JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The practice of aggregating Asian American (AA) and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NH/PI) data contributes to erasure of rich and distinct cultural communities and makes it challenging to advance health equity. According to the AAPI Data organization's long awaited report in June 2022, there are over 24 million AAs and 1.6 million NHs/PIs in the United States – growing by 40% and 30% respectively between 2010 and 2020. Philanthropic investments have not kept up with this substantive increase. AA community leaders and NH/PI community leaders in the United States Pacific Northwest expressed concern that there are families and children from AA communities and NH/PI communities who experience and witness acts of xenophobia and racism. This can cause racial trauma. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine emphasized the need for effective partnerships to advance the health and well-being of individuals and communities in anti-racism and system level research.

Objective:

The aim of this community-based participatory qualitative description study was to identify perceptions and experiences regarding racial discrimination, race-based stress, and racial trauma; intergenerational healing and resiliency; and sharing the body with science from key informants of an academic and community partnership as a part of anti-racism coalition building. This partnership of stakeholders includes academic researchers and community leaders from community-based organizations and a healthcare organization serving immigrant and marginalized communities, including AAs and NHs/PIs, in the United States Pacific Northwest.

Methods:

Ten key informants joined one of two participatory group discussions via video conference for 2 hours in 2022. We used a semi-structured and open-ended group interview guide. A qualitative participatory group level assessment was conducted with key informants and transcribed. Interpretations and meanings of main points and identified main themes were reflected upon, clarified, and verified with key informants in real-time. Hand-coded field notes-based data transcripts using conventional content analysis. Reflexivity was used.

Results:

There were 6 main themes: prejudice plus power in racism definition and working in solidarity to counter lateral oppression/false sense of security, microaggression as multi-layers, “not assimilationist by nature” and responding differently to white superiority, intergenerational and identity related trauma, what is healing among People of Color and through a lens of resiliency and intergenerational connection and knowledge, and mistrust and fear in the research and healthcare systems surrounding intentions of the body.

Conclusions:

The COVID-19 pandemic brought into broader awareness issues of anti-Asian racism and erasure that AAs and NH/PI communities have long faced. The themes highlight the importance of internal and intergenerational healing from racial trauma and the need for solidarity among communities of color to combat white supremacy and colonization. This work was foundational in an ongoing effort to dismantle racism and uplift community voice through a multi-sectoral academic and community partnership.