{"id":12756,"date":"2023-07-13T08:00:44","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/?p=12756"},"modified":"2023-07-17T09:19:29","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T16:19:29","slug":"whats-in-a-shared-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/2023\/07\/13\/whats-in-a-shared-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s in a Shared Identity?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2023\/07\/Liane_Thai_blog_header-768x432.png\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2023\/07\/Liane_Thai_blog_header-1920x1080.png 1920w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2023\/07\/Liane_Thai_blog_header-1280x720.png 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2023\/07\/Liane_Thai_blog_header-768x432.png 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"2 headshots: on the left, a South Asian woman with long dark hair, smiling and wearing a yellow cap sleeved top; on the right, an Asian American man, smiling and wearing a blue polka dotted collared top.\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>What\u2019s in a Shared Identity?<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Finding Bridges for Coalition Building Between Black and Asian American Communities\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n          <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span>Dr. Liane I. Hypolite, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at California State Polytechnic University and Dr. Thai V. Le, Turpanjian Postdoctoral Fellow in Civil Society and Social Change at the USC Equity Research Institute<\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">July 13, 2023<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 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     >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are at a time of intense racial strain as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-52905408\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Black people continue to be murdered by state-sanctioned violence<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/asian-america\/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-nearly-150-2020-mostly-n-n1260264\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Asian American communities are experiencing increasing incidents of hate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/why-the-trope-of-black-asian-conflict-in-the-face-of-anti-asian-violence-dismisses-solidarity\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">generations of multiracial solidarity are tested<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. There is a burdening <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full\/10.1177\/2378023121998128\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sense of hopelessness and anger<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, especially as we see how minoritized communities are deliberately used as pawns in political decisions and put in opposition to each other in the media and in policy discussions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We see in our daily lives how white supremacy capitalizes on and feeds the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/12\/19\/us\/black-asian-activists-policing-disagreement.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">growing tensions between Black and Asian communities during a time of heightened fears<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nber.org\/system\/files\/working_papers\/w30101\/w30101.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">growing inequality<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, upholding its power through policies and policing. Politicians perpetually exacerbate racial tensions through controversial and unjust policies purporting a false zero-sum narrative, as recently as Ron DeSantis\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/asian-america\/desantis-criticized-mandating-asian-american-history-banning-courses-s-rcna84972\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mandate to require Asian American Pacific Islander history in K-12 curriculum while banning teachings of critical race theory, barring AP African American Studies in Florida public schools, and defunding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in public colleges<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Such political tactics have historically used Asian Americans and their selective proximity to whiteness to denigrate Black communities and erase their struggles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In processing these events and how they diminish collective power by challenging coalition building between two minoritized groups, we turn to our own experiences and communities\u2019 histories to make sense of these interracial dynamics, and to share a more hopeful narrative for continued solidarity and fight for racial justice. As a mixed-race South Asian and Black woman and an Asian American man, our conversations revisited how public media and social discourse have historically and continuously pitted people who look like us against each other to prop up established social orders. We have witnessed, experienced, and recognized that anti-Blackness in Asian American communities and anti-Asian hate in Black communities are prevalent and have real consequences for opportunity structures. As we continue our endeavors for racial justice and solidarity, however, we must remind ourselves of an important but overlooked piece to this story: generations of Black and Asian American power and coalition building have overcome struggles through a shared understanding that our pathways to justice are tied to each other\u2019s liberation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><b>How Existing Racial Dynamics are Rooted in Our History<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the United States, the racialization of Asian Americans and Black Americans has been historically complex and intertwined. Foundational histories of African enslavement and Asian American incarceration serve as core examples of the ongoing denigration of African Americans as inferior and Asian Americans as outsiders, fostering tensions between Black and Asian American communities while upholding white superiority. This Black-Asian racial tension and racial resentment have manifested in many ways throughout history. For example, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/codeswitch\/2017\/04\/19\/524571669\/model-minority-myth-again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">model minority myth<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which essentializes Asian Americans as prosperous, obedient, and successful minorities despite societal challenges, has been used as a racial wedge against other minoritized groups, especially Black Americans, to argue that racism can be overcome by \u201cpulling yourself up by your bootstraps.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Black-Asian racial tensions are not insulated nor inconsequential. We see how minoritized communities are set up for conflict in dynamics like the Black-Korean conflict assumed to have contributed to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/30029771\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1992 Los Angeles riots and uprising<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> whereby Korean Americans were deemed the \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/43783305\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">middleman minority group<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d in the predominantly Black and economically excluded area of South Central Los Angeles. More recently, Asian Americans have been falsely portrayed as major <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/news\/racial-justice\/meet-edward-blum-man-who-wants-kill-affirmative-action-higher\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">opponents of affirmative action<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and Black Americans have been discriminately positioned as perpetrators of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/how-we-rise\/2021\/03\/11\/why-the-trope-of-black-asian-conflict-in-the-face-of-anti-asian-violence-dismisses-solidarity\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">growing anti-Asian violence during the COVID-19 pandemic<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though stories about tensions, violence, and conflicting interests between Black and Asian communities have created salacious headlines for mainstream media outlets and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/07\/02\/1183981097\/affirmative-action-asian-americans-poc\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">conservative activists seeking scapegoats to uphold white supremacy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, there is a deep, long-standing history of coalition building, solidarity, and collective advocacy among these groups that is overlooked despite its impact. Leaders of racial justice movements, such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/03\/19\/opinions\/black-asian-american-solidarity-jones\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Malcolm X, Ida B. Wells, Yuri Kochiyama, and Grace Lee Boggs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, have advocated explicitly for the needs of communities beyond their own. Whether it is the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/outlook\/2021\/04\/21\/unexpected-alliance-forged-after-rodney-king-verdict\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Black-Korean Alliance in the wake of the 1992 LA uprising<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/immigration-act-1965-changes\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the role of the Civil Rights Movement in expanding immigration from Asia<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/crg.berkeley.edu\/third-world-liberation-front-research-initiative-twlf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Third World Liberation Front (TWLF)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that catalyzed Ethnic Studies in the United States, Black and Asian coalition building under a shared identity of marginalization has worked to fight white supremacy, inequality, and injustice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><b>Exploring the Value of a Shared Social Identity<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As conversations persist on racially-contentious topics, including whether <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/how-we-rise\/2022\/10\/11\/are-asian-americans-people-of-color-or-the-next-in-line-to-become-white\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Asian Americans are the next in line to become white<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, how <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/pressure-mounts-on-los-angeles-city-leaders-following-leaked-audio-of-racist-remarks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">anti-Black rhetoric amongst Latinx, LA city council members<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> fostered distrust, and the ways <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/edsource.org\/2021\/california-becomes-first-state-to-require-ethnic-studies-in-high-school\/662219\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ethnic studies curriculum further develop and are challenged<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, how can we ensure that the rich history of coalition building across minoritized communities are not overlooked but act as a foundation for solidarity? One piece to this strategy will undoubtedly need to focus on the spaces and the people tasked with supporting the next generation of young leaders: high school classroom teachers. In our research on high school classroom teachers in Los Angeles, we begin to explore whether the term \u201cPeople of Color (POC)\u201d is still relevant in facilitating a shared identity around a history of struggle and resilience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With grant support from the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aera.net\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Educational Research Association\u2019s (AERA)<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aera.net\/Division-G\/Social-Context-of-Education-G\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Division G: Social Context of Education<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> organization and in collaboration with the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/partnershipla.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Partnership for Los Angeles Schools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, we shared a survey with The Partnership\u2019s educator community. What we found in a pilot survey study among 67 high school classroom teachers was that the term POC is least likely to be associated with Asian Americans among non-White racial\/ethnic identities, whereas African, African American, and Black groups were most likely to be identified as POC. Interestingly, we found that Black respondents were the least likely to identify people who are African, African American, and Black as People of Color. However, this is likely skewed because of the small pilot sample (i.e., 4 out of 6 respondents report African, African American, and Black people as People of Color). This data point may be nuanced by how participants view the relevance of the term \u201cPeople of Color.\u201d For example, one Black participant stated that they preferred to use the term \u201cnon-white\u201d as they believed that \u201cPOC\u201d felt \u201creductive and [created] a shared experience that is mythical.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following this pilot study, more questions arose about the pathways to coalition building through a shared identity. We were left wondering: Is the term \u201cPeople of Color\u201d still an effective marker of the potential for coalition building among the marginalized or has it become pass\u00e9 with this next generation of educators and learners? What is driving skepticism about the term \u201cPeople of Color\u201d among some and is it warranted?<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we have seen in the past with coalition building, shared identity labels like \u201cracial minorities,\u201d \u201cnon-white,\u201d and \u201cPeople of Color\u201d were used to bring together communities that have been oppressed, marginalized, and ostracized by white supremacy. These shared identities have been strategically used to unite communities of color, however, misusing such shared identity labels can also create harm when they do not recognize the unique lived experiences, particularities, and nuanced racialization of specific racial\/ethnic groups. In using these shared identity markers, we must also be cognizant that there have been intragroup tensions within communities of color, especially when fighting for crumbs in what is served to us as a zero-sum game. However, we know from our histories that one community\u2019s gain is not another\u2019s loss when we come together informed by our collectivist traditions to develop a shared vision for justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regardless of the term used to unite across shared struggles, it is imperative that our communities learn each other\u2019s history to find common threads that will strengthen the foundations for coalition building. Even though we may be left with more questions than we first endeavored in this project, we continue to see the importance of having these conversations in our classrooms and across our communities.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <hr \/>\n<p><strong>About the authors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-12758 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2023\/07\/Liane_Thai-300x180.png\" alt=\"Headshots of blog authors smiling: Dr. Liane Hypolite, a mixed race South Asian and Black woman, and Dr. Thai V. Le, an Asian American male\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2023\/07\/Liane_Thai-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2023\/07\/Liane_Thai-768x461.png 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2023\/07\/Liane_Thai.png 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dr. Liane I. Hypolite (she\/her) is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona where she teaches educational leaders who work across K12 and higher education settings. Dr. Hypolite conducts equity-driven research focused on analyzing the complex ways that institutional racism influences educational systems. Her research studies explore the ways that students, educators, and community members find opportunities for success and well-being, despite navigating unjust systems.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Thai V. Le (he\/him) is the Turpanjian Postdoctoral Fellow in Civil Society and Social Change at the USC Equity Research Institute. Dr. Le is a mixed-methods researcher studying varying topics of social equity, including immigrant inclusion, the digital divide, racialized and gendered burnout experiences in public organizations, the role of cultural competency on public service, diversity management, and representative bureaucracy. Dr. Le\u2019s research focuses on the mechanisms that drive inequality and how policy and programmatic interventions can address such disparities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 2023. This work is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Explore other articles\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/2026\/03\/04\/case-for-continuity-disability-support-services\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >The Case for Continuity: Geographic Fragmentation in Publicly Funded Disability Support Services<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/2026\/02\/19\/celebrating-solidarity-weaving-together-struggles-for-justice\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Watch Recording Now &#8211; Celebrating Solidarity: Weaving Together Struggles for Justice<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/2026\/02\/11\/annual-report-2025\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >ERI 2025 Annual Interactive Report<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":12987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[176,167,163,162,86],"class_list":["post-12756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-asian-american-communities","tag-black-communities","tag-coalition-building","tag-multiracial","tag-people-of-color"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What\u2019s in a Shared Identity?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/2023\/07\/13\/whats-in-a-shared-identity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s in a Shared Identity? 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