Racial Microaggressions

We often think that racism is no longer a serious problem in the world as it used to be. However, racial discrimination is not gone. It transformed into racial microaggression that is more subtle but equally harmful.

Racial microaggressions are intentional or unintentional brief verbal, behavioral or environmental indignities that makes people feel unfriendly or communicates negative racial slights and insults toward people of color. There are different types of racial microaggressions: microassault, microinsult, and microinvalidation. Themes such as color blindness “when I look at you, I don’t see color,” denial of individual racism “I’m not racist. I have several Black friends,” and second class citizen are all examples of racial microaggressions. They deny others’ racial experiences and their own prejudices.

The invisibility and dynamics of racial microaggression is what makes it overflow in the society. People often commit it unconsciously because it is product of stereotype and cultural conditioning. A lot of the times, the perpetrators are born with the racial biases, and they do not realize how their communication can make other people feel. The recipient, on the other hand, often feel vulnerable and uncertain about pointing out the discrimination.

Microaggression not only exists in terms of race, but all kinds of minority groups. It is not the victim’s duty to tell people that they are hurt, but rather the privileged’s job to be knowledgable and self aware about it to stop it from happening.