Page 55 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

Forms of Microaggressions 29

RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS
Commonplace verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional
or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and
insults to people of color.
Verbal Manifestations Nonverbal Manifestations Environmental Manifestations

Microinsult Microassault Microinvalidation
(often unconscious) (often conscious) (often unconscious)
Communications that convey Explicit racial derogations Communications that
rudeness and insensitivity and characterized primarily by a exclude, negate, or nullify
demean a person’s racial violent verbal, nonverbal, or the psychological thoughts,
heritage. environmental attack meant feelings, or experiential
to hurt the intended victim reality of a person of color.
through name-calling, avoidant
behavior, or purposeful
discriminatory actions.

THEMES THEMES
Ascription of Intelligence Alien in Own Land
Assigning a degree of intelligence to a Belief that visible racial/ethnic minority
person of color based on their race. citizens are foreigners.
Second-Class Citizen Color-Blindness
Treated as a lesser person or group. Denial or pretense that a White person
does not see color or race.
Pathologizing Cultural
Values/Communication Styles Myth of Meritocracy
Notion that the values and communication Statements that assert that race plays
styles of people of color are abnormal. a minor role in life success.

Assumption of Criminal Status Denial of Individual Racism
Presumed to be a criminal, dangerous, or Denial of personal racism or one’s
deviant based on race. role in its perpetuation.

Figure 2.1 Categories of and Relationships among Racial Microaggressions

they are unworthy to be served and/or that they are not the “ right kind of
people ” and do not belong.
Microassaults are most similar to what has been called “ old fashioned ”
racism, sexism, or heterosexism conducted on an individual level. They are
likely to be conscious and deliberate acts. However, because of strong public
condemnation of such behaviors, microassaults are most likely to be expressed
under three conditions that afford the perpetrator some form of protection
(Sue & Capodilupo, 2008).
First, when perpetrators feel some degree of anonymity and are assured
that their roles or actions can be concealed they may feel freer to engage in

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