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SUMMARY & EVALUATION ESSAY

Abdullah Mohammed A Almuhaythif

Hawaii Pacific University

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Summary & Evaluation Essay: The Continuing Significance of Racism in the Lives of

Asian American College Students

In this article, “The Continuing Significance of Racism in the Lives of Asian American

College Students,” Samuel Museus and Julie Park argue that Asian Americans (AsAm) are one

of higher education's most underestimated communities as they experience a lot of racism, and

further research on this population is needed. Authors in their study also try to explain the variety

of ways that AsAm students encounter racial discrimination (racism) in education on a regular

basis. In this article, the authors discuss future study and preparation associated with AsAm

higher education students. Future studies, for example, should also unpack how gender shapes

racism faced by Asian men and women in America. Moreover, this article provides a more

holistic view of aspects in which racism affects AsAm students' experiences at educational

institutions as well as how racism shapes college experience for Asian American students.

Throughout this essay, I will summarize as well as examine how the authors have discussed the

experiences of Asian American students.

The authors suggest that Asian Americans face institutional, cultural, and individual

racism in American society despite Asian-Americans' racial perceptions being monolithically

effective (successful) and resistant to prejudice. Furthermore, AsAm in US educational

organizations are one of the most misinterpreted groups since AsAm are facing cultural

manifestations of prejudice. AsAm students indicate the presence of societal norms and attitudes

that Western cultural values are more acceptable than Asian American cultural values,

considered as pointless cultural deficits. For example, the mainstream society and culture portray

Asian cultural values of silence and contemplation as an indication that a person in college

classroom settings is uninterested, disengaged and careless. Additionally, advanced education

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researchers have highlighted how Asian Americans encounter subtle racism every day, such as

overlooking their interethnic distinctions ("all Asians look alike"), assuming that they are all

intelligent ("you people always do well in school"), as well as denying their ethnic (racial) reality

(Museus & Park, 2015, p. 552).

The authors state that because of racial discrimination in the lives of AsAm college

students, they are substantially less inclined to be content with their campus racial condition than

their White peers. Moreover, these lower levels of fulfillment with the campus atmosphere may

result from numerous racial factors such as racial harassment, racial exclusion or isolation in co-

curricular campus life, and major pressure to assimilate into the cultures of primarily White

institutions (Museus & Park, 2015, p. 553). These factors lead to AsAm experiencing stress to fit

into their campus traditions (cultures) to belong and succeed. On top of that, (Museus & Park,

2015, p. 553) suggested that the model minority stereotype may negatively influence Asian

American experiences. For instance, the myth can mask Asian Americans' challenges and needs;

accordingly, racism affects the lives of AsAm students.

The authors found out the reasons that racism manifests in the lives of AsAm students.

They did face to face interviews with 46 students and asked how racism shaped their college

experiences in terms of nine concepts or themes. One participant talked about experiencing racial

hostility involving bullying, insults and racial separatism. For instance, Cynthia, a Chinese

American female student, tried to make sense of incidents in which she was called on the road a

"chink" as well as other racial slurs:

I don't know if it was because I'm quiet, but I was called a "chink" and things like that.

It's usually only when I walk by someone and they're always going to yell it out. I'm not sure, I'm
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not causing trouble, so I don't know why they're making chaos with me (Museus & Park, 2015,

p. 557).

Apart from that, participants explored how vicarious racism influenced their experiences

alongside their experiences with racial hostility. Vicarious racism occurs when students from

Asian American colleges observe discriminatory acts targeted towards other Asian Americans or

people of color. For instance, participants emphasized the salience of seeing other people

undergo racist encounters within their community. In the following comments, Tina, a Chinese

American girl, addressed the salience of these vicarious encounters with racial prejudice:

Personally, it does not have to occur to me because I don't have to be named a "chink" or

a "gook" or anything. If it occurs to some other Asian American, then I know it can happen to

me. One of my associates, who is Asian American, had smeared poop on his dorm door like

feces and they were the only Asian Americans on their floor. I've heard of so many other these

cases. I know this could happen to me. That is how it affects me directly (Museus & Park, 2015,

p. 558).

Tina's remarks explain how vicariously encountering racial enmity in the community can

influence the perceptions of Asian American students, even if they are not the actual perpetrators

of racist behaviors.

In conclusion, the authors find a number of implications for future research, calling upon

higher education researchers to improve our awareness about how prejudice influences Asian

American higher education environments. Finally, this article describes the experiences and

perspectives of racism affected AsAm students. Moreover, the findings in this article

concentrated not only on racial harassment but also on the model minority, as well as racial
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hostility in college. However, future studies should consider how ethnicity affects racism faced

by men and women of Asian American origins and it is also essential for scholars to dig deeper

into ways in which racialized campus cultures create pressure for students to gravitate and

immerse themselves in the subcultures of peers sharing their racial background (Museus & Park,

2015, p. 566).

The result of this study offers a systematic analysis of the variety of ways racism affects

Asian American college students. To sum up, the authors conducted a study of 46 people, using

face-to-face qualitative interviews at six 4-year post-secondary educational institutes across the

U.S with Asian American undergraduates, and organized the results into 9 concepts or themes. In

particular, they found AsAm participants stated suffering different types of racism in colleges

such as racial harassment, vicarious racism, racial isolation, the pressure to racially segregate, the

pressure to racially assimilate, racial silencing, and felt subjected to the perpetual foreigner myth,

the model minority myth, and the inferior minority myth.

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Reference

Museus, S. D., & Park, J. J. (2015). The Continuing Significance of Racism in the Lives of Asian

American College Students. Journal of College Student Development, 56(6), 551–569.

doi: 10.1353/csd.2015.0059