Title: Evaluating the ‘Model Minority’ Narrative Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: Interviews with Transnational Chinese Families and their Experiences of Discrimination

 

Defense Date: March 30

 

Abstract:

      The US has witnessed a resurgence in anti-Asian racism due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, contradicting theories that Asian Americans are assimilating into whiteness and mainstream cultural acceptance. I outline the history of the model minority stereotype behind these notions, and argue that it is a sociocultural construct shaped by neoliberalism, geopolitical tensions, gender, sexuality, class, and race. I use this understanding to explore semi-structured interviews with transnational Chinese families. Drawing from Kimberle Crenshaw’s intersectionality and Stuart Hall’s inferential racism as theoretical frameworks, I contextualize how participants 1) articulate and understand experiences of discrimination, and 2) how COVID-19 has broadly impacted their daily lives. This study investigates how the pandemic challenges notions of Chinese assimilation into the US mainstream.