Carter (2005) found that several African American students in her study enacted “Proving them wrong” as a psychological resistance strategy. Instead of floundering under the myth of African American intellectual inferiority, the myth served as a motivational tool to help these students strive for academic excellence in their classes.
“Challenging” the microaggression is another response that some students of color choose to use when experiencing microaggressions in the classroom. For example, if an African American student felt the teacher did not acknowledge his/her raised hand based on his/her skin color, the student may choose to verbally confront the teacher. For this student, this response represents an act of resistance against the microaggression. He/she is unwilling to accept his/her teacher’s perceived attempt to ignore his/her presence in the classroom.
Gwendolyn MIller