The racial microaggressions shown in these images may occur across all types of interracial communications; however, those that have the potential for the greatest harm are those perpetrated by majority culture individuals toward persons in disempowered racial groups. According to Derald Wing Sue, Professor of Psychology and Education in TC's Counseling Psychology program in the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, racial 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 that potentially have harmful psychological impact on the target person or group”. His studies show that the psychological effects of racial microaggressions on people of color pose potential threats to their emotional and mental development. People of color have reported a range of emotional responses from their experiences with racial microaggressions. Feeling disrespected and angry were the most frequent reactions, followed by feeling insulted, disappointed, frustrated, outraged, hurt, and shocked. The racial microaggressions people of color experience are stressful, and for many of them this stress persists over a span of two months to over a year after the incident. Most importantly, racial microaggressions have a harmful and lasting psychological impact that may endure for days, weeks, months, and even Written by Gwendolyn Miller |
Accepting Their Racial Reality
Educators have the responsibility to create academic environments that are as free of racial microaggressions as possible. However, teaching in racially diverse classrooms often leaves educators feeling uncertain about how to act toward and react to students of color.
In response to this dilemma, this blog encourages educators to take a candid look at the negative effects of racial microaggressions on students of color. It describes their experiences with and responses to racial microaggressions. Most importantly, this blog provides educators with the successful pedagogical practices designed to reduce racial microaggressions within their educational institution.