Using an ecological framework, the authors explore the reasons for peer discrimination and harassment reported by many Chinese American youth. They draw on longitudinal data collected on 120 first‐ and second‐generation Chinese American students from two studies conducted in Boston and New York. Our analyses suggested that reasons for these experiences of harassment lay with the beliefs about academic ability, the students' immigrant status and language barriers, within‐group conflicts, and their physical appearance that made them different from other ethnic minority or majority students. Implications and future research are also discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.