Pilot Study
with Asian Parents
Spring 2022
A continuation of our study with youth, we turned to Asian Canadian parents to understand whether and how they communicate with their children on matters related to race and anti-Asian racism. In Spring of 2022, we conducted a pilot study where we interviewed 56 Chinese Canadian parents across Canada from different language groups, including Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. All parents had at least one child under 18 years of age. This pilot study inspired our subsequent parent initiative, Project APPA.
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Click here to read a summary of our findings, or view our infographic below.​
We would like to thank Clover Chen for designing this infographic.
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Citation
My Script My Voice. (2023). What do Asian parents think about anti-Asian racism?
University of Toronto, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.
https://www.myscriptmyvoice.com/pilot-parent-study
Our Pilot Study Findings
Our conversations revealed that most parents do not discuss race or anti-Asian racism (AAR) with their children at home. Many parents expressed that AAR or racism is too challenging a topic to discuss, and felt that schools would provide sufficient race education for their children. Some parents associate the word "racism" with blatant and violent behavior and find it difficult to identify less overt forms of racism, such as microaggression.
While some parents do discuss racism, they often adopt a color-blind approach, such as telling their children that discrimination is wrong and that they should always treat everyone as equals. Many parents also normalize the existence of AAR, stating that it is "inevitable" or a "part of life".
Our analysis also noted a difference between first-generation and later-generation parents. Many first-generation parents attributed their experience of AAR to language and cultural differences, and believe that their children, many of whom are born and raised in Canada, will not experience racism as they speak English or French as their first language, thus rendering discussion of racism unnecessary.
Later-generation parents, who were born or spent their formative years in Canada, may better relate to their children’s experiences. However, they also find discussing racism at home challenging without a "helpful model’" to follow, as their own parents did not discuss racism with them growing up.
Despite the manifold findings, parents called for similar strategies and resources:
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Developmentally appropriate resources to guide conversations with their children from different age groups,
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Educational and community resources specific to Asian communities, and
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Strengthened school curriculum and education on anti-Asian racism.
The findings from the study inspired the ongoing Asian Parents Participatory Action (Project APPA), which aims to promote capacity-building in Asian parents, and bring together parents and community service providers to address anti-Asian racism.