Racism and Resilience: Counter-Narratives of Asian International College Students in the Age of COVID-19

Using Asian Critical Race Theory and Resilience Theory, this qualitative study explores how Asian international college students experienced racism before and after the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they developed and used resilience to counteract that racism. Eleven Asian participants shared their counter-narratives through semi-structured interviews. Results reveal that, before the pandemic, participants were regularly subjected to racist acts and attitudes grounded in a deficit view of Asians that treated them as inscrutable foreigners, blamed them as individuals for perceived shortcomings in their home countries, dismissed their expertise outside of technical STEM fields, and failed to recognize their abilities in creative and leadership roles. During the pandemic, the racist acts and attitudes experienced by Asian international college students greatly exacerbated the unprecedented challenges of isolation, limited access to university space and resources, and financial and physical insecurity caused by the pandemic. Results also indicate that Asian international students developed resilience grounded on their life experiences and community assets to counteract racism.