory soap. I was 99.44 percent American. self-hatred by the oppressed as follows: That’s what I would say. That’s how I would identify. I was the “Twinkie.” I was . very, The crushing of the colonized is included very “Americanized” and kind of joked about it. among the colonizer’s values. As soon as the Because they would say, “Oh, you’re very colonized adopts those values, he similarly American,” because a lot of them were from adopts his own condemnation. In order to free California. himself, at least so he believes, he agrees to destroy himself. Just as many people avoid Ava’s powerful self-description as “Ivory soap” showing off their poor relations, the colonized and a “Twinkie” illustrates how she saw her own in the throes of assimilation hides his past, his social positioning during that period of her life: as traditions, in fact all his origins which have someone who felt “yellow” on the outside and become ignominious. (Pp. 121–22) “white” on the inside. Although Ava attributed her shortcomings to her Korean ethnicity, her use of It is within this oppressive colonial structure that the ascribed racial term yellow highlights the influ- the colonial subjects can potentially begin to ence and inescapable nature of racial identity and believe, internalize, and project the shame of who racialization for Asian Americans (Kim 1999; Tuan they are. Being at the receiving end of denigrating 2001). behaviors, the oppressed begin to question their We begin this article with Ava’s story to provide identity, believe that they are inferior, and exude an example of an individual who grappled with self-doubt and self-hatred (David and Derthick racial and ethnic self-doubt and belonging and har- 2014; Fanon 1963; Memmi 1965). IRO embodies bored a sense of shame and inferiority. These are the existence (and perpetuation) of this reflexive all thoughts and behaviors associated with the process of internalizing and reproducing the “con- reproduction of racial inequality, and it reflects tempt and pity” of the dominant group. how racial subordinates have internalized their Although this strand of literature is not new own racial oppression (Pyke 2010). research terrain (Chou and Feagin 2008; David What is internalized racial oppression (IRO)? 2014; Hill 2002; Hunter 2002; Kohli 2014; Pyke Scholars who study systems of oppression have and Dang 2003; Schwalbe et al. 2000), the system- argued that internalized oppression is an “inevita- atic study of the processes that contribute to the ble” condition of these structures (Pyke 2010:553; reproduction of structural racial inequality and Schwalbe et al. 2000). Scholarship addressing oppression is a vastly understudied topic within the themes of IRO existed long before the emergence fields of race, ethnicity, and migration studies in of this terminology. In the early twentieth century, the social sciences (David and Derthick 2014; Pyke Du Bois (1903:3) wrote about the existence of 2010). How does IRO function among children of “double-consciousness,” or “this sense of always immigrant communities? Specifically, what are the Trieu and Lee 69 processes that sustain or thwart IRO within the oppression and its psychological effects (Clark and Asian immigrant community in the United States? Clark 1947; Fanon 1963; Memmi 1965). However, These are crucial questions to examine because the only relatively recently has the field of psychology ideology of IRO has vast material and psychologi- directly tackled the experiences of internalized cal consequences, as it bears heavy weight on how oppression and its consequences among Asian victims of racism understand and define them- Americans (David 2014). This strand of literature selves and others (Chong and Kuo 2015; David has been particularly focused on Asian American 2014; Pyke 2010). communities that have been directly affected by the Although previous migration studies on this vestiges of U.S. imperialism (e.g., Filipinos). In topic have noted the existence of IRO perceptions general, this emergent area has examined the role and behaviors from a static perspective (Danico of, and psychology-related treatment for, internal- 2002; Kibria 2002; Pyke and Dang 2003; Tuan ized racism within racialized minority communi- 1999), in this article, we extend the current litera- ties (David 2009; David and Derthick 2014; Kim ture by empirically examining the fluidity behind 2008; Millan and Alvarez 2014). individual perceptions and behaviors over a life In other studies, IRO has explored various topics course. Our research addresses the potential shift ranging from colorism (privileging of lighter skin out of perceptions and behaviors that perpetuate tones) and its association with social, racial, and internalized racism. We seek to pinpoint the factors symbolic capital
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