Addressing Discrimination Against Asian American and Pacific Islander Youths: The Mental Health Provider's Role

Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are the fastest growing racial minority in the United States. With more than 40 subgroups in the diaspora, 1 in 10 American youths will be of Asian origin by 2060. Racism-defined as prejudice, discrimination or antagonism on the basis of membership in a particular racial or ethnic group-is increasingly recognized as a public health crisis.¹ Anti-AAPI racism, such as unequal resource distribution in housing, education, employment, and health care, exclusionary naturalization policies and violence^1,2 (eg, Pacific coast riots, Japanese Americans' internment during World War II, recent Atlanta shootings) is well documented. Anti-AAPI microaggressions-that is, the subtle, sometimes unintentional forms of racism such as characterizations as perpetual foreigners, ascriptions of intelligence, oversexualization of women, invalidated interethnic differences, and model minority myth-are common. The model minority stereotype dismisses real struggles¹ and pits AAPIs against other racial minorities. Despite the proud tradition of AAPI activism , discrimination is often endured in silence, probably stemming from cultural values of stoicism and harmony, and tacit societal acceptance of racism.³.