Micro-aggressions in Everyday Life

Micro-aggressions in Everyday Life

Racial microaggressions are transitory and frequent daily, behavioral, verbal, or environmental humiliations, whether deliberate or not deliberate, that communicate intimidating, offensive, or negative racial slurs and insults towards individuals of color. Perpetrators of microaggressions are always uninformed that they engage in such communications when they associate with racial/ethnic minorities. A classification of microaggressions in our daily life was established through a review of the social psychological literature on aversive racism, from establishment concerning the manifestation and the effects of everyday racism, and from analyzing many individual narratives of both white counselors and counselors of color about their cultural or racial awakening (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal & Esquilin, 2007). Microaggressions always appear in three forms: microinsult, microassault, and microinvalidation. Almost all interracial meetings are susceptible to microaggressions.

Microaggressions are always more than insults, generalized irregular behaviors, or indifferent comments. They are more specific such as the type of feedback, questions, or actions that are painful because they talk about an individual’s membership to a particular group that is being discriminated against or subjected to stereotypes. A primary reason why microaggressions are so disturbing is that they happen informally, frequently, and they do not intend to harm anybody. Microaggressions may appear to be a joke or a compliment, but they have concealed insults about a particular group of people.

Micro-aggression themes

1. Microassault

A microassault is an unambiguous racial derogation primarily characterized by a verbal or nonverbal assault meant to offend the victim though intentional discriminatory behaviors, name-calling, or avoidant actions. Calling an individual “colored” or “oriental” using racial descriptions, discouraging interracial interaction, intentionally serving a white individual before serving a person of color, and displaying swastikas are the common examples of microassault. Microassault can be referred to as old fashioned racism performed at the individual level, and they are most likely to be thoughtful and conscious even though they are conducted at restricted situations, hence, giving the perpetrator some levels of anonymity (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal & Esquilin, 2007). Generally, many people house notions of inferiority, privately, minority, and they can only display these notions publicly if they fail to control their anger or when they are under conditions that they feel that they are safe to engage in microassault.

1. Microinsult

A microinsult is primarily characterized by communications that convey insensitivity or rudeness, and they degrade an individual’s identity or racial heritage. Microinsult conveys indirect snubs, regularly unknown to the perpetrator, but send a concealed insulting message to the recipient who may be a person of color. For example, is a worker of color is asked how they got their job. This question may be aimed at indicating that people of color lack some professional qualifications or as a member of a minority groups, and the individual must have obtained the position through some affirmative action or quota program but not because the individual has the right qualifications and experience for the job (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal & Esquilin, 2007). Microinsult may also occur nonverbally if a teacher fails to recognize a student on color in a classroom.

1. Microinvalidation

Microinvalidations are primarily characterized by communications that eliminate, negate, or invalidate the subjective opinions, emotions, or practical reality of a person of color. An example of microinvalidations is when Asian Americans who are born and raised in the United States are praised for speaking good English or are frequently asked their place of birth. Such actions are always aimed at nullifying the Asian Americans’ U.S American heritage and to indicate that they are perpetual foreigners (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal & Esquilin, 2007). When a Latino couple receives poor services at a hotel and share their experiences with friends, and they are told not to be overreactive. The response nullifies the couple’s experience, and its importance is being weakened.