Why the Hate: The Recent Rise of Asian American Racism on Social Media

Created on 31st January 2023

Conference: The Asian Undergraduate Research Symposium (AURS10)
Title: Why the Hate: The Recent Rise of Asian American Racism on Social Media
Stream: Culture, Popular Culture and Cultural Studies
Presentation Type: Virtual Poster Presentation
Authors:
Yun Yeong Choi, University of Utah, United States

Abstract:

Until 1943, the US congress closed the gate to people of Chinese origin. This was called the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which proves that discrimination towards people of Asian descent is not new.
With the outbreak of Covid-19, the Asian American experience has again become more turbulent as tension and the fear of being different increased in the United States. This can be contributed to many blaming people of Asian descent for the virus because it is believed to have originated in China. The outbreak forced people to isolate and quarantine, leading to a rise in Social Media use. This increase in usage made Social media a vital network channel for people to communicate and gain information about the unknown or new knowledge about the world. But with more people than ever using social media, especially Instagram, Asian racism has become so problematic and destructive that a new Social Movement has arisen, StopAsianHate. Many Asian American influencers, including Olivia Munn, Daniel Dae Kim, and Jamie Chung, spoke out on social media using the hashtag #StopAsianHate and became the new targets of aggression and abuse. Therefore, the purpose of the project is to investigate the most recent rise of racism against Asian Americans on social media by analyzing racist comments targeting Asian American influencers/celebrities and discussing how they are responding in order to better understand the psychology behind the blaming of Asian Americans for Covid-19 as well as possible ways to combat online harassments that contribute to depression and anxiety.