ABSTRACT Asian Critical Theory highlights the tenet of intersectionality and four other tenets (i.e., Asianization, reconstructive history, strategic antiessentialism, and commitment to social justice) that are relevant to Asian American (AA) youths' (adolescents' and emerging adults') experiences of racism during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Based on 22 studies published between March 2020 and November 2024, this review utilizes these tenets as a framework to summarize and discuss the findings and methodologies of the studies on AA youths' experiences of pandemic racism. An intersectional lens is valuable because the reviewed studies suggest AA youths' experiences of pandemic racism vary with their gender and ethnic identities, nativity, and age. Nine studies interrogated Asianization by studying a single AA ethnicity or comparing two ethnic subgroups, while 13 studies reiterated by studying AAs as an aggregate. (Re)constructive history is supported as the reviewed studies suggest that anti‐Asian sentiments that targeted AAs as a major threat to America's public health in the 19th century reoccurred during the pandemic. The reviewed studies also support strategic (anti)essentialism by identifying eight forms of pandemic racism (e.g., discrimination) as risk factors for AA youths' development across four domains (mental and physical health and psychosocial and academic adjustment). Extending the tenet of commitment to social justice, our review indicates when facing pandemic racism, AA youths' commitment to social justice may be impacted by their identities (e.g., gender) and familial and social contexts. This review discusses implications for lessening the negative impacts of pandemic racism on AA youths' overall adjustment.
Chang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.