France, being a former colonial power in Asia and Africa, is home to millions of people descended from those former colonies. In the case of Asians, we are mostly referring to people from the former Indo-Chinese colonies of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Many of these people are refugees who fled those countries when the communists took over in the late 1970s, as well as their children.
The below article, which appeared a few days ago in France 24 (news), discusses the issue of anti-Asian racism in France even though Asian immigrants in France, including those born in France, are generally considered, in the words of the below article, as a "model minority". That rings a bell because for decades, Asian-Americans have been referred to with the same term. In the US, many Asian-Americans are uncomfortable with the term because they feel that it pits them against other minorities and overlooks the fact that their communities (Asians) also have to deal with societal problems.
In spite of the label in France, Asians do experience discrimination and racism, often subtle, often in the form of "positive stereotypes", more recently a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and often associated with France's colonial past.
This is an issue I have been interested for several years as it pertains to the US, and so I thought it was worth the time to translate it to English. One thing I wish the article had included was racism against Asians from other minorities and immigrants in France, if in fact, it is an issue.
https://www.france24.com/fr/france/20230317-en-france-un-racisme-anti-asiatiques-banalis%C3%A9-et-rarement-d%C3%A9nonc%C3%A9
In France, anti-Asian racism is trivialized and rarely denounced
March 17, 2023 12:55
-Text by Pauline Rouquette
Photo: "Tight eyes", "egg skull", "Hawaiian", "yellow face", "Chinese", "dirty Chinese", "Jackie Chan", "Ping Pong", "spring roll".
Caption: members of the Chinese community in France wave leaflets containing the remarks and insults they receive during a demonstration against racism called by the association, "French from China, Chinese of France" on November 21, 2012, at Saint-Ouen.
A study published Wednesday reveals that people of Asian origin face multi-faceted racism, trivialized and rarely denounced in France. Set up as "model minorities", the Asian populations show a low incidence of recourse against the discrimination of which they are victims, which could be explained by several factors, among them, linguistic insecurity, but also the colonial past.
Minimized, trivialized, and often unperceived because it is automatically justified as "humor". The racism suffered by people originating from Asia, in France, is however quite real, as revealed Wednesday, March 15 in the study, REACTAsia, published by sociologists and supported by the human rights defender, Claire Hedon.
Rarely denounced, discrimination against Asians had never until now been the object of an official report financed by this independent constitutional authority. But the Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to an acceleration of "awareness" of this discrimination, pushing scientific research to mobilize in documenting it.
"Since Covid-19, we have witnessed a global phenomenon in the rise of all this hostility toward this Asian population, often confused with the Chinese population," confirms Ya-Han Chuang, professor of sociology and researcher at the International Science Research Center Po(litical) Paris, who notes that a first awareness occurred in 2016 after the death of fashion designer Chaolin Zhang, 49, who died as a result of a violent attack in Aubervilliers.
As the REACTAsia report states, in France, discrimination manifested most frequently under the cover of "humor", is largely trivialized. Questionable pleasantries that happen especially "on the edge of social and close relations". Colleagues, friends, classmates...."These close connections..., often found on the edges of public and private life, make the reporting of these phenomena more difficult," the study shows, which notes that they are rarely punished.
To carry out this inquiry, in-depth biographical interviews were conducted between 2020-2022 of 32 young graduates of higher education, ages 20-40, and natives of 9 counties (first arrivals or descendants of migrants): Mainland China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
From data compiled by the researchers, several findings emerge. First of all, "clear specificities" exist in the experiences of anti-Asian racism, among which, the "trivialization" and the "ordinary character" of their manifestations-often expressed "in the form of humor", sums up Simeng Wang, a sociologist who co-wrote the study, head of research at CNRS and member of Cermes3, the two entities who did the investigation.
At work or in school, some of those questioned testified to have suffered, " social contempt with jokes from their friends" which has fed a "feeling of shame" and could have contributed to forging an attitude of "overcompensation and desire to succeed."
Furthermore, she notes, racism is not manifested in the same way according to gender. Effectively, "Asian men suffer from stereotypes tied to their masculinity, often devalued," while women whose "feminity is fantasized" have to face the "intertwining of racism and sexism," as much in the working world (sexual harassment) as in public space.
Low levels of recourse for a "model minority"
However, often the racism suffered by people of Asian origin is passed over in silence by the victims of discrimination themselves. A low level of reaction and recourse that the REACTAsia explains by the label of "model minority", which locks Asian people in positive stereotypes ('workers", "discreet", "strong in math") and prevents them from reporting situations of racism in which they can be confronted.
According to Simeng Wang, the weak command of the French language, "the logic of survival", and the heritage of Confucianism-which cultivates non-conflict relations- among the new arrivals could also explain (why) the Asian populations have less recourse to the law and authoritarian hierarchy.
As to the last aspect, Ya-Han Chuang, author of "A model minority? Chinese in France and anti-Asian racism" (Editor La Decouverte), wants to be "less essentialist", she says. Beyond the values of Confucianism, she prefers to "speak about the vision of the Asian population who are situated between the dominant and the dominated," says (Chuang), who is also a member of Project PolAsia. Analyzed by Djamle Sellah, doctoral student at Bordeaux Po(litical) Sciences, this project aims to analyze the specificity of political participation in France on the part of Asians and French of Asian origin.
"There is French society with, on the one hand, the majority population; on the other, the populations from the former African colonies, often stigmatized; and in the middle, we find the Asians, considered good immigrants, model immigrants who work hard and are silent, but who continue to be looked at through the prism of the 'yellow peril'' (a supposed risk that the peoples of Asia (will) surpass the West and govern the whole world. Editor note).
Other social factors, according to the sociologist, make it possible to explain the relative inertia in the face of discrimination which, more often than not, is not even perceived as such by the victims. "Their mastery of French is less, and for some (especially the Indo-Chinese refugees) they have such gratitude as refugees that this prevents an awareness of the daily racism they are subjected to." Thus, Ya-Han Chuang continues, "they recognize unfavorable treatment but don't necessarily have the intellectual resources that this translates as a manifestation of racism in their consciousness. And even less so that this transforms into a collective action."
However, 80% of the (people) surveyed in the REACTAsia study have a bac+5 (educational) level, and two-thirds were born on French soil. A choice that Simeng Wang justifies by the desire to identify the particularities of racism suffered by people of Asian origin who occupy an elevated social position. The question to which the team of researchers wished to respond, was the following, explains the sociologist. "Does the facility to express oneself increase the chance of being able to report experiences of social injustice?" In reality, she continues,"we have noticed that they are not necessarily spared this phenomenon, but that it takes different forms."
Not spared because there also exists a linguistic insecurity suffered by the newcomers though (they may be) graduates. People coming to France to pursue higher education may well have graduated and entered into the French job market, however, they do not master the French language, nor the administrative procedures to file a complaint, Simeng Wang continues, citing the linguistic and administrative obstacles that prevent recourse to the law.
A phenomenon also combined with a diversity of attitudes even within the populations of Asian origin, the REACTAsia study reveals.
Colonial past and ethnic-racial power relationships
"This goes back to the colonial past, " explains the researcher (and) author of "Illusions and suffering. The Chinese migrants in Paris" (Ed. Rue d'Ulm).
In effect, she (continues), people of Vietnamese, Cambodian, or Laotian origin (ex-French Indo-China) often have as parents, "boat people" (refugees having fled by sea from the Vietnamese communist regime between 1978-1981) or individuals received in France after the wars with the Khmer Rouge. "They have grown up in a family environment marked by this colonial past," explains Simeng Wang, contrasting them, for example, with people of Japanese origin, who were never colonized by France or by another Asian country.
"There is a different predisposition to these questions in connection with colonialization and the notion of ethnic-racial power relationships, even within Asia itself," the sociologist continues, evoking among others, the colonialization of Taiwan by Japan or the Chinese-Vietnamese war as well. "These events have played a part in leaving a legacy to those surveyed on the question of raising awareness of anti-Asian racism."
In concrete terms, this is expressed by a tendency to put racism at a distance on the part of individuals of Japanese origin, who feel less concerned than people of Asian origin from the former colonies of France.
Be that as it may, on this subject as well, the word-albeit timidly- is coming out. The Covid-19 pandemic, which was a "time of recurring expression" of this racism, has played a role in "catalyzing awareness," of discrimination, individually or collectively, among the young people surveyed, Simeng Wang reiterates.
For some time, social networks have permitted the emergence of a debate on the issue, Ya-Han Chuang says for her part, evoking the hashtag, # I am not a virus, used on Twitter at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to denounce acts of discrimination... and an epidemic of racist mixtures.
There has been increased media coverage of these phenomena and consideration of a problem in which the public powers are becoming more interested.
Thus, the collaboration with the defender of rights will continue, notes Simeng Wang, who adds that a video mini-series will soon be widely disseminated. "For the 'action' portion, it will be particularly about collaborating with participating actors to promote the mini-series, and to organize screenings (and) debates, particularly in the school environment, to sensitize the population, and particularly, the majority population."
