East Asian-American College Students' Attitudes about and Interactions with African Americans

The present study examined how East Asian-American college students experience and describe their attitudes about and interactions with African Americans. Because little is known about the interethnic attitudes and interactions between East Asian Americans and African Americans, a qualitative, descriptive method of study was utilized. Individual semi-structured interviews were administered to a convenience sample of East Asian-American undergraduates enrolled at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Analysis was conducted in four steps: organization of the data; generating categories, themes, and patterns; testing the emergent hypotheses against the data; and searching for alternative explanations of the data. Results revealed that while there were some noticeable similarities in students' responses, many reported sharp differences in the domains discussed. In fact, a key theme that appeared in this study is the importance of group heterogeneity when considering intergroup relations. The results of this study provide qualitative support for the salience of ethnic identity as a social identity for East Asian Americans. As part of students' discussions of positive interactions and/or relations with African Americans, they identified favorable conditions that supported the positive outcomes. These favorable conditions are consistent with contact theory literature, and include equal status, mutual respect, constructive and meaningful context, and a voluntary and long lasting nature. Students reported observing a mixed state of relations between African Americans and East Asian Americans, describing absent, superficial, hostile, as well as positive relations between the two groups. Most stated they believed change in the nature of African American-East Asian American interethnic relations should occur, particularly in the form of unity and equality between the two ethnic minority groups, and with the onus of change placed on East Asian Americans. Respondents' interethnic attitudes and interactions were largely influenced by the messages disseminated by society and the media, but also uniquely determined by the attitudes and experiences of students' parents. A final key note gleaned from this study was participants' positive leanings toward cultural pluralism. Limitations of this study and future research directions are also discussed