Creative Resilience Against Racism Among Asian Americans: Development of a Method

The experience of racism is inevitable and can become internalized when racism is persistent. As an Asian American woman, I am interested in exploring how art can be used as a form of resilience against internalized racism among Asian Americans. Racism against Asian Americans and recent immigrants from Asia has always existed throughout the history of the United States. Systematic laws, institutional policies, and cultural norms have set rules and narratives to put Asian Americans at a disadvantage. In addition, Asian Americans may have difficulty opening the conversation about racism. Internalized racism can cause physical and mental harm. I used the development of a method for my thesis through an intermodal transfer approach with the arts. The result was that the participant was able to explore their “core†identity compared to their identity based on their physical appearance. If there is an opportunity to continue the series of workshops, it would be best to have consistent group members while the workshop scaffolds identity, discusses systematic racism and challenges, and leads on utilizing art as a form of resilience against internalized racism. Further research on individual and group formats is recommended.