Abstract:
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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.
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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.
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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.