Asian Americans and Asian Canadians (herein, referred to as Asians) in North America have long been viewed as a model minority group that is White or White-adjacent, rarely if ever experiencing racial discrimination. Yet, their actual lived experiences show otherwise as recently demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been racialized as an “Asian” virus. In our study, published in the Journal of Management Studies, we examined the workplace experience of Asian professionals from a diverse set of industries during the pandemic to uncover evidence of not only subtle racism, but also blatant discrimination that included physical violence and aggression. 

Several prominent examples of racial discrimination included bordering behavior by non-Asian colleagues that emphasized boundaries and differences between racial groups, such as asking an Asian colleague to sit further away from everybody else or demanding that they quarantine or stay at home simply for being Asian. Other examples included comments portraying Asians as a foreign threat, including “Asians brought the virus!” and the treatment of all Asians as a monolith and the assumption that all Asians can speak on behalf of China despite their nationality or ethnicity.

We also uncovered examples of threats of violence and actual violence (i.e., spitting, threatening sexual assault, etc.) among our professional sample, most notably among healthcare providers, highlighting a particularly vulnerable group that must not only navigate racial microaggressions, but also threats of violence and actual violence.

Asians fight back

Despite being on the receiving end of these forms of discriminatory behavior, Asians did not silently sit back. In fact, our participants shared examples of agentic empowerment in response to these acts of racial violence, defying the stereotype that portrays Asians as submissive, quiet, and powerless. These acts of agency included confronting the aggressor to correct the unwanted identity (“I’m not Chinese! I’ve been here!”); reporting the aggressor to their managers or human resources (HR); and raising awareness about the discrimination faced by Asians by openly talking about their experience with colleagues and writing an article for a major news outlet. By doing so, these Asian professionals were able to reclaim their identity and project how they wanted to be seen (“I’m from [the U.S.]. I’m not going anywhere!”).

What you can do

This study aimed to dismantle the myth of the model minority within the organizational context by highlighting notable and common experiences of exclusionary and othering behavior many Asian professionals experience during the course of their career. COVID-19 added an important contextual piece that shed light on how racialization can be amplified by socio-cultural and political events, such as the Asianization of COVID-19. We highlight key examples conveying exclusionary behavior or comments toward Asians in the hopes that this will help individuals understand what it feels like to be made foreign in one’s own country.

By raising one’s awareness, allies can help identify and stop exclusionary behaviors, alleviating some of the burden felt by targets to confront. Moreover, allies can also offer support simply by affirming the lived experiences of Asians, validating the racism that many Asians in the U.S. and Canada face, even in the workplace.

We also share insight into the range of responses many Asians chose to adopt when responding to varying acts of racial discrimination. The in-depth look at the thought process highlights examples of different strategies that are available to Asian professionals when confronted with racial aggression in the workplace.

Our study illustrates one shade of North America’s underbelly of racism, a stark reminder of the role that race and racism play in the lives of racial minorities and the significance of incorporating the voices and experiences of racially excluded professionals in organizations.