Abstract:
This study examines how Asian American adolescents navigate identity formation in Charleston, South Carolina, where Asian presence is minimal and is overshadowed by a Black-White racial order. Sixteen semi-structured interviews with Asian Americans who grew up in the area were conducted. Each interview was recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically.
Four key themes emerged. First, participants were institutionally invisible yet socially hypervisible. Schools, civic organizations, and cultural initiatives rarely recognize the Asian presence in the city; however, they’re constantly marked as different through racially-charged comments. Second, supposedly complementary stereotypes rooted in the model minority myth erased individuality and created pressure to represent their entire racial group. Third, without co-ethnic peers, identity formation happened largely in isolation; they are also compelled to mirror norms of their white peers, often resulting in a sense of being “less Asian” compared to those in denser Asian communities. Finally, early adolescence emerged as a particularly crucial and vulnerable period during which subtle teasing encouraged conformity. It wasn’t until college that participants recognized how much institutional recognition they’d been missing.
These findings are significant because they reveal that belonging is structured by the interplay between institutional omission and interactional stereotyping rather than by individual attitudes or efforts. By focusing on a Southern city with minimal Asian co-ethnic presence, the study examines how stereotypes get reproduced developmentally, particularly during early adolescence. This approach offers a more nuanced understanding of how racialization and identity formation occur for Asian Americans in locations with minimal Asian presence.