Gendered Stereotypes of Race

#StopAsianHate. Do gendered stereotypes of race shape patterns of prejudice and aggression against Asian and Black men?

Man at demonstration with 'Stop Asian Hate' banner

Summer 2020 witnessed tens of millions of Americans demonstrating in Black Lives Matter #BLM protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In May 2021, a mass shooting in Atlanta that killed six Asian women then galvanized an emerging #StopAsianHate movement.

These racial hate incidents raise a series of questions: Do gendered stereotypes of race shape patterns of prejudice and aggression against Asian and Black men? Might emasculating stereotypes about Asian men (as low in physical strength) encourage anger and opportunistic aggression against them? Might hypermasculine stereotypes about black men (as physically formidable) inflate fear, increasing disproportionate (e.g. lethal) uses of force against them?

The MCI research lab is addressing these questions in a series of studies using a variety of methods, including surveys, experiments, quantitative social media content analysis and qualitative discourse analysis.

For instance, as a postdoctoral research fellow at MCI, Bruce Bao, now Assistant Professor at East China University in Shanghai, put to use a new AI tool he developed to study large bodies of English language text. Working with MCI Director Gries, they explored both intersectional race-gender stereotypes in general, and bias towards Chinese in particular.

In the video above, Bruce and Pete discuss what they learned about how Asian and Black men and women are stereotyped.