Recorded presentation

Joshua S. Yang, MPH, Community Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CHS 36-071, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, (310) 874-7992, joshy@ucla.edu

Increasing attention is being paid to racial and ethnic disparities in health, as evidenced by the growing activity around the issue in the government, the expanding size of the professional literature on the subject, and the rise in the number of research centers devoted specifically to racial and ethnic disparities in health. A critical component to racial and ethnic disparities in health is racism, both interpersonal and institutional. Racism, however, is an oft undefined concept and its application to racialized groups assumes that racist mechanisms operate equally in each group. This, however, is an erroneous assumption. Societal treatment of blacks, Latinos, and Asians differ, each with its unique history of interaction with broader power structures. The current paper examines the specific racialized “Asian” category, offering a historically based explanation of how Chinese, Japanese, and other ethnic groups became “Asian,” demonstrating how global processes of nation-building and German anti-Semitism and national trends in immigration and racial lumping contributed to the development the “Asian” racial category. Additionally, a framework for understanding cultural racism and its links to ideologies of foreignness will be presented as a means of understanding how racial prejudice and discrimination operate for Asians. Implications for understanding cultural racism toward Asians specifically in a health care context are presented as are recommendations for intervention and further research.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, participants will (
• understand how global and national processes have impacted the development of racial categories, (
• relate experiences of immigration to those of racialization, and (
• be able to develop interventions that appropriately deal with the unique racial experiences of Asian Americans.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation