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Asian American Hashtag Activism, Identity

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Asian American Hashtag Activism, Identity THOSE ASIAN AMERICAN WOKE KIDS: ASIAN AMERICAN HASHTAG ACTIVISM, IDENTITY, AND INTERRACIAL SOLIDARITY A Dissertation by KYONG CHO Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Srividya Ramasubramanian Co-Chair of Committee, Cara Wallis Committee Members, Anna Wiederhold Wolfe Sarah Gatson Head of Department, J. Kevin Barge August 2020 Major Subject: Communication Copyright 2020 Kyong Cho ABSTRACT This dissertation examined the discursive strategies employed by Asian American activists engaged in interracial solidarity activity on Twitter. In light of the recent anti-Asian racism due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the long-standing model minority stereotype, studying Asian American identity and activity is a timely and relevant endeavor. The study contributes to a rich understanding of race relations in the United States beyond the black-white binary and furthers research on Asian American representation and use of social media for activism purposes. I use theories of racial formation and racial triangulation to make sense of the current racial order. I also conceptualize Twitter as a space conducive for the creation and maintenance of counterpublics through its affordances and build upon scholarly work on racial biases and representations online. I use critical discourse studies, discourse tracing, and guided interviews to answer the research question, how do Asian Americans express solidarity with other people of color online? I select three hashtags for analysis: #Asians4BlackLives, #JusticeForAkaiGurley, and #NotYourWedge. I also conducted interviews with seventeen respondents who participated in at least one of the hashtags above. I found in my analysis that Asian American activists employ several discursive strategies that redefine Asian American identity and position in the racial order. Because I theorize race as context specified and mutually constitutive, I found that in expressing interracial solidarity Asian American activists must interrogate their own racializations ii and challenge a racial order in which Asian Americans as a group are used to uphold white supremacy. They do this by creating alternative racial projects and use their racial identities as a mechanism or technology to accomplish their goals. However, challenging the racial order involves provisional and liminal redefinitions of identity and position. I also problematize the educational and class barriers to Asian American activism within the context of the model minority stereotype and techno-Orientalist perspectives. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee co-chairs Dr. Srividya Ramasubramanian and Dr. Cara Wallis. Earning a Ph.D has been my goal for the past twelve years. If not for your willingness to guide and oversee this passion project at a pivotal moment in my graduate school career I would not have made it. I’m very grateful for your feedback, your words of encouragement when I needed them, and your help in finishing this journey. I would also like to thank Dr. Anna Wiederhold Wolfe and Dr. Sarah Gatson for serving on my committee and for your feedback. I also appreciate how prompt you both were in your responses to my requests; it made the logistics of this journey much easier for me. I would also like to thank my interview participants for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. Your trust in me and our shared mutual passion helped make this dissertation complete. I am grateful to God for the privilege I’ve been given of indulging in my intellectual curiosities. After spending years pursuing a selfish goal, I hope to put my work to selfless purposes. I want to say thank you to my family. Thank you to my siblings, Jacob and Grace, for their presence and encouragement over my entire graduate school career. And lastly, thank you to my parents who always had faith in my passions. 항상 믿음읐는 어머니 아버지 감사합니다. 그리고 사랑합니다. iv CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES Contributors This work was supervised by a dissertation committee consisting of Professor Srivi Ramasubramanian (co-advisor), Professor Cara Wallis (co-advisor), and Professor Anna Wiederhold Wolfe of the Department of Communication, and Professor Sarah Gatson of the Department of Sociology. All work conducted for the dissertation was completed by the student independently. Funding Sources This work was made possible in part by the Texas A&M University Communication Department’s Research Enhancement Grant of $600 to fund data collection from TrackMyHashtag. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Communication. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………… iv CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES…………………………………… v TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………… vi LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………. ix CHAPTER I NTRODUCTION……………………………………………………… 1 Asian American identity formation……………………………………………… 12 Prominent stereotypes and their development………………………………… 12 Formation of Asian American as a panethnic group………………………….. 19 Asian stereotypes in entertainment and news media………………………….. 21 Asian American interracial tension and coalition building……………………… 24 African American and Korean American conflict…………………………….. 26 Coalition building……………………………………………………………... 28 Theoretical foundation: race and technologies…………………………………... 31 Racial formation theory……………………………………………………….. 32 Racial triangulation theory……………………………………………………..34 Technological affordances, raced technologies, and activism………………… 37 Asian America online: techno-Orientalism and race as technology…………... 48 Summary…………………………………………………………………………. 57 CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY………………………………………………….. 59 Critical discourse studies (CDS)…………………………………………………. 60 Discourse tracing………………………………………………………………… 65 Interviewing……………………………………………………………………… 69 Reflexivity……………………………………………………………………….. 74 Research design………………………………………………………………….. 76 CHAPTER III DISCURSIVE STRATEGIES IN #ASIANS4BLACKLIVES AND #JUSTICEFORAKAIGURLEY……………………………………………………. 86 vi #Asians4BlackLives……………………………………………………………... 90 Spike 1: OPD shutdown and BART protest…………………………………... 91 #Asians4BlackLives statements of solidarity………………………………. 93 Lawsuit against BART protestors………………………………………….. 94 Spike 2: Which side are you on? The Lunar New Year event………………… 95 Spike 3: 18 Million Rising Google Hangout………………………………….. 97 Spike 4: The deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile and Letters for Black Lives…………………………………………………………………..... 99 Minor spikes: Protest at Mayor Lee’s house and at Sing Tao newspapers…...101 #JusticeForAkaiGurley…………………………………………………………. 102 Spike 1: CAAAV’s vigil……………………………………………………... 103 Spike 2: Selfie campaign, I dream of Asian America, and CAAAV’s open letter………………………………………………………………………….. 106 Spike 3: Post-Liang’s conviction…………………………………………….. 110 Discursive strategies……………………………………………………………. 112 Discourse changes across ruptures…………………………………………... 113 Subordination to a white supremacist system………………………………... 115 Liminal and provisional position in the racial order…………………………. 118 Redefinition of racial identity through racial projects……………………….. 121 Asian America online…………………………………………………………... 125 Race as technology…………………………………………………………... 125 Twitter space as counterpublic………………………………………………. 128 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 129 CHAPTER IV DISCURSIVE STRATEGIES IN #NOTYOURWEDGE………... 131 Major spike: Twitter Town Hall………………………………………………... 135 Dominant discourse: media and white supremacy…………………………... 136 Disaggregation of data on Asian Americans………………………………… 139 Diversity benefits all…………………………………………………………. 142 Justice, not just us……………………………………………………………. 145 Minor spikes: Harvard’s personality traits and the amicus brief……………….. 148 SFFA v. Harvard University verdict……………………………………………. 152 Discursive strategies……………………………………………………………. 153 Discourse changes across ruptures…………………………………………... 153 Subordination to a white supremacist system………………………………... 156 Liminal and provisional position in the racial order…………………………. 158 Liminal and provisional identity……………………………………………... 161 Asian America online…………………………………………………………... 163 Race as technology in a counterpublic………………………………………. 163 Techno-Orientalism………………………………………………………….. 165 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 167 vii CHAPTER V GUIDED INTERVIEWS WITH HASHTAG PARTICIPANTS….. 168 Racial and ethnic identity formation………………………………………….... 173 Situational and diverse identities…………………………………………….. 173 Identities as political…………………………………………………………. 176 Political identification and activism are for the educated…………………..... 178 Politicization through education…………………………………………... 179 Critical reflection on educational and class divide………………………... 182 The white supremacist racial order……………………………………………... 185 White supremacy…………………………………………………………….. 186 White supremacy as systemic……………………………………………... 186 How white supremacy uses Asian Americans to perpetuate itself………... 187 Colonialism and imperialism………………………………………………… 192 Model minorities……………………………………………………………... 194 Analysis………………………………………………………………………… 199 Racial formation and the racial order………………………………………... 199 Racial and ethnic identity as technology…………………………………….. 201 Activism and privilege……………………………………………………….. 203 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 204 CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION…………………………………………………… 206 Summary………………………………………………………………………..
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