Race, ethnicity, and social identities
Race and ethnicity are terms that can be used to categorize people into groups. But these terms come with a fair amount of confusion. Sometimes they are used interchangeably. And other times you'll hear someone say, "well, race is really a social construct," and that doesn't help clarify things either. What might come easier is knowing what boxes to check on tests and surveys that ask you, "What is your race/ethnicity? Please select all that apply." And even that might cause confusion.
In basic terms, race functions as a signifier for ancestry, heritage, and nationality. It is often based on physical characteristics. Ethnicity is based on cultural patterns of expression and identification. This includes values, social norms, worldviews, traditions, and systems of meaning.
So why does this matter? How we perceive ourselves and others impacts the way we navigate our world. Whether we like it or not, we are all assigned multiple social identities, not limited to categories including race, gender, class, ability, and sexuality. Within each category lies a pre-established hierarchy, an organized pattern of mistreatment targeted at individuals that hold non-dominant social identities. Furthermore, the hierarchy stand as long as members of the dominant group hold power and privilege over the others, designating which members are considered more "normal" and which are considered "other" or less than. These systems of oppression run deep in American history, affecting culture, laws, migration, and citizenship, who is allowed opportunities and who is not.
DHD 420 students were invited to fill out their Social Identity Wheel and on reflect on which identities mattered to them most or least, which identities they would like to learn more about, and how these identities impact the way they perceive themselves and others.
Let's delve deeper into how social identities of race and ethnicity might impact Asian American populations. Consider the race and ethnicity options provided in the 2020 U.S. Census. Are you well-represented in these groups? Which groups are not represented?
Asian American identity is defined in vastly different ways at individual and systems levels. The U.S. Census Bureau provides racial categories for Asians - Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, and Vietnamese, to name the first few on the list. While these assume the respondent is Asian, no categorical variable is given to Asian Americans. Data is collected, and statistics are created based on appearance (race), not the values or culture (ethnicity) that exists beyond first glance.
This lack of nuance was further echoed by class participants, not only regarding the lack of distinction between Asian and Asian American groups, but also regarding lack of representation in the categories already provided. Efforts made in policy and research to better represent the voices of our Asian and Asian American communities will inevitably be limited if the data provided fails to reflect their diversity.
A snapshot of Asian American immigration history in the US
To better understand the Asian American experience, let's explore how we settled in the U.S. Consider the selective immigration laws that permitted entry into the country based on employment- and skill-based visas (e.g., H1-B, E1-5 visas). The US saw an influx of "high-skilled" immigrants dictated by laws such as the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act and the 1990 Immigration Act. Consider also refugee resettlement which began in 1975 under the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act. After the end of war in Vietnam, a large wave of displaced Southeast Asians refugees resettled in the U.S. under this law. Asian immigrants working in high-skill occupations were joined by other Asian immigrants working in low-skill occupations.
From 1970 to 2016, Asians jumped from exhibiting the lowest income disparity to the largest, effectively making it the most economically divided amongst racial and ethnic communities (Kochhar & Cilluffo, 2018). This increase in disparity is reflective of a history of Asian immigration and the subsequent wide variation in education and income levels amongst Asians living in the U.S.
Other laws that dictated Asian American immigration and citizenship largely encouraged the perpetual foreigner stereotype and concept of "yellow peril" over the course of centuries. The Nationality Act of 1790 limited access to citizenship to white immigrants. The Naturalization Act of 1870 extended rights to "aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent," an attempt to promote integration for some while denying it to others based on race. Since the 1850s, the number of successful Chinese workers and entrepreneurs in the U.S. had been steadily growing. As their success grew, so did the intensity of anti-Chinese sentiment, culminating in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which effectively banned Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S. This act was repealed in 1943, replaced by the Magnuson Act which permitted a quota of 105 Chinese immigrants annually. Asian immigrants, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders were granted citizenship rights under the Immigration and Nationality Act (also known as the McCarran Walter Act) passed in 1952. This act abolished race as a criteria for naturalization, previously specified in the naturalization acts of 1790 and 1870.
Even though these nationality and exclusion acts may have been repealed, the effects of the long history of racism against Asian Americans are still noticeable. Asians and Asian Americans are consistently seen as "other" in a White dominant society, playing a significant role in experiencing hope, life satisfaction, and identity (Huynh et al., 2011). "No, where you are originally from?" implies a lack of belonging and in-group status.
Community Engagement Parter: Digital Tapestries
This week in DHD 420, we were joined by Jonas (Hart) Ginsburg, founder and director of Digital Tapestries (DT). Digital Tapestries is a Chicago-based multimedia company that produces interactive books, short films, and multi-sensory visual-arts experiences. DT aims to create spaces to explore humanistic qualities rooted in empathy, ultimately promoting healing through art and human connection. Hart has worked as a psychotherapist with Asian refugee communities, learning to incorporate elements of art and culture to promote wellbeing. Now he continues to pursue a similar end, hoping to serve culturally diverse groups through the therapeutic arts.
One activity he introduced is the following hand-tracing activity, intended to facilitate reflection and understanding of how the past impacts one's intersectional identities and direction moving forward.
Gaining a clearer picture of Asian American history, immigration, and oppression is a long, difficult journey. Sometimes it may help us better understand who we are and where we come from, and other times it may shed light on pain and hurts that extend into present day. We intend this exploration to ground us, then empower us to identify, heal, partner, and mobilize.
Acknowledgment
Thank you to Rooshey Hasnain, Ginger Leopoldo, Jonas (Hart) Ginsburg, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ) for providing class content and facilitating thoughtful dialogue that is reflected in this post.
Resources
A People's History of Asian America. YouTube series.
Are you "AAPI" or "Asian American"? It's Complicated. | A People's History of Asian America
Social Identity Wheel. University of Michigan Inclusive Teaching.
References
"The Chinese: Many Handed But Soulless." (1885). The Wasp. The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Huynh Q.-L., Devos, T., & Smalarz, L. (2011). PERPETUAL FOREIGNER IN ONE’S OWN LAND: POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR IDENTITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30(2), 133–162.
Improvements to the 2020 Census Race and Hispanic Origin Question Designs, Data Processing, and Coding Procedures. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2021/08/improvements-to-2020-census-race-hispanic-origin-question-designs.html
Kochhar, R. & Cilluffo, A. (2018). Income inequality in the U.S. Is rising most rapidly
among Asians. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/07/12/income-inequality-in-the-u-s-is-rising-most-rapidly-among-asians/
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