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HEAR US: a qualitative study of racial discrimination in Boston’s Chinatown and empowering change from within the community

OBJECTIVE: To qualitatively explore the impact of anti-Asian racism in a Chinese community in the greater Boston area. METHODS: Individual semi-structured interviews (n = 27) were conducted between June and September 2021. Eligible participants were ethnic Chinese immigrants living in the Boston are...

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Autores principales: Chen, Siyu, Luo, Yajing, Dong, Kimberly R., Yau, Yoyo, Hires, Ben, Liang, Shiwei, Tang, Alice M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10507619/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37732089
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1212141
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author Chen, Siyu
Luo, Yajing
Dong, Kimberly R.
Yau, Yoyo
Hires, Ben
Liang, Shiwei
Tang, Alice M.
author_facet Chen, Siyu
Luo, Yajing
Dong, Kimberly R.
Yau, Yoyo
Hires, Ben
Liang, Shiwei
Tang, Alice M.
author_sort Chen, Siyu
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: To qualitatively explore the impact of anti-Asian racism in a Chinese community in the greater Boston area. METHODS: Individual semi-structured interviews (n = 27) were conducted between June and September 2021. Eligible participants were ethnic Chinese immigrants living in the Boston area, who were recruited through a community-based organization and by word-of-mouth. Interviews were conducted in Mandarin and Cantonese and translated into English. Data were coded and analyzed using a directed approach to content analysis. RESULTS: The majority of participants reported personal experiences of anti-Asian racism, ranging from microaggressions to violent attacks. Although lockdown and isolation during COVID-19 affected all communities, the Chinese community suffered unique and prolonged trauma stemming from the fear of violent attacks against Asians. The older person/people, in particular, were severely isolated due to fear of exposure to anti-Asian hate crimes. Participants reported a variety of emotional, mental, and physical health effects associated with feelings of fear, anxiety, isolation, and powerlessness. Many preferred to engage in self-protective behavior changes rather than relying on external resources. CONCLUSION: Participants advocated for more education, community, and governmental support, and increased allyship between communities of color. These findings provide cultural context on the trauma this population faces and can inform further actions to address the wide range of reported health effects.
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spelling pubmed-105076192023-09-20 HEAR US: a qualitative study of racial discrimination in Boston’s Chinatown and empowering change from within the community Chen, Siyu Luo, Yajing Dong, Kimberly R. Yau, Yoyo Hires, Ben Liang, Shiwei Tang, Alice M. Front Public Health Public Health OBJECTIVE: To qualitatively explore the impact of anti-Asian racism in a Chinese community in the greater Boston area. METHODS: Individual semi-structured interviews (n = 27) were conducted between June and September 2021. Eligible participants were ethnic Chinese immigrants living in the Boston area, who were recruited through a community-based organization and by word-of-mouth. Interviews were conducted in Mandarin and Cantonese and translated into English. Data were coded and analyzed using a directed approach to content analysis. RESULTS: The majority of participants reported personal experiences of anti-Asian racism, ranging from microaggressions to violent attacks. Although lockdown and isolation during COVID-19 affected all communities, the Chinese community suffered unique and prolonged trauma stemming from the fear of violent attacks against Asians. The older person/people, in particular, were severely isolated due to fear of exposure to anti-Asian hate crimes. Participants reported a variety of emotional, mental, and physical health effects associated with feelings of fear, anxiety, isolation, and powerlessness. Many preferred to engage in self-protective behavior changes rather than relying on external resources. CONCLUSION: Participants advocated for more education, community, and governmental support, and increased allyship between communities of color. These findings provide cultural context on the trauma this population faces and can inform further actions to address the wide range of reported health effects. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-09-04 /pmc/articles/PMC10507619/ /pubmed/37732089 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1212141 Text en Copyright © 2023 Chen, Luo, Dong, Yau, Hires, Liang and Tang. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Chen, Siyu
Luo, Yajing
Dong, Kimberly R.
Yau, Yoyo
Hires, Ben
Liang, Shiwei
Tang, Alice M.
HEAR US: a qualitative study of racial discrimination in Boston’s Chinatown and empowering change from within the community
title HEAR US: a qualitative study of racial discrimination in Boston’s Chinatown and empowering change from within the community
title_full HEAR US: a qualitative study of racial discrimination in Boston’s Chinatown and empowering change from within the community
title_fullStr HEAR US: a qualitative study of racial discrimination in Boston’s Chinatown and empowering change from within the community
title_full_unstemmed HEAR US: a qualitative study of racial discrimination in Boston’s Chinatown and empowering change from within the community
title_short HEAR US: a qualitative study of racial discrimination in Boston’s Chinatown and empowering change from within the community
title_sort hear us: a qualitative study of racial discrimination in boston’s chinatown and empowering change from within the community
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10507619/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37732089
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1212141
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