Racism and resilience of pandemic proportions: online harassment of Asian Americans during COVID-19

This study explores perceptions of online racial hate speech directed at Asian Americans in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined how individuals' enactment of resilience communication in response to that threat affected their self-reported estimates of personal health. Using a nationally representative survey (n = 1767) that oversampled Asian Americans (n = 455), we found that Asian Americans perceived the problem of online hate speech to be more severe than members of non-targeted groups. Analysis revealed a mediated pathway through which heightened perceptions of online racial hate speech were positively associated with individuals' enactment of specific resilience processes tied to identity affirmation, which was linked to positive gains in psychological health. Results contribute to resilience theory in the context of racism and the observed relationships between resilience communication and health. We discuss how individuals in minoritized communities and allies might use resilience to combat the synergistic stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic.