Image: MAURUSASDF/Getty Images
Author: Wandy Felicita Ortiz' 12 Common Examples of Microaggressions August 3, 2022
Although saying we “don’t see color” may be a well-intentioned turn toward diversity, openness and acceptance, the truth is that all of us do see it, and the differences we have culturally, ethnically and racially ought to be embraced. But some people’s attempts at doing so fall flat or miss the mark, resulting in what we know today as microaggressions. These offhand remarks might not sound or seem overtly racist, but they highlight the unaddressed biases many of us have when it comes to race, gender, culture and sexuality. They can be so subtle that it helps to take a look at some real-world microaggression examples in order to learn what they are and how to respond—and for those not affected personally, to learn how to be anti-racist and what it means to be an ally.
But first, what are microaggressions, exactly? Derald Wing Sue, PhD, a Columbia University psychologist who teaches prevention techniques on how we can face these moments in our lives, describes microaggressions as the everyday slights, indignities, insults, cultural appropriation and put-downs that people of color experience in their daily interactions, often from well-intentioned individuals who are unaware of their own White privilege and that they are engaging in an offensive and demeaning way.
Microaggressions are a reflection of “implicit bias“—stereotypes and prejudices that are outside the level of one’s conscious awareness. “They reflect unconscious worldviews of inclusion, exclusion, superiority and inferiority,” Sue says.
How are people of color impacted by microaggressions?
Microaggressions are not harmless, trivial or insignificant—they are ever-present in the lives of people of color. “Microaggressions are constant and cumulative in the life of people of color or marginalized group members,” Sue says. “They occur to [people of color] from the time they awaken in the morning until they go to bed, from the time they are born until they die.” In Sue’s 2019 study published in the journal American Psychologist, 75% of Black Americans said they experience daily microaggressions. And with each passing slight comes a lingering impact.
Comments (0)