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Racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color ( Sue et al. 2007).

​
3 Forms of Microaggressions
1. Microassult - most similar to what is traditionally thought of as "overt discrimination." Microassaults can be verbal, nonverbal, or environmental:

2. Microinsult - a comment or action that communicates insensitivity or disregard of a person's identity

3. Microinvalidation - a comment or action that ignores or dismisses the thoughts, feelings or experiences of a member of an oppressed group

For more information see the following videos from PBS:

Microassaults, Microinsults, and Microinvalidations | PBS LearningMedia

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Research Help: Anti-racism Resources: What Does Racism Look Like? Microaggression

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Racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color ( Sue et al. 2007). ​ 3 Forms of Microaggressions 1. Microassult - most similar to what is traditionally thought of as "overt discrimination."

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Two colleagues-one Asian-American, the other African-American-board a small plane. A flight attendant tells them they can sit anywhere, so they choose seats near the front of the plane and across the aisle from each another so they can talk.

At the last minute, three white men enter the plane and take the seats in front of them. Just before takeoff, the flight attendant, who is white, asks the two colleagues if they would mind moving to the back of the plane to better balance the plane's load. Both react with anger, sharing the same sense that they are being singled out to symbolically "sit at the back of the bus." When they express these feelings to the attendant, she indignantly denies the charge, saying she was merely trying to ensure the flight's safety and give the two some privacy.

Were the colleagues being overly sensitive, or was the flight attendant being racist?

For Teachers College, Columbia University psychologist Derald Wing Sue, PhD-the Asian-American colleague on the plane, incidentally-the onus falls on the flight attendant. In his view, she was guilty of a "racial microaggression"-one of the "everyday insults, indignities and demeaning messages sent to people of color by well-intentioned white people who are unaware of the hidden messages being sent to them," in Sue's definition.

In other words, she was acting with bias-she just didn't know it, he says.

Sue and his team are developing a theory and classification system to describe and measure the phenomenon to help people of color understand what is going on and perhaps to educate white people as well, Sue says.

"It's a monumental task to get white people to realize that they are delivering microaggressions, because it's scary to them," he contends. "It assails their self-image of being good, moral, decent human beings to realize that maybe at an unconscious level they have biased thoughts, attitudes and feelings that harm people of color."

To better understand the type and range of these incidents, Sue and other researchers are also exploring the concept among specific groups and documenting how a regular dose of these psychological slings and arrows may erode people's mental health, job performance and the quality of social experience.
Aversive racism
The term racial microaggressions was first proposed by psychiatrist Chester M. Pierce, MD, in the 1970s, but psychologists have significantly amplified the concept in recent years.

In his landmark work on stereotype threat, for instance, Stanford University psychology professor Claude Steele, PhD, has shown that African-Americans and women perform worse on academic tests when primed with stereotypes about race or gender. Women who were primed with stereotypes about women's poor math performance do worse on math tests. Blacks' intelligence test scores plunge when they're primed with stereotypes about blacks' inferior intelligence.

Meanwhile, social psychologists Jack Dovidio, PhD, of Yale University, and Samuel L. Gaertner, PhD, of the University of Delaware, have demonstrated across several studies that many well-intentioned whites who consciously believe in and profess equality unconsciously act in a racist manner, particularly in ambiguous circumstances. In experimental job interviews, for example, whites tend not to discriminate against black candidates when their qualifications are as strong or as weak as whites'. But when candidates' qualifications are similarly ambiguous, whites tend to favor white over black candidates, the team has found. The team calls this pattern "aversive racism," referring in part to whites' aversion to being seen as prejudiced, given their conscious adherence to egalitarian principles.

Sue adds to these findings by naming, detailing and classifying the actual manifestations of aversive racism. His work illuminates the internal experiences of people affected by microaggressions-a new direction, since past research on prejudice and discrimination has focused on whites' attitudes and behaviors, notes Dovidio.

"The study of microaggressions looks at the impact of these subtle racial expressions from the perspective of the people being victimized, so it adds to our psychological understanding of the whole process of stigmatization and bias," Dovidio says.

Research shows that uncertainty is very distressing to people, Dovidio adds. "It's the uncertainty of microaggressions that can have such a tremendous impact on people of color," including on the job, in academic performance and even in therapy, he and others find.
Creating a vocabulary
Sue first proposed a classification of racial microaggressions in a 2007 article on how they manifest in clinical practice in the American Psychologist (Vol. 2, No. 4). There, he notes three types of current racial transgressions:

Microassaults: Conscious and intentional actions or slurs, such as using racial epithets, displaying swastikas or deliberately serving a white person before a person of color in a restaurant.

Microinsults: Verbal and nonverbal communications that subtly convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person's racial heritage or identity. An example is an employee who asks a colleague of color how she got her job, implying she may have landed it through an affirmative action or quota system.

Microinvalidations: Communications that subtly exclude, negate or nullify the thoughts, feelings or experiential reality of a person of color. For instance, white people often ask Asian-Americans where they were born, conveying the message that they are perpetual foreigners in their own land.

Sue focuses on microinsults and microinvalidiations because of their less obvious nature, which puts people of color in a psychological bind, he asserts: While the person may feel insulted, she is not sure exactly why, and the perpetrator doesn't acknowledge that anything has happened because he is not aware he has been offensive.

"The person of color is caught in a Catch-22: If she confronts the perpetrator, the perpetrator will deny it," Sue says.

In turn, that leaves the person of color to question what actually happened. The result is confusion, anger and an overall sapping of energy, he says.
Refining the concept
While Sue's 2007 American Psychologist article mainly laid out his theory and an initial taxonomy of microaggressions, his team is now examining how these subtle communications vary among different populations. In a qualitative study in the June Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (Vol. 39, No. 3), Sue and his colleagues conducted focus groups with 13 African-Americans who discussed their perceptions of, reactions to and interpretations of microaggressions, as well as the emotional toll they take. Participants, age 22 to 32, all lived in the New York metropolitan area and were either graduate students or worked in higher education.

Respondents agreed that these backhanded communications can make them feel as if they don't belong, that they are abnormal or that they are untrustworthy. Some described the terrible feeling of being watched suspiciously in stores as if they were about to steal something, for instance. Some reported anticipating the impact of their race by acting preemptively: One man noted how he deliberately relaxes his body while in close quarters with white women so he doesn't frighten them.

Others cited the pressure to represent their group in a positive way. One woman said she was constantly vigilant about her work performance because she was worried that any slipups would negatively affect every black person who came after her.

A similar study in the January 2007 Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology (Vol. 13, No. 1) found that many Asian-Americans cited the experience of people asking them where they were born or telling them they "spoke good English," which gave them the message that they are "aliens." Others described classroom experiences where teachers or students assumed they were great in math, which led to feelings of being trapped in a stereotype that wasn't necessarily true. Female participants complained that white men interested in dating them assumed they would be subservient sexual partners who would take care of their every need.

"These incidents may appear small, banal and trivial, but we're beginning to find they assail the mental health of recipients," Sue says.

Other researchers are showing the harm of racial microaggressions in a variety of arenas, though research in the area is still sparse, Sue acknowledges. For instance, in a 2007 article in American Behavioral Scientist (Vol. 51, No. 4), University of Utah social psychologist William A. Smith, PhD, and colleagues conducted focus groups with 36 black male students on five elite campuses, including Harvard and the University of Michigan.

Participants reported experiencing racial microaggressions in academic, social and public settings. For instance, some participants reported that when they went to their school's computer lab to do schoolwork, white students would call security to make sure they weren't there to cause trouble. When security arrived, they would check the students' IDs, sometimes asking them to provide a second one to prove the first was valid.

In another case, fraternity students who had gathered for practice found themselves surrounded by police vehicles, the result of someone calling in a concern about gang activity, Smith notes.

Meanwhile, in therapy, the more likely black people are to perceive their therapist using racial microaggressions, the weaker the therapeutic bond and the lower their reported satisfaction, finds a 2007 study in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (Vol. 54, No. 1). Sue and other researchers are beginning to study the impact of racial microaggressions on other groups as well, including people of various ethnic groups, people with disabilities, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals.
Mountain or mole hill?
Not everyone agrees that microaggressions are as rampant or destructive as Sue says they are. In rebuttal letters to the 2007 American Psychologist article, respondents accuse Sue of blowing the phenomenon out of proportion and advancing an unnecessarily negative agenda.

"Implementing his theory would restrict rather than promote candid interaction between members of different racial groups," maintains Kenneth R. Thomas, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the critics. In the therapy relationship, for example, having to watch every word "potentially discourages therapist genuineness and spontaneity," says Thomas, who is white.

Likewise, aspects of Sue's theory enforce a victim mentality by creating problems where none exist, Thomas asserts. "The theory, in general, characterizes people of color as weak and vulnerable, and reinforces a culture of victimization instead of a culture of opportunity," he says.

Kenneth Sole, PhD, whose consulting firm Sole & Associates Inc., trains employees on team communication, agrees with Sue that microaggressions are pervasive and potentially damaging. Indeed, clients talk about them all of the time, he says. But instead of encouraging their anger, he works with them on ways to frame the incidents so they feel empowered rather than victimized, he notes.

"My own view is that we don't serve ourselves well in the hundreds of ambiguous situations we experience by latching onto the definition of the experience that gives us the greatest pain"-particularly in one-time encounters where one can't take more systemic action, he says.

For instance, if a white person makes a potentially offensive remark to a person of color, the person could choose either to get angry and see the person as a bigot or to perceive the person as ignorant and move on, he says.

For Sue's part, he believes it's important to keep shining a light on the harm these encounters can inflict, no matter how the person of color decides to handle a given encounter.

"My hope is to make the invisible visible," he says. "Microaggressions hold their power because they are invisible, and therefore they don't allow us to see that our actions and attitudes may be discriminatory."
Tori DeAngelis is a writer in Syracuse, N.Y.

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Two colleagues-one Asian-American, the other African-American-board a small plane. A flight attendant tells them they can sit anywhere, so they choose seats near the front of the plane and across the aisle from each another so they can talk. At the last minute, three white men enter the plane and take the seats in front of them.

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Kayla Bouchard - examples of microaggressions

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Kayla Bouchard - examples of microaggressions

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Cheyenne Batista, a former classroom educator and school founder, was about to get into a taxi in New York's swanky Upper East Side in the fall of 2020 when the insult occurred. A woman exiting a taxi that Batista had just hailed made a comment that stung like a paper cut.

"Oh no, honey," the woman said. "This type of taxi doesn't go to the Bronx."

The woman had instantly made an assumption about Batista based on her skin color. Batista was actually heading downtown, but the woman assumed she was en route to a poorer part of town.

Microagressions - like that comment - tend to be subtle, unconscious or unintentionally prejudiced. But they are not harmless.

"They come quickly, when they are least expected, and are razor-sharp," she said.

In her ISTELive Lightning Talk, "Speaking Up About Racial Microaggressions in Schools," Batista shares how frequently microaggressions occur in school, and emphasizes that they originate not just from other students but from educators, staff and school leaders.

A racial microaggression can be a teacher expressing surprise that a student speaks English so well even when the student has lived in the U.S. her entire life. Or when a student is told he must be in the wrong class and that auto shop is just down the hall.

Even rules can fall into this category. Policies that ban dreadlocks, Afros, other other hairstyles based on racist ideas are microaggressions at an institutional level. The effects of all these microaggressions add up:

Painful jokes

Students of color are almost twice as likely as white students to report having observed or experienced a professor telling a joke that mocked or degraded a racial/ethnic group.

Discrimination

In a study of Mexican immigrant students in elementary school, 42% perceived themselves to be the target of teacher discrimination at least once by the time they reached fourth grade. By adolescence, immigrant youth say they experience ethnic discrimination from teachers approximately 2-3 times a year.

Low expectations

Some math teachers perceive their classes to be too difficult for Latino and Black students. The effect of being underestimated by math teachers decreases a GPA.

Witnessing microaggressions

Microaggressions affect not only the students they target, but also 63% of students who witness them. Those who witness racialized microaggressions report effects on their social and emotional wellbeing.

What's the solution?

The situation is not hopeless. Batista reports that students who have teachers who have learned strategies and practices to boost and sustain high expectations had math test scores that were 28% higher than their peers who did not have teachers with this training.

Too often, those on the receiving end of microaggressions are left to speak up for themselves. The situation leaves them open to gaslighting, accused of imagining the slight or even accusations of reverse racism. In these situations, white people can and must be allies. Batista offers the following ways to help:

Be ready.

Educate yourself. If you still believe in race neutrality, let go of that notion. Even BIPOC are often complicit without realizing it and commit harms against students unknowingly. "If this is your work to do, get to it," she says. "Establish a shared language as a community and become fluent in it so that you recognize microaggressions as soon as you see them."

Leaders must ask themselves how they invest the time, money and resources to make these changes happen? How are they modeling needed changes?

Speak up.

Silence is costly. When you overlook an offense, the attitude is perpetuated.

Put out the gaslight.

If someone asks you to address a microaggression, be genuinely humble and open to the conversation. Apologize for wrongdoings, even when they are unintentional.

Just do better.

Batista points out that other people were present who overhead what the woman in the cab said to her. Imagine how different that experience could have been if one of those people had spoken up on her behalf.

Watch the video below to see Cheyenne Batista's ISTE20 Live lightning talk, and then register for ISTELive 21 to see hundreds of thought-proving like sessions like this one.
Jennifer Snelling is an education blogger from Eugene, Oregon, who explores all facets of education technology.

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Speak Up About Racial Microaggressions in Schools | ISTE

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For many students of color, racial microaggressions are a frequent occurrence in school. They come from other students, educators and even administrators. But the good news is that when school staff are trained to recognize these behaviors, they decrease substantially.

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There is an insidious form of racism and racial discrimination that has been gaining the attention of psychologists and researchers in recent years: racial microaggression.

Racial microaggressions are everyday insults or derogatory messages directed toward minorities and people of color, often from well-intentioned people who believe they've done nothing offensive. ¹ Any minority group can experience microaggressions, which may be based on gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, or disability. ² While a microaggression may seem harmless, a lifetime of microaggressions can be quite devastating to a person's mental health. ³

"Racism can result in a host of mental health concerns including things like increased anxiety and symptoms of depression," says Dr. Joy Bradford, a licensed psychologist, speaker, and the host of the mental health podcast, Therapy for Black Girls.

To understand the range of these incidents, it's important to learn the different forms of microaggressions and how they can play out in everyday life. ⁴

Three forms of racial microaggressions:

Microassaults: These conscious, deliberate, and explicit racist attacks-both verbal and nonverbal-are meant to denigrate or hurt the victim. Name-calling, using racial slurs, avoiding and/or discouraging interracial interactions and displaying a swastika are all examples of microassaults.

Microinsults: While often unconscious and much more subtle, a microinsult demeans and belittles the victim through racial slights or comments that seem innocuous but are insulting to a person of color. For example, a person of color being mistaken for a service worker, or a woman clutching her purse when walking past a person of color, with the message being, "You are a criminal."

Microinvalidations: These comments and behaviors can exclude and invalidate people's thoughts, feelings, or experiences in life. For instance, asking an Asian American where they are really from, implies that they are not from the United States and are therefore a foreigner.

How racial microaggressions impact mental health

Research continues to show that racism and discrimination contribute to poor health among minorities and people of color, resulting in increased rates of depression, prolonged stress and trauma, anxiety, even heart disease and type 2 diabetes. ⁶⁻⁸

One study examined the racial climate and microaggressions at college campuses and found that African American students experienced more depression, self-doubt, frustration, and isolation that impacted their education as a result. ⁵

""The experience of having to question whether something happened to you because of your race or constantly being on edge because your environment is hostile can often leave people feeling invisible, silenced, angry, and resentful," says Dr. Bradford.

"Additionally, the increased stress related to things like microagressions in the workplace and experiences with discrimination can lead to physical concerns like headaches, high blood pressure, and difficulties with sleep, which of course impact our mood as well."

How to respond to microaggressions

According to Dr. Bradford, there are ways to cope with racial microaggressions. Here, she provides the following advice for anyone experiencing microaggressions:
Seek support.
"One of the most important ways to manage our mental health in the face of racism is to make sure that we have supportive people to help us in processing our experiences," says Dr. Bradford. "This can be in the form of colleagues, a therapist, or family and friends. It's important to have a space where you can give voice to what's happening to you."
Don't internalize racism.
It can be tempting to want to change something about yourself or your behavior in order to be more accepted, but "it's important to stay grounded in the fact that you are not the issue, racism is the issue," adds Dr. Bradford.
Know when it's time to leave a situation.
Certain situations can and will be challenging, like in the workplace, but it's important to understand when you need to distance yourself from a toxic situation. "Remaining in a situation where you're experiencing repeated acts of racism and discrimination can be incredibly taxing and harmful," says Dr. Bradford. "It's important to recognize when you've hit your limit and need to prioritize yourself."

How to prevent microaggressive behavior

Preventing racial microaggressions from occurring in the first place begins one person at a time. 2 If you find yourself exhibiting microaggressive behaviors, here's what you should do next:
Examine your beliefs.
Take some time to examine the beliefs you grew up with and ask yourself: Do those beliefs and values still resonate with me? Use this time for self-reflection and assess whether they still ring true for you now, as an adult.
Acknowledge other people's feelings.
While important to take stock of your own emotions, it's also our responsibility to acknowledge how others feel by validating the fact that their feelings matter. As you go about your day, practice being more mindful about how what you say and do might affect those around you.
Embrace empathy.
Put yourself in other people's shoes. Ask yourself how you would feel if you were in their situation. By exploring another person's perspective, you can glean insight into your behaviors. Just as your experience and feelings are true for you, their experience and feelings are true for them.
Try not to get defensive.
If you've been called out for doing or saying something hurtful, resist getting defensive. Instead, embrace curiosity and ask questions that can help you understand a person's point of view. Try not to downplay the situation, and listen carefully as they share their experience. Remember, they are taking a risk and being vulnerable by sharing this information with you.

We all have a role to play in responding to and preventing microaggressions. By taking the time to learn, ask questions, and be accountable for our actions, real progress against racism, in all its forms, can be made.

For more information on Dr. Joy Bradford and her work with Therapy for Black Girls, click here.
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References:

1. Sue, Derald Wing, Christina M. Capodilupo, Gina C. Torino, Jennifer M. Bucceri, Aisha M. B. Holder, Kevin L. Nadal, and Marta Esquilin. Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life. American Psychologist, May-June 2007. https://www.cpedv.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/how_to_be_an_effective_ally-lessons_learned_microaggressions.pdf

2. Clay, Rebecca. Did You Really Just Say That? American Psychological Association, January 2017. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/01/microaggressions

3. Wong, Gloria; Derthick, Annie O.; David, E. J. R.; Saw, Anne; Okazaki, Sumie. The What, the Why, and the How: A Review of Racial Microaggressions Research in Psychology. Race and Social Problems, October 24, 2013. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4762607/

4. Sue, Derald Wing, Christina M. Capodilupo, Gina C. Torino, Jennifer M. Bucceri, Aisha M. B. Holder, Kevin L. Nadal, and Marta Esquilin. Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life. American Psychologist, May-June 2007. https://www.cpedv.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/how_to_be_an_effective_ally-lessons_learned_microaggressions.pdf

5. Solorzano, D., Ceja, M., & Yosso, T. Critical Race Theory, Racial Microaggressions, and Campus Racial Climate: The Experiences of African American College Students. Journal of Negro Education, 2000. https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/RLOs/748/Critical-Race-Theory.pdf

6. Torino, Gina. How Racism and Microaggressions Lead to Worse Health. Center for Health Journalism, November 10, 2017. https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2017/11/08/how-racism-and-microaggressions-lead-worse-health

7. Hicken, Margaret T.; Lee, Hedwig; Morenoff, Jeffrey; House, James S.; Williams, David R. Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hypertension Prevalence: Reconsidering the Role of Chronic Stress. American Public Health Association, January 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3910029/

8. Walls, Melissa L.; Gonzalez, John; Gladney, Tanya; Onello, Emily. Unconscious Biases: Racial Microaggressions in American Indian Health Care. American Board of Family Medicine, March-April 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4386281/.

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Understanding Racial Microaggression and Its Effect on Mental Health

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There is an insidious form of racism and racial discrimination that has been gaining the attention of psychologists and researchers in recent years: racial microaggression.

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https://teaching.washington.edu/topics/inclusive-teaching/addressing-microaggressions-in-the-classroom/

https://today.uconn.edu/2021/04/survey-details-student-experiences-with-racial-microaggressions-on-uconn-campuses/

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2021/05/06/microaggressions-stereotyping-among-reasons-why-black-math-teachers-consider-leaving-the-classroom/

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What are microaggressions?

Microaggressions are: "Brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group" (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal, et al., 2007, p.273). Although this definition focuses on racial microaggressions, microaggressions can target any marginalized group identity, such as race, socioeconomic class, gender, sexuality, nationality, citizenship, ability, etc. Microaggressions can cause students to experience serious cognitive, behavioral, and emotional reactions, making it very difficult for them to learn ( Sue, Lin, Torino, Capodilupo, Rivera, 2009, pp.187-8).

In a KUOW interview, Derald Wing Sue noted: "All of us are socialized into the society, and it really is the height of arrogance or naiveté́ to think that any of us are immune from inheriting biases that are deeply embedded in this society and culture. They come out in ways that we're not aware of." In other words, we are all socialized to commit microaggressions, even if we have good intentions. Understanding microaggressions and the most effective ways to address them can help create and maintain classroom environments where all students can learn.

Ascription of intelligence (e.g. unintelligent or smarter than average based on appearance or accent)

Denial of racial reality (e.g. dismissing claims that race was relevant to understanding a student's experience)

Denial or devaluing of experience or culture (e.g. ignoring the existence, histories, cultures of groups of people - assuming that others are like you)

Making judgments about belonging (e.g. assuming people are foreign or don't speak English well because of their appearance; questioning someone's membership status such as "you don't look disabled" or "you don't seem that gay to me" or "if you were Jewish, wouldn't you do x?")

Assumption of criminality (e.g. guarding belongings more carefully when around certain groups or expressing fear of certain groups)

Assumption of immorality (e.g. assuming that poor people, undereducated people, LGBTQ people, or people of color are more likely to be devious, untrustworthy, or unethical)

Cognitive - internal dialogue about whether to respond

Behavioral - careful attention to word choice, tone, posture, and body language

Emotional - exhausted, angry, anxious

MTV series, "Look Different" (1-minute segments of microaggression examples):

"Your English is so good"

"I can't tell Asians apart"

"How'd you get into that school?"

More videos:

"How microaggressions are like mosquito bites"

Derald Wing Sue, "What is a microaggression?"

Strategies for dealing with microaggressions in your online, hybrid, or face-to-face classroom

Recognize and reflect on your own biases, interactions, and behaviors.

Understand a general definition of microaggressions. Consider the various ways that they might manifest themselves, and the impact they will have on everyone in the learning environment.

Understand intent vs. impact: that good intentions can have harmful impacts.

Understand your own triggers and unpack them: what makes you uncomfortable, and why? How can you work with and through this discomfort?

In the beginning, focus on collaboratively establishing classroom norms for discussion or dialogue.

Acknowledge the moment and immediately take the lead in addressing the situation (slow down or stop the conversation).

Breathe. Pause. Stay as calm as possible.

Return to the class norms. Hold everyone accountable for their actions and ask for clarification. Explain why the incident is problematic. Support students in critical reflection on the situation.

Acknowledge the emotions in the room, both visible and invisible. Ask students if they would like to stay in class or take a break/leave.

While acknowledging the impact, make sure to validate and support those who have been targeted.

Follow up as needed, e.g. revisit in next class and/or see individuals after class. Identify other people as sources of support.

See more on responding when microaggressions your students, guest speakers, teaching assistants, or others in your class commit a microaggressions

Microaggressions that potentially target a student or groups of students

See more on preventing & responding to microaggressions committed by instructors

Carnegie Mellon University, Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation

Taking a passive approach and letting the class direct the discussion.

Disengaging from the conversation by accepting superficial responses or dismissing the topic.

Responding with hostility.

Looking to marginalized students/instructors to be experts on issues related to their identity group.

Giving full attention to the perpetrator while ignoring the target(s) of the microaggression

Focusing on (or allowing a focus on) debates about:

The intent of the micro-aggressor

What each person said or did

Who's right or wrong

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Addressing microaggressions in the classroom

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Microaggressions are: "Brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group" (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal, et al., 2007, p.273).

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4 Ways You Can Tackle Racial Discrimination In Your Workplace

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2020 has proven to be a historical year surrounding the pandemic, and now, the uprising against racial injustice after George Floyd’s recent death.

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Highlights

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Experiencing racial discrimination in school from teachers and peers is harmful for African American adolescents.

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Experiencing racial discrimination increased risk for alcohol and marijuana use.

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Peer pressure moderates the influence of school-based racial discrimination for substance use.

Abstract

Peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol is one of the strongest predictors of adolescent substance use. In addition to this normative adolescent stressor, African American adolescents often also face race-related stress in the form of racial discrimination, which has been linked to maladaptive coping responses such as substance use. The interaction of these stressors may help explain substance using behaviors for African American adolescents. The present study explored the relationship between eighth-grade school-based racial discrimination experiences, peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol, and gender to predict 11th-grade marijuana and alcohol use (N = 610; 49% female). Logistic regression analyses indicated teacher- and peer-perpetrated racial discrimination experiences were related to higher alcohol use. Eighth-grade peer pressure to use drugs moderated the relations between teacher- and peer-perpetrated racial discrimination and 11th-grade marijuana use. Overall, results indicate that school-based racial discrimination increases risk for adolescent substance use, and peer pressure moderates this relation for multiple types of racial discrimination. No moderation by gender was found. The importance of considering race-related stress in conjunction with more general adolescent stress to understand African American adolescent substance use is discussed.

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African American adolescent substance use: The roles of racial discrimination and peer pressure

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Experiencing racial discrimination in school from teachers and peers is harmful for African American adolescents. * Experiencing racial discrimination increased risk for alcohol and marijuana use. * Peer pressure moderates the influence of school-based racial discrimination for substance use. Peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol is one of the strongest predictors of adolescent substance use.

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There is an insidious form of racism and racial discrimination that has been gaining the attention of psychologists and researchers in recent years: racial microaggression.

Racial microaggressions are everyday insults or derogatory messages directed toward minorities and people of color, often from well-intentioned people who believe they've done nothing offensive. ¹ Any minority group can experience microaggressions, which may be based on gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, or disability. ² While a microaggression may seem harmless, a lifetime of microaggressions can be quite devastating to a person's mental health. ³

"Racism can result in a host of mental health concerns including things like increased anxiety and symptoms of depression," says Dr. Joy Bradford, a licensed psychologist, speaker, and the host of the mental health podcast, Therapy for Black Girls.

To understand the range of these incidents, it's important to learn the different forms of microaggressions and how they can play out in everyday life. ⁴

Three forms of racial microaggressions:

Microassaults: These conscious, deliberate, and explicit racist attacks-both verbal and nonverbal-are meant to denigrate or hurt the victim. Name-calling, using racial slurs, avoiding and/or discouraging interracial interactions and displaying a swastika are all examples of microassaults.

Microinsults: While often unconscious and much more subtle, a microinsult demeans and belittles the victim through racial slights or comments that seem innocuous but are insulting to a person of color. For example, a person of color being mistaken for a service worker, or a woman clutching her purse when walking past a person of color, with the message being, "You are a criminal."

Microinvalidations: These comments and behaviors can exclude and invalidate people's thoughts, feelings, or experiences in life. For instance, asking an Asian American where they are really from, implies that they are not from the United States and are therefore a foreigner.

How racial microaggressions impact mental health

Research continues to show that racism and discrimination contribute to poor health among minorities and people of color, resulting in increased rates of depression, prolonged stress and trauma, anxiety, even heart disease and type 2 diabetes. ⁶⁻⁸

One study examined the racial climate and microaggressions at college campuses and found that African American students experienced more depression, self-doubt, frustration, and isolation that impacted their education as a result. ⁵

""The experience of having to question whether something happened to you because of your race or constantly being on edge because your environment is hostile can often leave people feeling invisible, silenced, angry, and resentful," says Dr. Bradford.

"Additionally, the increased stress related to things like microagressions in the workplace and experiences with discrimination can lead to physical concerns like headaches, high blood pressure, and difficulties with sleep, which of course impact our mood as well."

How to respond to microaggressions

According to Dr. Bradford, there are ways to cope with racial microaggressions. Here, she provides the following advice for anyone experiencing microaggressions:
Seek support.
"One of the most important ways to manage our mental health in the face of racism is to make sure that we have supportive people to help us in processing our experiences," says Dr. Bradford. "This can be in the form of colleagues, a therapist, or family and friends. It's important to have a space where you can give voice to what's happening to you."
Don't internalize racism.
It can be tempting to want to change something about yourself or your behavior in order to be more accepted, but "it's important to stay grounded in the fact that you are not the issue, racism is the issue," adds Dr. Bradford.
Know when it's time to leave a situation.
Certain situations can and will be challenging, like in the workplace, but it's important to understand when you need to distance yourself from a toxic situation. "Remaining in a situation where you're experiencing repeated acts of racism and discrimination can be incredibly taxing and harmful," says Dr. Bradford. "It's important to recognize when you've hit your limit and need to prioritize yourself."

How to prevent microaggressive behavior

Preventing racial microaggressions from occurring in the first place begins one person at a time. 2 If you find yourself exhibiting microaggressive behaviors, here's what you should do next:
Examine your beliefs.
Take some time to examine the beliefs you grew up with and ask yourself: Do those beliefs and values still resonate with me? Use this time for self-reflection and assess whether they still ring true for you now, as an adult.
Acknowledge other people's feelings.
While important to take stock of your own emotions, it's also our responsibility to acknowledge how others feel by validating the fact that their feelings matter. As you go about your day, practice being more mindful about how what you say and do might affect those around you.
Embrace empathy.
Put yourself in other people's shoes. Ask yourself how you would feel if you were in their situation. By exploring another person's perspective, you can glean insight into your behaviors. Just as your experience and feelings are true for you, their experience and feelings are true for them.
Try not to get defensive.
If you've been called out for doing or saying something hurtful, resist getting defensive. Instead, embrace curiosity and ask questions that can help you understand a person's point of view. Try not to downplay the situation, and listen carefully as they share their experience. Remember, they are taking a risk and being vulnerable by sharing this information with you.

We all have a role to play in responding to and preventing microaggressions. By taking the time to learn, ask questions, and be accountable for our actions, real progress against racism, in all its forms, can be made.

For more information on Dr. Joy Bradford and her work with Therapy for Black Girls, click here.
--
References:

1. Sue, Derald Wing, Christina M. Capodilupo, Gina C. Torino, Jennifer M. Bucceri, Aisha M. B. Holder, Kevin L. Nadal, and Marta Esquilin. Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life. American Psychologist, May-June 2007. https://www.cpedv.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/how_to_be_an_effective_ally-lessons_learned_microaggressions.pdf

2. Clay, Rebecca. Did You Really Just Say That? American Psychological Association, January 2017. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/01/microaggressions

3. Wong, Gloria; Derthick, Annie O.; David, E. J. R.; Saw, Anne; Okazaki, Sumie. The What, the Why, and the How: A Review of Racial Microaggressions Research in Psychology. Race and Social Problems, October 24, 2013. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4762607/

4. Sue, Derald Wing, Christina M. Capodilupo, Gina C. Torino, Jennifer M. Bucceri, Aisha M. B. Holder, Kevin L. Nadal, and Marta Esquilin. Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life. American Psychologist, May-June 2007. https://www.cpedv.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/how_to_be_an_effective_ally-lessons_learned_microaggressions.pdf

5. Solorzano, D., Ceja, M., & Yosso, T. Critical Race Theory, Racial Microaggressions, and Campus Racial Climate: The Experiences of African American College Students. Journal of Negro Education, 2000. https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/RLOs/748/Critical-Race-Theory.pdf

6. Torino, Gina. How Racism and Microaggressions Lead to Worse Health. Center for Health Journalism, November 10, 2017. https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2017/11/08/how-racism-and-microaggressions-lead-worse-health

7. Hicken, Margaret T.; Lee, Hedwig; Morenoff, Jeffrey; House, James S.; Williams, David R. Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hypertension Prevalence: Reconsidering the Role of Chronic Stress. American Public Health Association, January 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3910029/

8. Walls, Melissa L.; Gonzalez, John; Gladney, Tanya; Onello, Emily. Unconscious Biases: Racial Microaggressions in American Indian Health Care. American Board of Family Medicine, March-April 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4386281/.

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Understanding Racial Microaggression and Its Effect on Mental Health

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There is an insidious form of racism and racial discrimination that has been gaining the attention of psychologists and researchers in recent years: racial microaggression.

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What is Race discrimination ? We explain its definition, areas covered and what constitutes discrimination.

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/look-implicit-bias-and-microaggressions - An overall look at microaggressions

rit.edu/diversity/sites/rit.edu.diversity/files/2020-08/Microaggressions_in_the_Classroom.pdf - Examples of microaggressions

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A Look at Implicit Bias and Microaggressions

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A primer on the impact of implicit biases in schools and how they can be expressed by students and faculty.

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Racial discrimination ages Black Americans faster, according to a 25-year-long study of families

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A study has shown that stress caused by racism is impacting on physical and mental health.

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https://www.kqed.org/education/535060/how-can-students-fight-racism-in-schools

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What are microaggressions?

Microaggressions are: "Brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group" (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal, et al., 2007, p.273). Although this definition focuses on racial microaggressions, microaggressions can target any marginalized group identity, such as race, socioeconomic class, gender, sexuality, nationality, citizenship, ability, etc. Microaggressions can cause students to experience serious cognitive, behavioral, and emotional reactions, making it very difficult for them to learn ( Sue, Lin, Torino, Capodilupo, Rivera, 2009, pp.187-8).

In a KUOW interview, Derald Wing Sue noted: "All of us are socialized into the society, and it really is the height of arrogance or naiveté́ to think that any of us are immune from inheriting biases that are deeply embedded in this society and culture. They come out in ways that we're not aware of." In other words, we are all socialized to commit microaggressions, even if we have good intentions. Understanding microaggressions and the most effective ways to address them can help create and maintain classroom environments where all students can learn.

Ascription of intelligence (e.g. unintelligent or smarter than average based on appearance or accent)

Denial of racial reality (e.g. dismissing claims that race was relevant to understanding a student's experience)

Denial or devaluing of experience or culture (e.g. ignoring the existence, histories, cultures of groups of people - assuming that others are like you)

Making judgments about belonging (e.g. assuming people are foreign or don't speak English well because of their appearance; questioning someone's membership status such as "you don't look disabled" or "you don't seem that gay to me" or "if you were Jewish, wouldn't you do x?")

Assumption of criminality (e.g. guarding belongings more carefully when around certain groups or expressing fear of certain groups)

Assumption of immorality (e.g. assuming that poor people, undereducated people, LGBTQ people, or people of color are more likely to be devious, untrustworthy, or unethical)

Cognitive - internal dialogue about whether to respond

Behavioral - careful attention to word choice, tone, posture, and body language

Emotional - exhausted, angry, anxious

MTV series, "Look Different" (1-minute segments of microaggression examples):

"Your English is so good"

"I can't tell Asians apart"

"How'd you get into that school?"

More videos:

"How microaggressions are like mosquito bites"

Derald Wing Sue, "What is a microaggression?"

Strategies for dealing with microaggressions in your online, hybrid, or face-to-face classroom

Recognize and reflect on your own biases, interactions, and behaviors.

Understand a general definition of microaggressions. Consider the various ways that they might manifest themselves, and the impact they will have on everyone in the learning environment.

Understand intent vs. impact: that good intentions can have harmful impacts.

Understand your own triggers and unpack them: what makes you uncomfortable, and why? How can you work with and through this discomfort?

In the beginning, focus on collaboratively establishing classroom norms for discussion or dialogue.

Acknowledge the moment and immediately take the lead in addressing the situation (slow down or stop the conversation).

Breathe. Pause. Stay as calm as possible.

Return to the class norms. Hold everyone accountable for their actions and ask for clarification. Explain why the incident is problematic. Support students in critical reflection on the situation.

Acknowledge the emotions in the room, both visible and invisible. Ask students if they would like to stay in class or take a break/leave.

While acknowledging the impact, make sure to validate and support those who have been targeted.

Follow up as needed, e.g. revisit in next class and/or see individuals after class. Identify other people as sources of support.

See more on responding when microaggressions your students, guest speakers, teaching assistants, or others in your class commit a microaggressions

Microaggressions that potentially target a student or groups of students

See more on preventing & responding to microaggressions committed by instructors

Carnegie Mellon University, Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation

Taking a passive approach and letting the class direct the discussion.

Disengaging from the conversation by accepting superficial responses or dismissing the topic.

Responding with hostility.

Looking to marginalized students/instructors to be experts on issues related to their identity group.

Giving full attention to the perpetrator while ignoring the target(s) of the microaggression

Focusing on (or allowing a focus on) debates about:

The intent of the micro-aggressor

What each person said or did

Who's right or wrong

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Addressing microaggressions in the classroom

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Microaggressions are: "Brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group" (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal, et al., 2007, p.273).

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Conversations with coworkers, friends and family are essential to pushing back against racism. While it's important to understand the history and systemic factors that play into racism, it's important to also confront what's known as "microaggressions." These are the thinly veiled, everyday instances of racism, homophobia, sexism (and more) that you see in the world. Sometimes it's an insult, other times it's an errant comment or gesture.

Kevin Nadal, a professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has spent years researching and writing books on the effects of microaggressions. He says as big structural issues play out, it's important to confront the small stuff, too.

"We navigate all of these things in our lives," Nadal says. "For many of us on a daily, hourly basis. And for some of us where we might not even recognize that we are navigating them or even perpetrating them."

To be clear, the "micro" in microaggression doesn't mean that these acts can't have big, life-changing impacts. They can, which is all the more reason to address them when you see them. If you can, that is. I spoke to Nadal about how.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity and was originally published in June 2020. Andrew Limbong: What exactly is a microaggression?
Kevin Nadal: Microaggressions are defined as the everyday, subtle, intentional - and oftentimes unintentional - interactions or behaviors that communicate some sort of bias toward historically marginalized groups.

The difference between microaggressions and overt discrimination or macroaggressions, is that people who commit microaggressions might not even be aware of them.

Someone commenting on how well an Asian American speaks English, which presumes the Asian American was not born here, is one example of a microaggression. Presuming that a black person is dangerous or violent is another example. A common experience that black men talk about is being followed around in stores or getting on an elevator and having people move away and grab their purses or their wallets.

Oftentimes, people don't even realize that they're doing those sorts of things. And in fact, if you were to stop them and say, 'Why did you just move?' They would deny it because they don't recognize that their behaviors communicate their racial biases.
If someone says something racist to me, what does their intent matter?
At the end of the day, if somebody says something racist to you, it's racist. And if it hurt your feelings, it hurt your feelings, so it doesn't really matter what we define it as.

But it is important to understand that a lot of times people who engage in microaggressions will not believe that what they said was racist or sexist or homophobic. And so calling them racist or sexist or homophobic would make them very defensive and make them unable to even recognize what their impact was.

We're all human beings who are prone to mistakes, and we're all human beings who might commit microaggressions. And it's not necessarily that you're a bad person if you commit a microaggression, but rather that you need to be more aware of your biases and impact on people. We all need to commit to working on these things in order to create a more harmonious society.
So let's say you get into a conversation about current events. And the conversation turns toward police and racism and police brutality. Maybe the conversation gets a little tense and you can sense that a microaggression might be coming. What are your options then?
I think there are a lot of things that people need to consider when having what we would call difficult dialogues. First, think about whether or not the person is worth talking to. Is this somebody that you care about? Is this somebody who you think would actually have the capacity to hear what you have to say? A lot of times people get into arguments with people they don't need to necessarily be emotionally invested in because they don't have that sort of relationship.

If you are close and if you do have a relationship it might be important just to say, 'Look, I feel like we're both getting really emotionally charged right now. I don't feel like I'm able to hear what you're saying. I don't feel that you're able to hear what I'm saying. So maybe we need to table this and talk another time.' Or maybe offer to give them something they could read - that could be more helpful or effective than a conversation that might just turn into yelling and hostility.
Is there a risk of this feeling like homework?
Yes. Oftentimes people of color are asked to educate white people on issues that the person of color has lived with and thought about for their entire lives. That can be very psychologically and emotionally exhausting for a person to then have to care about the white person's feelings and to take those extra efforts so that they can learn something that they should have - and could have - learned throughout the duration of their life.

You don't have to do that if you don't want to. Or you could provide them with resources or a book to read before they even come to the conversation.

At the same time, if you're a person with privileged identities and you want to be a true ally, maybe you do have to do that homework. Maybe you do have to engage in those uncomfortable emotions because you know that it's your job and responsibility to have those conversations so that other people of color or women or LGBTQ folks won't have to have those conversations for you.
There can also be a certain amount of discomfort if you're talking about a group that isn't involved in the conversation, right? Here we are talking about police brutality against black people and neither of us is black.
You don't have to be of a certain group to understand that something is unjust. It's really about learning how to be empathetic to people. And also just to be really aware and knowledgeable of history. This country is founded on racism toward indigenous people and racism toward black people, and that's not new.

Even if we might not necessarily understand exactly what it means to be a member of the targeted group at that moment, we certainly rely on our knowledge and our awareness of history and of the lived experiences of people of those groups.
Let's assume that we're close friends and talking about being brown in New York. And then I say something homophobic, but we're friends and you know that I could be better. Where do you go from there?
So what I might say immediately is, 'What do you mean by that?' So somebody says, 'Oh, that's so gay.' And then I say, 'What do you mean by that?'

And if we're friends, that means that I trust that you do care about social justice issues - that maybe this is just a slip in that moment that that person will say, 'Oh, I'm sorry.' I didn't mean that. Because asking someone what they mean by that is giving them that opportunity to explain themselves.

And for some people, they say things just because they've been so socialized to say certain things. But when they're really asked to explain what they're trying to say, that's where, you know, they have to think about it and sometimes even retract what they originally say because they don't want to perpetuate something that isn't actually who they are.
So what would you say are three quick bits of advice on having these difficult dialogues?
1. Do your own work before you even get there. Read blogs and personal essays, understand the lived experiences of historically marginalized groups, watch documentaries and try to think outside of your own perspective.

2. Set realistic expectations of what you want from these conversations. Also think about, is this actually helping? Is this a conversation that I view as being helpful in any way, shape or form? It's important to acknowledge that no one is going to learn everything in one conversation overnight.

3. Always be aware of yourself and your mental health when having these conversations. In a world where we all fought for social justice all the time, we would be getting into productive arguments and fights and having protests every day and changing laws, but we don't and we can't because we're also human and we need to rest.

But again, think about your role and your positionality, because if you're a person with privilege and you could fight a little bit longer, then do it. But if you're a person of a historically marginalized group, we want you to be alive and we want you to be healthy in order to continue this fight toward justice.
The audio portion of this story was produced by Andee Tagle.

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Microaggressions are a big deal: How to talk them out and when to walk away : Life Kit

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Microaggressions are the everyday, thinly veiled instances of racism, homophobia, sexism and other biases that come across in gestures, comments or insults. But the "micro" doesn't mean that the acts don't have a big impact. While there's no one right way to address a microaggression, we have some pointers for ways you can begin to respond.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Conversations with coworkers, friends and family are essential to pushing back against racism. While it's important to understand the history and systemic factors that play into racism, it's important to also confront what's known as "microaggressions." These are the thinly veiled, everyday instances of racism, homophobia, sexism (and more) that you see in the world. Sometimes it's an insult, other times it's an errant comment or gesture.

Kevin Nadal, a professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has spent years researching and writing books on the effects of microaggressions. He says as big structural issues play out, it's important to confront the small stuff, too.

"We navigate all of these things in our lives," Nadal says. "For many of us on a daily, hourly basis. And for some of us where we might not even recognize that we are navigating them or even perpetrating them."

To be clear, the "micro" in microaggression doesn't mean that these acts can't have big, life-changing impacts. They can, which is all the more reason to address them when you see them. If you can, that is. I spoke to Nadal about how.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity and was originally published in June 2020. Andrew Limbong: What exactly is a microaggression?
Kevin Nadal: Microaggressions are defined as the everyday, subtle, intentional - and oftentimes unintentional - interactions or behaviors that communicate some sort of bias toward historically marginalized groups.

The difference between microaggressions and overt discrimination or macroaggressions, is that people who commit microaggressions might not even be aware of them.

Someone commenting on how well an Asian American speaks English, which presumes the Asian American was not born here, is one example of a microaggression. Presuming that a black person is dangerous or violent is another example. A common experience that black men talk about is being followed around in stores or getting on an elevator and having people move away and grab their purses or their wallets.

Oftentimes, people don't even realize that they're doing those sorts of things. And in fact, if you were to stop them and say, 'Why did you just move?' They would deny it because they don't recognize that their behaviors communicate their racial biases.
If someone says something racist to me, what does their intent matter?
At the end of the day, if somebody says something racist to you, it's racist. And if it hurt your feelings, it hurt your feelings, so it doesn't really matter what we define it as.

But it is important to understand that a lot of times people who engage in microaggressions will not believe that what they said was racist or sexist or homophobic. And so calling them racist or sexist or homophobic would make them very defensive and make them unable to even recognize what their impact was.

We're all human beings who are prone to mistakes, and we're all human beings who might commit microaggressions. And it's not necessarily that you're a bad person if you commit a microaggression, but rather that you need to be more aware of your biases and impact on people. We all need to commit to working on these things in order to create a more harmonious society.
So let's say you get into a conversation about current events. And the conversation turns toward police and racism and police brutality. Maybe the conversation gets a little tense and you can sense that a microaggression might be coming. What are your options then?
I think there are a lot of things that people need to consider when having what we would call difficult dialogues. First, think about whether or not the person is worth talking to. Is this somebody that you care about? Is this somebody who you think would actually have the capacity to hear what you have to say? A lot of times people get into arguments with people they don't need to necessarily be emotionally invested in because they don't have that sort of relationship.

If you are close and if you do have a relationship it might be important just to say, 'Look, I feel like we're both getting really emotionally charged right now. I don't feel like I'm able to hear what you're saying. I don't feel that you're able to hear what I'm saying. So maybe we need to table this and talk another time.' Or maybe offer to give them something they could read - that could be more helpful or effective than a conversation that might just turn into yelling and hostility.
Is there a risk of this feeling like homework?
Yes. Oftentimes people of color are asked to educate white people on issues that the person of color has lived with and thought about for their entire lives. That can be very psychologically and emotionally exhausting for a person to then have to care about the white person's feelings and to take those extra efforts so that they can learn something that they should have - and could have - learned throughout the duration of their life.

You don't have to do that if you don't want to. Or you could provide them with resources or a book to read before they even come to the conversation.

At the same time, if you're a person with privileged identities and you want to be a true ally, maybe you do have to do that homework. Maybe you do have to engage in those uncomfortable emotions because you know that it's your job and responsibility to have those conversations so that other people of color or women or LGBTQ folks won't have to have those conversations for you.
There can also be a certain amount of discomfort if you're talking about a group that isn't involved in the conversation, right? Here we are talking about police brutality against black people and neither of us is black.
You don't have to be of a certain group to understand that something is unjust. It's really about learning how to be empathetic to people. And also just to be really aware and knowledgeable of history. This country is founded on racism toward indigenous people and racism toward black people, and that's not new.

Even if we might not necessarily understand exactly what it means to be a member of the targeted group at that moment, we certainly rely on our knowledge and our awareness of history and of the lived experiences of people of those groups.
Let's assume that we're close friends and talking about being brown in New York. And then I say something homophobic, but we're friends and you know that I could be better. Where do you go from there?
So what I might say immediately is, 'What do you mean by that?' So somebody says, 'Oh, that's so gay.' And then I say, 'What do you mean by that?'

And if we're friends, that means that I trust that you do care about social justice issues - that maybe this is just a slip in that moment that that person will say, 'Oh, I'm sorry.' I didn't mean that. Because asking someone what they mean by that is giving them that opportunity to explain themselves.

And for some people, they say things just because they've been so socialized to say certain things. But when they're really asked to explain what they're trying to say, that's where, you know, they have to think about it and sometimes even retract what they originally say because they don't want to perpetuate something that isn't actually who they are.
So what would you say are three quick bits of advice on having these difficult dialogues?
1. Do your own work before you even get there. Read blogs and personal essays, understand the lived experiences of historically marginalized groups, watch documentaries and try to think outside of your own perspective.

2. Set realistic expectations of what you want from these conversations. Also think about, is this actually helping? Is this a conversation that I view as being helpful in any way, shape or form? It's important to acknowledge that no one is going to learn everything in one conversation overnight.

3. Always be aware of yourself and your mental health when having these conversations. In a world where we all fought for social justice all the time, we would be getting into productive arguments and fights and having protests every day and changing laws, but we don't and we can't because we're also human and we need to rest.

But again, think about your role and your positionality, because if you're a person with privilege and you could fight a little bit longer, then do it. But if you're a person of a historically marginalized group, we want you to be alive and we want you to be healthy in order to continue this fight toward justice.
The audio portion of this story was produced by Andee Tagle.

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Microaggressions are a big deal: How to talk them out and when to walk away : Life Kit

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Microaggressions are the everyday, thinly veiled instances of racism, homophobia, sexism and other biases that come across in gestures, comments or insults. But the "micro" doesn't mean that the acts don't have a big impact. While there's no one right way to address a microaggression, we have some pointers for ways you can begin to respond.

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How you can be an ally in the fight for racial justice.

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How you can be an ally in the fight for racial justice.

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Many people want to help in the ongoing struggle for equality and equity, but they don't know what to do. Activist DeRay Mckesson explains how we can all show up and stand up.

1. Own your privilege.

"Acknowledge that there is a privilege you have [if you're white], and use the privilege to disrupt that privilege itself. I've had people say to me, 'Well, I didn't benefit from white privilege.' [You need to realize] every Band-Aid in this country looks like your skin and not mine, baby dolls look like you, and the color 'nude' is your skin color. That's what the privilege of whiteness looks like - it's not about what you've done; it's about what society does when it treats white as normal. It's about you saying, 'I have privilege, I have power, and I will seek out how I can use that privilege and those resources. I'll ask marginalized people, 'What is the help you need?', as opposed to just saying, 'I think this is what you should do'."

2. Talk about what's uncomfortable and what's important.

"There's no winning in silence. If we allow white supremacist ideology to spread without being challenged, people continue to replicate it. And the question is: what do you do? You need to talk about it - you can't change what you don't talk about. And while we've had a great conversation [in the last year] about the symbols and about Confederate monuments, there is still so much work to be done that we actually don't talk about - like what to do about police violence, or bail, or rehabilitation for people who are coming out of prison, or the opioid crisis. You don't always see the trauma - it doesn't show up in the same way as a man running a car through a crowd of people - but the impact on people's lives is as disastrous as anything else."

3. Be strategic in what you say and how you say it.

"People don't respond well to being shouted down at the dining room table. If your goal is to change somebody's mind, that isn't the most effective strategy; if your goal is to make a point, then that isn't an effective strategy. Try to show people what you mean, as opposed to just saying, 'I'm right.' It's a long-game solution. Rarely do people come out of one conversation and say, 'You know, my whole worldview has changed.' It's about setting a foundation, so that people over time can change. This isn't everybody's work - some people are much better at having conversations than other people."

4. Activism isn't just about protests and marches - it means voting, too.

"Many of the things that will change people's lives are structural, so it's about voting where you are and pushing for or against legislation in your city and town. Use your institutional power to change structures and systems. Who shows up to the hearings about police violence? Who is working on welfare reform? Who is working on bail reform? Are you willing to come out for three weeks of hearings, sit, and say, 'This is an issue that is important to me, too'? Even when it may not be convenient? That's what it means to show up."

5. Figure out where and how you can do the most good.

"I think there's a role for everybody. The things I care about might not be the things you care about, and vice versa, which doesn't mean they aren't all important. For some people, their space is being on Twitter and on Facebook and pushing out messages. There are some people who are better in the street than I am, and some people who need to skip the street because they can just go to the governor's mansion. If the governor is your friend and you can talk to him in his dining room, do that. We don't all need to play the same role. The cacophony of all of us doing work together will actually lead to systemic change."

"Harriet Tubman knew that something could be done. She started where she was and started small, and it turned into the Underground Railroad. It can often start with you and another person, or you and two people, having a conversation about what the world can be and here are the steps you can take. You need to take concrete steps - small ones, like steps on a ladder - to get to systemic change. Ask people what they need, stand in concert with those who've been doing the work longer than you, listen, ask more questions than talk. Those are all the hallmarks of the people I've seen who are the most effective."

7. Ask yourself: what do I want the future to look like?

"When we think about resistance, we focus almost exclusively on the absence of oppression. We think: How do we end mass incarceration? How do we stop the disparities with regard to police killings? How do we stop police killings altogether? But when we tear down these repressive, oppressive systems and structures, something has to replace them, something that's better. For example, we know there will always be rules, there will always be people who break the rules, and there will always need to be consequences. Do the people who enforce those consequences have to be the police? No. Does that enforcement have to mean prison? Absolutely not. We need to spend more time now talking about potential solutions. How do we help people imagine a conception of safety that doesn't center on the police? How do we help them imagine a world where every adult can read? How do you help people dream in a big way that will actually change lives? It's hard because we haven't lived in that world before. But it doesn't mean that world's not possible."

8. Feel the fear - and act anyway.

"Martin Luther King said, 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.' It bends, because people bend it. There are so many people who understand the power they have. They're standing up across the country when the odds look like they're against them, and they've learned to make sure fear doesn't overpower everything else even if fear is still present. There are just so many incredible people who are willing to put something on the line to make the world a different place. That gives me hope."
These remarks were taken from a Facebook Live conversation conducted with DeRay Mckesson at TED headquarters in New York City. To learn more, watch the video.

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How you can be an ally in the fight for racial justice

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"Acknowledge that there is a privilege you have [if you're white], and use the privilege to disrupt that privilege itself. I've had people say to me, 'Well, I didn't benefit from white privilege.' [You need to realize] every Band-Aid in this country looks like your skin and not mine, baby dolls look like you, and the color 'nude' is your skin color.

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https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/effects-of-racism#children - Affects of racism on mental and physical health.

https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/why-racism-problem - How racism affects individuals and communities.

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You've been called out for a Microaggression.  What do you do?

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You've been called out for a Microaggression.  What do you do?

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Tara Moore/Getty Images

It was a throwaway comment, and you were unaware that it was demeaning. But now that a colleague has brought the slight to your attention, you realize what you said was offensive. As a person who wants to be a good ally to your colleagues of color and members of underrepresented groups, how do you apologize after you've committed a microaggression? How and when should you try to make amends? And what's the best way to ensure that you do better in the future?

What the Experts Say

Microaggressions are the everyday indignities and insults that members of marginalized groups endure in their routine interactions with people in all walks of life. In the workplace, these "subtle acts of exclusion" come in many forms, says Tiffany Jana, founder and CEO of TMI Consulting and the co-author of Overcoming Bias: Building Authentic Relationships Across Differences. They include backhanded compliments (a white manager telling an African American employee that, "She's very articulate"; a group of co-workers jokingly ribbing a Latino executive that, "He's a diversity hire") and stereotypical assumptions (a male colleague asking his female peer to take notes and order lunch for the team).

These remarks and behaviors "happen casually and often without any harm intended," says Jana, but they offer a clear demonstration "that the initiator harbors unconscious bias." Meanwhile, the person on the receiving end who belongs to a group that's discriminated against - be it because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or religion - is often left to suffer in silence.

This is starting to change, however. Amidst a national conversation on race and equality, "we are increasingly holding people accountable," says Jana. The change has critical implications for managers who "care about creating an inclusive team and workplace," says , a diversity consultant and the co-author of Gender Ambiguity in the Workplace: Transgender and Gender-Diverse Discrimination.

If you've been called out for committing a microaggression you need to respond with compassion, concern, and humility. "You want people to feel respected, so you need to walk the talk," Zheng says. "It's important to get this right." Here are some tips.

Take a breath.

Being called out for a microaggression does not feel good. You may experience a range of emotions - "stress, embarrassment, defensiveness, and your heart rate may even go up," says Zheng. This is normal. But do not let these sensations rule how you react. Instead, " take a breath." Calm yourself. Understand that while you may have made a mistake, it doesn't mean you're a bad person. In these circumstances, people often fall prey to the fundamental attribution error - a "tendency to believe that things happen because of who we are as people rather than the situation," says Zheng. In other words, you can still be "a good person with positive intentions, who slipped up."

And there's an upside to being called out for a microaggression: It's an indication of trust. The person who labeled your comment believes that you can be better, says Jana. "If they don't think you're capable of, or interested in, evolving they would not have wasted their breath."

Don't make it about you.

While being called out for a microaggression may be awkward and uncomfortable, you don't want to get defensive. "You must not make it about you," says Jana. "When a human being tells you that they have been harmed by your words or actions, you need to focus on the injured party." It can be helpful to remember that "every callout has an entire history's worth of unsaid context behind it," says Zheng. "When someone says, 'What you said hurt me,' they're saying, 'You have hurt me in the way that people have hurt me, and people like me, in the past.'" In other words, your remark was not "just one interpersonal interaction." Rather it carried centuries' worth of discrimination, cruelty, and oppression. "And the weight of historical oppression is very heavy," says Zheng.

Listen.

Your first priority is to make sure the other person feels heard, says Jana. As difficult as it may be to receive the criticism, "they are taking a risk by putting themselves on the line." Listen to what they say with an open heart and an open mind. Be grateful. "It is a deeply sacred gift for someone to reflect back to you how you're showing up in the world and to help you become more evolved," explains Jana. Express appreciation, and then "follow the other person's lead," says Zheng. Sometimes the individual calling you out may "want to explain to you all the ways that what you said was harmful and give you a history lesson to go along with it," she says. Other times, all they may reveal is, "'Don't say that word.'"

Sincerely apologize.

Next, says Jana, you need to "replace your instinctive defensiveness with curiosity and empathy" and offer a genuine apology. According to Zheng, your apology must include three elements: "You must address the harmful comment, acknowledge the impact it had, and commit to doing better."

Start by saying something like, "Thank you for sharing that with me. It's hard to hear. And I appreciate you trust me enough to share this feedback." Then say, "I am sorry that what I said and did was offensive."

Your apology must be sincere. "Don't say, 'I am sorry if you felt offended.' The insertion of the 'if' makes it seem like you're humoring them," says Zheng. Finally, say, "I care a lot about creating an inclusive workplace, and I want to improve." Depending on your relationship with this colleague, you might also ask for a suggestion on how to be better in future situations. Zheng suggests saying something like, "If you can, and if you're willing, can you share a recommendation for how I could have said it differently?"

And don't overdo it.

Upon being called out for an offensive remark, some people have a tendency to over-apologize, says Zheng. "They go on and on, saying things like: 'I am so sorry. I feel so terrible. I am not a racist. What must you think of me?'" But these histrionics do not help, and in fact, they contribute to the insult. "You are flexing your power by [asking] this employee to take care of you," she says. It's not your colleague's job to assuage your guilt, and make you feel better about the situation. This shouldn't become "a pity party," adds Jana.

How to respond when you're called out publicly

All of the above steps become much harder if the conversation is happening in front of others. According to Zheng, most callouts for microaggressions tend to be private interactions because of the sensitive subject matters. That said, if your colleague draws attention to your behavior in a public setting, it's likely because "they don't feel psychologically safe with you" or "they're at the end of their rope," Zheng says.

In situations like these, tread carefully. "First, pause. Then say, 'Thank you for sharing that feedback. I am not going to use that word in the future,'" Zheng advises. Keep your response short and non-defensive. Later, "message the person privately and go through the same steps of acknowledging the hurtful comment, recognizing the impact it had, and committing to doing better," she says. You don't want to do this part of process "publicly because it is performative."

Seek to understand on your own time.

In the event that you don't quite grasp how what you said or did was prejudiced and hurtful, do not force your colleague into a drawn-out conversation or try to persuade them of your benign intent, says Jana. Instead, "Google it or ask other people" to help you understand. Importantly, adds Zheng, "that research needs to happen on your own time." Remember, this person didn't " commit to becoming your teacher," and so you need to "treat this as your own learning opportunity," she says.

Consider following up

"If you went on a hike with someone and they tripped and hurt themselves, you would follow up with them later to express your genuine concern for their wellbeing,"- particularly if their fall was due to your negligence, says Jana. The same should hold true for times "when you have been the cause of someone's emotional pain."

After a bit of time has passed, Jana recommends reaching out to let your colleague to let them "know that you care" and that you're "grateful that they were vulnerable with you." Essentially you're saying: "Your intervention worked. I could have gone through the world blind to that and I understand a bit more now. Thank you for helping me grow."

But Zheng recommends proceeding with caution. When your research sparks burning revelation about your biases and you have an urge to make further amends, she says you need to "interrogate your own feelings." Ask yourself: What am I looking for? A pat on the back? Validation? She says that the best way course of action is not to rehash the incident but rather to "take steps to make your colleague feel more respected."

Keep working on it

Finally, recognize that becoming a better, open-minded, anti-racist, anti-sexist person is hard work. "You're doing the best you can; you're human and fallible; and you're going to mess up from time to time," says Jana. "Rarely does one conversation erase a lifetime of programming."

The important thing is to "commit to opening your eyes and be willing to course correct at every opportunity" and to have "grace for yourself and grace for others," says Jana.Let your team know that this is a priority for you, adds Zheng. Say, "In the future I am going to work on this, and if you can, please keep holding me accountable."

Principles to Remember

Do

Make the other person feel heard and follow their lead in the conversation.

Offer a genuine apology that acknowledges the impact and harm your comment caused.

Keep striving to be better. It requires grace, humility, and commitment.

Don't

Fall prey to the fundamental attribution error. You can still be a good, well-intentioned person who said something offensive.

Make the conversation about you. Instead, express gratitude for your colleague's trust and belief that you're capable of evolving.

Overdo your apology by laying on your privileged guilt. Your apology should be sincere.

Advice in Practice
Case Study #1: Be grateful for your colleague's courage and listen to what they say.
Steve Waters, a social entrepreneur, says he has long strived to create an equitable, inclusive, and fair workplace. "Diversity and social justice are really important to me," he says. "And I consider myself to be very aware of how that comes across in my language."

Recently, however, he was called out by a female employee - we'll call her Sarah - for committing a microaggression. "I often use the greeting, 'Hey guys,' which I view as an easygoing way to greet a group of people," he says. "It didn't even occur to me that this was hurtful, and I was quite surprised when my colleague brought it up."

He admits that at first, he was confused. But he listened carefully to what his colleague was telling him. "Sarah explained that she came from the tech startup world, where sexism is rampant, and since 'guys' literally means men, it is often used as a subtle, or not-so-subtle, way of minimizing the women in the room."

Sarah explained that by addressing the group, which was predominantly men, as "guys," he was excluding her. Steve felt terrible. "This wasn't a conscious or purposeful effort to minimize her. Sarah is definitely an equally valued member of the team," he says.

But he knew that this incident wasn't about him. Rather, it was about making sure Sarah felt heard and understood.

Steve immediately thanked Sarah for bringing the comment to his attention. "I also let her know that I understood the impact of what I had said and because of that, I would no longer use that term. I apologized for using language that made her feel minimized," he says.

The end result was positive. Sarah thanked Steve for listening and for being open to change. And Steve learned a key lesson. "Just because something isn't offensive to you based on your life experience, it doesn't mean it isn't or can't be hurtful to someone else," he says. "If a colleague has the courage to tell you they feel minimized, take the time to really listen to what their experience is."
Case Study #2: Commit to doing better - and then follow through on that promise
Jesse Silkoff, founder of MyRoofingPal, which helps customers find local contractors, says that being called out for a mistake that "you didn't even realize you were making" feels awful.

"However, as a leader, you have to make sure you set the standard of how to make it right," he says. "In the case of using a microaggression, taking responsibility for the mistake is critical."

Earlier in his career, Jesse, who is white, managed an Indian American colleague who had a name that Jesse had a hard time saying. "After saying it wrong a few times in our initial conversations, I noted that was a very difficult name for me to pronounce correctly," he says. "I meant it as a light-hearted, offhand remark."

But Jesse soon realized that his employee took it differently. She grew stiff and lowered her head. She then explained to Jesse that comments like that were hurtful because it made her feel like an outsider.

Jesse felt badly. That was not his intention, but he could see his colleague's point. "This was very eye-opening to me," he says. "I realized that I was in the wrong for making such an insensitive comment and not trying harder to work on the pronunciation on my own."

Jesse knew his apology shouldn't be about how terrible he felt. He needed to choose his words carefully and express appropriate humility. "No one wants to hear a half-hearted apology when they've been slighted," he says. "I told her that I was wrong, and that I regret what I did. I then promised her that I would do better."

Jesse learned how to say his colleague's name correctly. And they went on to have a productive working relationship. "Sadly, I'm sure we all make mistakes like this all the time and are never called out on them," he says. "I'm glad this employee took the time to explain why this was hurtful because it was a great opportunity to grow as a leader and human."

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You've Been Called Out for a Microaggression. What Do You Do?

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It was a throwaway comment, and you were unaware that it was demeaning. But now that a colleague has brought the slight to your attention, you realize what you said was offensive. As a person who wants to be a good ally to your colleagues of color and members of underrepresented groups, how do you apologize after you've committed a microaggression?

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Microaggressions and Microinterventions in the Classroom

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Microaggressions and Microinterventions in the Classroom

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https://education.fsu.edu/microaggressions-and-microinterventions-classroom#:~:text=(2007)%2C%20there%20are%20three,behavior%2C%20or%20purposeful%20discriminatory%20actions.

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https://www.amle.org/microaggressions-in-the-classroom/  - About Microaggressions

https://www.vox.com/2015/2/16/8031073/what-are-microaggressions  - When the term was first used.

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-05553-013  - Racial microaggressions.