Date of Award
Spring 5-18-2024
Document Type
Honors Project
University Scholars Director
Dr. Joshua Tom
First Advisor/Committee Member
Dr. Zhiguo Ye
Keywords
Asian, Discrimination, Othering, Racism, Covid-19, Pandemic
Abstract
Through an Asian American perspective catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this research investigates the concept of the state of the perpetual foreigner for Asian Americans and the subsequent cycling of race-related tensions. To define the state of foreignness for Asian Americans, this is understood first through Kim’s model of Racial Triangulation, which intends to model the relationships of racial groups in the United States – namely between Black, White, and Asians – through concepts of civic ostracization and relative valorization that relate directly to foreignness and hierarchy. This is then further expanded upon through the creation of a separate model, dubbed the “Sphere of Influence” model which describes the relative foreignness of “American groups” in relation to dominant sociocultural systems – especially that of the American system –and historical context. With this established, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, two historical addition periods of Anti-Asian aggression are investigated, being the Chinese Exclusion Act and Japanese internment. From this, a pattern of cycling is observed, being integration, agitation, escalation & separation, and resolution, which ultimately demonstrates how Anti-Asian American aggression continues to persist throughout history despite social developments.
Recommended Citation
Min, Philip, "The Perpetual Foreigner: Modeling Cycles of Asian American Discrimination" (2024). Honors Projects. 220.
https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/honorsprojects/220
Copyright Status
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Additional Rights Information
Copyright held by author.
Comments
A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the University Scholars Honors Program.