Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to rising hate crimes and discrimination against Asian peoples worldwide. We, four Vietnamese graduate students from different disciplines and educational systems, come together to discuss the #StopAsianHate movement during the global pandemic, which lead us to investigate the larger issue of identity and systemic racism. This study is grounded by deconstructionism to de-essentialize the concreted dichotomy of the original white identity and the deficient Asian identity; thus, we reveal the diversity in a company called “Asian.” Our study begins with a digital visual approach to analyze online photographs regarding the #StopAsianHate movement, which broadens our understanding of the complexity of racism in different contexts. We then write letters to one another to share our reflections, personal stories, and/or strategies to strengthen us to counter the discrimination we saw online or experienced in real life. These insights are synthesized into a unifying letter to promote actions to develop collaborative learning and connections in a time of turbulence. This research demonstrates that art-based methods have the potential to set up a creative space, even virtually, where diverse individuals co-create new knowledge and cultivate collective resilience to address racism.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Jessica Senehi (University of Manitoba) for offering us generous and constructive feedback. We also appreciate Giang Nguyen Hoang Le (Brock University) and Dr. Hoa Pham (University of Auckland) for their guidance throughout the abstract proposal stage.
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Dong, H.B., Vo-Tuan, S., Vu-Hoang, L., Bui, N.P.T. (2023). The #StopAsianHate Movement: Deconstructing Asian Hate Through Digital–Visual Approach and Letter Writing. In: Mreiwed, H., Carter, M.R., Hashem, S., Blake-Amarante, C.H. (eds) Making Connections in and Through Arts-Based Educational Research. Studies in Arts-Based Educational Research, vol 5. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8028-2_9
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