People living in France from Asia face multifaceted, "
trivialized
" and rarely denounced racism, according to a study by sociologists published on Wednesday, which shows that the Covid pandemic has accelerated an "
awareness
" of these discriminations.
The authors of this study - financially supported by the Defender of Rights - noted that "
the daily experiences of discrimination (...) against Asians in France are rarely the subject of official reports
" and that "
research science has until very recently made little effort to document (them)
.
They therefore conducted, between 2020 and 2022 - i.e. at the time of the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic - in-depth biographical interviews with 32 young higher education graduates of Asian origin (newcomers or descendants migrants), aged 20 to 40, residing in France.
These "
surveyed
» had, at 80%, a Bac+5 level, and were from mainland China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan.
Two-thirds were born on French soil.
“You smell the spring rolls!
» ;
"Bowl of rice !"
Results: there are "
specific features
" of the experiences of anti-Asian racism, such as the "
trivialization
" and "
ordinary nature
" of their manifestations - often expressed "
in the form of humour
", summed up one of the study authors, Simeng Wang, during a presentation to the press.
For the CNRS researcher, “
public space, school and work
” remain the places of production of racism “
most frequently cited
” by respondents.
Some of them, children of restaurateurs, recount having suffered, at school, "
social contempt, with mockery from their comrades of the type
"
you smell the nems
"
,
“
bowl of rice
”, “she detailed.
Which nourished a daily "
feeling of shame
", but could also lead to forging an attitude of "
overcompensation and the desire to succeed
".
In terms of work, discrimination is also combined "
with a racial assignment
" of the person, underlines the study, which quotes the testimony of a graduate of a Parisian business school who "sent
her application for positions manager but did not get an interview.
The companies that called her systematically offered her positions as sales assistants
”.
Another lesson: "
racism does not manifest itself in the same way according to gender
".
Thus “
Asian men are subject to stereotypes linked to their often devalued masculinity
”.
While women, whose "
femininity is fantasized
", according to Simeng Wang, have to face "
the intertwining of racism and sexism
", in the world of work (sexual harassment) or in the public space - they are approached in the street by strangers.
"Workers, discreet, strong in math"
Faced with experiences of racism, "
the rate of reaction and recourse (by filing a complaint for example, editor's note) is very low
", she underlines.
The researcher puts forward several explanations: "
the model minority label - hardworking, discreet, good at math - which locks Asian people into positive stereotypes and prevents them from verbalizing
".
And, among newcomers, “
the heritage of Confucianism
”, “
poor language proficiency
” and a “
logic of survival
”.
However, underlines Simeng Wang, “
the Covid-19 pandemic, which was
” a moment of “
paroxysmal expression
” of this racism, played a role of “
catalyst in the awareness
”, individual or collective, of discrimination among the young people surveyed.
There followed more "
posts on social networks
", increased "
media coverage
" of these phenomena and public authorities who are more interested in them, according to her.
Finally, note: the situations are perceived differently depending on the origin of the people interviewed.
Thus those "
of Japanese origin
" put themselves more "
away from anti-Asian racism, associating it with people from other Asian countries
".
On the other hand, for those "
descendants of political refugees from Southeast Asia (boat people), the intersection between family history and colonial history predisposes them to reflections and debates on social relations of race"
, according to the study.