Racial Discrimination, Ethnic and American Identities, and Anti-Racism Action Among Filipino and Korean Americans

Purpose: According to the Sociopolitical Development Theory (Watts, Williams, and Jagers, 2003), experiences of racial discrimination may motivate anti-racism action. However, extant research has a limited understanding in the mechanisms linking the experience of racial discrimination and anti-racism action among Asian American (AA) young adults. One prominent mechanism is bidimensional identity (i.e., ethnic and American identities). This is particularly relevant as most AA young adults are children of immigrants and undergo multidimensional cultural adaptation process. To fill this gap, this study investigates whether ethnic and American identities serve as mediators that shape the ways AA young adults engage in different forms of anti-racist civic actions in response to racial discrimination.
Methods: Data are from the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Asian American Families project that survey-interviewed 265 Filipino Americans (FAs; Mage=21.54) and 348 Korean Americans (KAs; Mage=21.23) in 2022. Three aspects of anti-racism action were measured as outcomes, including interpersonal, communal, and political change actions. Discrimination related to COVID-19 was measured through specific indicators: blame, assault, avoidance, and vicarious. General racial discrimination was used to gauge the overall experience of discrimination. Ethnic and American identities were tested as mediators. Path analyses were used to examine whether the effect of both types of discrimination on three aspects of anti-racism action were mediated by ethnic and American identities for each ethnic group.

Results: For both ethnic groups, COVID-19 and general discrimination were associated with more anti-racism action. In addition, for FAs, both types of racial discrimination were related to lower American identity, while ethnic identity was predictive of more anti-racism action across three domains. For KAs, general discrimination was associated with more American identity, whereas ethnic identity was predicted of more political change actions. Neither American nor ethnic identity had a significant mediating effect in the link between discrimination and anti-racism action for either ethnic group.

Conclusions/Implications: Our findings suggest that experiences of both general and COVID-19 related discrimination directly promote young AAs’ anti-racism actions overall. While our analyses did not identify significant mediating effects of ethnic and American identities, the results underscore ethnic identity as an important predictor of anti-racism action for both ethnic groups. It is plausible that various demographic factors, such as gender or place of birth, might influence these mediating relationships differently. Alternatively, ethnic and American identities might serve as moderators in the relationships between racial discrimination and anti-racism action. This study advocates for increased focus on understanding the diverse ways through which AA young adults participate in different forms of anti-racism actions.