Internalized Racism: How it's Harming Asian Americans

Asian American identity is unique and distinct to every individual — one’s triumphs, failures, and setbacks that form the umbrella of pan-Asian unity. It is no mystery that Asian Americans still face racism in the United States today — but there is a phenomenon that many do not acknowledge as overtly.

Internalized racism cannot be reduced to a single observable phenomenon, nor can its cause be traced to one attribute. It is a compilation of numerous systemic and systematic forms of racism against Asian Americans that have amounted to notions of hatred and unease towards themselves and how they identify with their culture. Asian Americans must understand (at least some of) the driving forces of internalized racism to identify harmful mindsets that they personally possess to combat this phenomenon as a cohesive community.

What Is Internalized Racism?

Internalized racism can be observed through hatred, doubt, and hostility towards themselves and their culture. These ideas are not necessarily perpetrated by the individuals that harbor these sentiments, but rather society and the media at large. Eurocentric beauty standards, white-dominated industries, and the continuous oppression and misinformation surrounding minority groups contribute to these feelings of disdain and self-hatred channeled through the individuals of a single group or culture.

While there are many elements, surface-level and those that require deeper digging, that enumerate this phenomenon, the spotlight focuses on false narratives, negatively-impacting stereotypes, and defensive othering — three extremely influential elements contributing to internalized racism, especially in Asian Americans.

The Harms of False Narratives

Distinct to the Asian American community, harmful and inaccurate stereotypes enforced by Hollywood and perpetuating false-narratives in the media have taken a heavy toll on how Asian American individuals view their own culture. The Model Minority Myth — the idea that all Asians are extremely smart, calm, self-reliant, and excel in pathways more so than other minorities — is one of the most well-known, harmful narratives Western society has put upon Asian-Americans. This creates a division between Asian Americans and other racial/cultural groups oppressed by the same oppressor. It would cause an abnormally high (and highly unfeasible) standard for second-generation Asian Americans to uphold for themselves, irrational expectations leading to detrimental effects on mental health and confidence.

The shame when an Asian American student does not live up to the “straight-As” narrative or the “good college” narrative can compromise how they view themselves in the long run — feelings of inadequacy and self-hatred that can set them on a downward spiral in their academic journey, and “not ‘living up to’ the image of academic excellence that others seem to expect of you’ (Juon & Lee, 2008).” The Model Minority Myth has caused many Asian Americans to value work and success over personal joy and happiness. Being smart and having a good job equates to life satisfaction. Many Asian American parents seem to enforce this misleading narrative despite its inaccuracy, causing many high school and college students to overexert their academic capacities in the false hope that throwing themselves into their work will indefinitely lead to joy.

The false notion that Asian Americans are just able to push forward and excel in their careers more than their other Black and Brown counterparts has created a long-lasting history of anti-Black racism in Asian American communities. The association of paler skin with sophistication versus darker skin with unintelligence and laziness, enforcing the belief that all Black people are inherently violent, and more. The Model Minority Myth has implemented the idea of if you work hard and seek the opportunities presented to you, you can make it to the top. Asian Americans have applied this mindset to shun other minorities for not being as “successful” like them, failing to ignore the numerous systemic implications that prevent many Black individuals from excelling in the same manner.

It is also important to mention as the Model Minority Myth is debunked that Asian Americans do have a history of gang-related violence, drug addiction, and criminal history — they are not devoid of crime just because of their ethnicity or race — and not all Asian Americans get straight-As, ace all their tests, or find math easy. An increase in ecstasy use among Asian American teens and a rise in hazing and drinking deaths in Asian fraternities show that addiction is a genuine and scary issue that many communities face, not just limited to “ghettos” or a single racial group.

Myths like the Model Minority have been normalized and unquestioned for years. Asian Americans have succumbed to these false narratives set up by society to the point that they claim and take pride in being the “model minority.” See the harm? Many of these individuals are unaware that they are allowing this myth — that was, in fact, never made to help their cultural group — to be sustained.

Asian Identity writes, “One need not experience discrete, identifiable instances of overt discrimination to internalize racial oppression. White racism can infiltrate the world view of the racially oppressed without their conscious consent (Osajima 1993) in a subtle process; some refer to as “indoctrination” and “mental colonialization” (hooks 2003).”

Asian Americans’ inability to acknowledge the detrimental effects of false narratives like the Model Minority Myth only gives Western culture more opportunities to tighten their oppressive hold on them. Also, to instill more feelings of hatred and doubt in Asian Americans themselves and their own cultures.

The Harms of Negative Stereotypes

While myths like the Model Minority could seem like a backhanded compliment, of sorts, Western culture has enforced more overt, negative stereotypes onto the Asian-American community. Desensitivity of violence towards Asians in Hollywood has carried over into everyday life — a painful reality in which racial microaggressions and racist comments are hurled at Asian-Americans so casually. It causes individuals to learn to “suck it up” and “take it,” which can tie back to the impassive stereotype imposed by the Model Minority Myth.

Comments like “all Asians look the same,” “ching chong,” and the “small dick” Asian stereotype are just a few of the many racial microaggressions that many Asians face from their white friends, sometimes even from other BIPOC. Many Asian American teens go through this harassment so frequently many have just laughed along with these jokes, allowing them to continue — failing to realize that every time these insults

are laughed off, will only worsen their internalized hatred and pride in their culture, ashamed to associate themselves with these negative stereotypes.

Stereotypes can affect Asian Americans across the board. The exoticization and sexualization of Asian American women in film and TV bridges the defense for hate-crimes against Asian American women and the term ‘Asian Fetish.’ Through these depictions, Asian American women are reduced to one-faceted beings and viewed as sexual objects.

In 2001, two white men and a woman kidnapped, raped, and assaulted two Japanese women in Spokane, Washington. All three raped the two young women over seven hours, videotaping the ordeal, motivated only by their sexual biases. The police reported that these rapists harbored a sexual fantasy and fixation surrounding Japanese women — “very infatuated with the Japanese race” — and failed even to classify the act as a hate crime.

Physical and psychological harm towards Asian American men and women has been brushed off and normalized by the individuals subject to this treatment, and more frighteningly, the institutions that should be protecting them.

The enforcement of these sentiments has created a threatening environment for Asian-American individuals, singling out Asian-American men and women and putting them at risk of physical and emotional violence and trauma from society.

The Harms of Defensive Othering

The most psychologically intriguing perpetrator of internalized racism can be spotlighted at defensive othering. Instead of fulfilling a stereotype like the Model Minority Myth, they take as many steps away from their heritage as trying to “fit in” with their white counterparts, pushing out any items of their appearance or life that tie them to their culture. In this phenomenon, these individuals become “white-passing,” and motivated by internal self-hatred already manifested in this practice, they assert a type of dominance over their cultural group, thinking themselves “better” than other members’ race ethnicity because they identify more with their white peers.

The harmful implications in the distinction between “whitewashed” and “FOB” (fresh-off-the-boat) Asian Americans are explored in a study by Pyke and Dang (2003). Defensive othering can be observed in Asian Americans that ridicule other Asian Americans for looking “too Asian” and calling them FOBs, claiming they only like to date white men, hating immigrants, and upholding any other anti-Asian sentiments. In doing this, these individuals believe that the farther they distance themselves from their culture, the further they distance themselves from the negative stereotypes surrounding that said culture. In reality, this mindset only does more harm than good — it creates a division between individuals of the same ethnic group, compromises unity in pan-ethnic identity, enforces harmful stereotypes, and gives these individuals a false sense of superiority.

“FOB” is used as an insult, words from white-sympathizing Asian Americans towards other Asian Americans that display overt reflections of their culture — speaking in their native language, dressing in traditional clothes, eating cultural food, etc. While embracing culture should never be ashamed of, defensive othering has led to the distinction between individuals more involved in their culture as the subordinate group and those more distanced as the dominant group. Those called “FOBs” start to doubt the pride in their culture — should I be ashamed to speak my native language? — and more likely to succumb to the same pathway as the individuals that mocked them, rejecting their culture and moving towards Western influence. In this, it becomes a perpetual cycle of doubt and rejection, giving more power to the oppressors and instilling disdain towards oneself and culture.

In many ways, this is the oppressor’s goal to create alienation and distance between the same racial and ethnic groups to advance their tactics of oppression further. These individuals that (knowingly or unknowingly) take part in defensive othering may think that they are successfully identifying with the dominant group and have the privilege of separating themselves from the subordinated group. However, in reality, they are still just as Asian as those they are ridiculing.

It is important to note that despite the division that internalized racism creates because of the actions and mindsets of Asian American individuals, internalized racism as a whole is generated solely through white supremacy and oppression. It is essential to know who takes responsibility for catalyzing these false notions in the media. While internalized racism has been an enemy of Asian-American communities for decades, they need to uphold sustained efforts to dismantle these views and create healthy environments for Asian-Americans in society — efforts that the youth can actively continue through acknowledging their own harmful beliefs and working to free themselves of these false constructions.