Ethnic-Racial Socialization Through the Lens of German Young Adults of Turkish, Kurdish, East and Southeast Asian Heritage

The present study explored how racially marginalized German young adults narrate their ethnic-racial socialization growing up in Germany. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 German young adults of Turkish, Kurdish, East, and Southeast Asian heritage (aged 18-32 years, Mage = 26.7, SD = 3.08, 16 women, seven men, and three non- binary). Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in five themes. Young adults growing up learned: 1) what it means to be Turkish, Kurdish, East and Southeast Asian across settings, 2) racialization through a mixture of explicit, implicit, and subtle discrimination experiences, 3) resistance for survival, 4) resistance for liberation through displays of self-advocacy, and consequently 5) moved from “avoidance and help-seeking” to “action and solidarity” as strategies of resistance against racism. These findings expand our understanding of ethnic- racial socialization among racially marginalized youth in Germany and highlight the need for providing resistance strategies to youth not only to survive but also to disrupt racism.