“It Goes under the Radar!”: In/Visibility of Anti-Asian Racism from a Canadian Youth Perspective

Abstract

Guided by Fanon’s constructs of racial epidermal schema, this study explored youth’s experiences with anti-Asian racism (AAR) and their perspective on how AAR is formed and maintained. We recruited 36 Asian youth (age range 14–23 years) residing in a metropolitan city in Canada to attend a semi-structured focus group. Results from the reflexive thematic analysis indicated the tenuous lines of invisibility and visibility of AAR—in a Whiteness dominant racial schema. When Asian youth are objectified within the boundary of Whiteness norms, AAR is pervasive but inconspicuous, happening early and frequently in their life but unrecognized. When they are objectified as threats to Whiteness dominance such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, AAR is visible in forms of overt discrimination, violence, and hate against Asians. Youth attributed roots of AAR to White supremacy and critically discussed their racialization process. Their reflexive insights serve as a form of resistance to AAR.