Page 94 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

68 the microaggression process model

Table 4.1 The Microaggression Process Model
DOMAIN DOMAIN EXAMPLES
Phase One—Incident: An “[The hostess] says, ‘Your table’s ready.’ And [my
event or situation experienced friend asks] ‘Is it in the main dining room?’ and the
by the participant. lady says ‘No.’ ‘Well, we want to sit in the main
dining room.’ She’s like, ‘I wasn’t aware that you
wanted the main dining room.’ My friend asks, ‘Is
it because we’re Black and we’re young? You can’t
seat us in the main dining room because we can’t
afford the main dining room?’”
“Sometimes they follow you. I mean, you go to
Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s, I mean, especially as a
black man, I mean every time I go in that place,
somebody’s watching me, somebody’s walking
behind me, trying to monitor me. They don’t want
me out of their sight until I leave.”
Phase Two—Perception: “Well, to me it’s almost one of those things where
Participant’s belief about you actually have to admit to a level of paranoia.
whether or not the incident I mean, you are constantly asking ‘was that
was racially motivated. racist?’ Am I wrong? Times are I can tell one way
Responses refl ect: Yes/No/ or another. Other times it’s being constantly on
Unsure, Questioning. guard. I have to now look at the state of my mental
health.”
“I don’t know, for me it’s hard because you’re
taught to not try to attribute everything, everything
that happens to racism. I mean, there’s still that
kind of, well, is there a reason why it happened? Is
it just me?”
Phase Three—Reaction:
Participant’s immediate
response to the incident.
1. Cognitive: A reaction that “Or like—and I’m thinking, ‘What do you mean
involves thought processes, why do I work so hard? Am I not supposed to work
whether spoken or internal. hard?’ You know, I guess I had never been looked
at negatively for working hard. Usually, it’s like, oh,
you know, ‘Thanks for staying.’ But you know, like
there was no praise for being a good worker.
2. Behavioral: A reaction that “I’m determined that I’m not going to allow racism
involves an action. to take my voice—which is how I see it, as opposed
to being paranoid—is that I have people in my
sphere of infl uence that I can call up and share my
authentic feelings with.”
3. Emotional: A reaction that “I get so angry. What a racist! There it goes again.
involves an emotion. It’s this whole damn thing, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh my
God! Over and over. I’m so tired and exhausted.’”

(Continued)

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