Purpose

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into Asian Americans’ experiences with racism during elementary, middle and high school and how those experiences shape the ways they describe their racial identity.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a qualitative research design and narrative inquiry strategy. The authors used Chang’s (1993) Asian Critical Race Theory framework to examine participant’s descriptions of experiences with racism during elementary, middle and high school and how these experiences shape how they describe their Asian American racial identity.

Findings

Participants’ narratives revealed a common theme of silencing through two major processes: acceptance of the Asian American identity as an “other” and measuring the Asian American self against the barometers of physical appearance and the model minority stereotype.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on Asian Americans by examining how experiences as a child shape how they have come to perceive their racial identity in relation to their overall self-concept. The authors argue that Asian American experiences have been excluded from discourse on race in education as the model minority and perpetual foreigner stereotypes have allowed for this marginalization.

中文翻译：

---

“我不知道我可以发出声音”：亚裔美国人的童年经历如何塑造生活身份

目的

这项研究的目的是深入了解亚裔美国人在小学、初中和高中期间遭受种族主义的经历，以及这些经历如何影响他们描述种族身份的方式。

设计/方法论/途径

本研究采用定性研究设计和叙事探究策略。作者使用 Chang（1993）的亚洲批判种族理论框架来研究参与者对小学、初中和高中期间种族主义经历的描述，以及这些经历如何影响他们描述自己的亚裔美国人种族身份。

发现

参与者的叙述揭示了通过两个主要过程保持沉默的共同主题：接受亚裔美国人作为“他者”的身份，并根据外表的晴雨表和模范少数族裔刻板印象来衡量亚裔美国人的自我。

原创性/价值

这项研究通过研究童年经历如何塑造他们如何看待与整体自我概念相关的种族身份，为有关亚裔美国人的文献做出了贡献。作者认为，亚裔美国人的经历被排除在教育种族讨论之外，因为模范少数族裔和永久的外国人刻板印象导致了这种边缘化。