Page 35 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

Racial Microaggressions 9

racism (Sears, 1988), modern racism (McConahay, 1986), implicit racism (Banaji,
Hardin, & Rothman, 1993), and aversive racism (Dovidio & Gaertner, 1996).
Aversive racism is closely related to the concept of racial microaggressions.
Dovidio and Gaertner (1996) believe that most White people experience
themselves as good, moral, and decent human beings who would never inten-
tionally discriminate against others on the basis of race. Their studies reveal,

however, that it is difficult for anyone born and raised in the United States
to be immune from inheriting racial biases. In fact, many Whites who may

be classified as well - educated liberals appear to be aversive racists. Aversive
racists truly believe they are nonprejudiced, espouse egalitarian values, and
would never consciously discriminate, but they, nevertheless, harbor uncon-
scious biased attitudes that may result in discriminatory actions. Dovidio &
Gaertner (1991, 1993, 1996, 2000) have produced many studies in support of
this conclusion
Racial microaggressions are most similar to aversive racism in that they
generally occur below the level of awareness of well - intentioned people (Sue,
Capodilupo, et al., 2007; Sue & Capodilupo, 2008), but researchers of micro-
aggressions focus primarily on describing the dynamic interplay between
perpetrator and recipient, classifying everyday manifestations, deconstructing
hidden messages, and exploring internal (psychological) and external (dispari-
ties in education, employment, and health care) consequences. Let us return
to our opening chapter example to illustrate the dynamic interplay of racial
microaggressions between the professor and the Black students.
The Black students in the class suffered a series of racial microaggressions that
were unconsciously and unintentionally delivered by Professor Richardson.
Rather than thinking he was insulting or invalidating students of color, the
professor believed he was teaching the “ real ” history of psychology, teaching
students to think and communicate in an objective fashion, and giving praise
to a Black student. While that might have been his conscious intent, the hidden
messages being received by students of color via racial microaggressions were
perceived as invalidating and demeaning.
First, the professor seems to not even entertain the notion that the history
of psychology and the curriculum comes from a primarily White Eurocentric
perspective that alienates and/or fails to capture the experiential reality of
students of color (cultural racism). Racial microaggressions, in this case, can
be environmental in that the readings, lectures, and content of the course
come from only one perspective and do not present the historical totality
of all groups in our society or global community. Robert Guthrie (1998), an

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