Racial Microaggressions: Racial microaggressions are the brief and everyday slights, insults, indignities and denigrating messages sent to people of color by well-intentioned White people who are unaware of the hidden messages being communicated. These messages may be sent verbally (You speak good English.), nonverbally (clutching ones purse more tightly) or environmentally (symbols like the confederate flag or using American Indian mascots). Such communications are usually outside the level of conscious awareness of perpetrators. Note that the denials by perpetrators are usually not conscious attempts to deceive; they honestly believe they have done no wrong. Microaggressions hold their power because they are invisible, and therefore they dont allow Whites to see that their actions and attitudes may be discriminatory. Therein lays the dilemma. The person of color is left to question what actually happened. The result is confusion, anger and an overall draining of energy. I had no term for this but experience it OFTEN. As a woman of color who looks young and has always held high level positions, questions about how I learned to be so professional or compliments on me accomplishing so much are common place (and are accompanied by me rolling my eyes in my head and clinching my teeth). *link in comment section* Please share your experiences as well.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 23:53:51 +0000
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