Read this article with video on Microagressions (Links to an external site.)
https://www.vox.com/2015/2/16/8031073/what-are-microaggressions
Prompt: In the Version A.pdf Download Version A.pdf , read each statement in Column A.
Think critically about how a person could interpret the statements as a “put down.” Then, draw a line connecting the statement to what you believe is the best
possible interpretation from Column B.
Be ready to explain each choice.
After you have finished matching the statements with the interpretations, rewrite the statements so that they do not contain a hidden or negative message.
For example, the statement “How long have you been in this country?” implies that the speaker believes the person was born in another country. A neutral
wording of the statement might be “Where did you grow up?” or “How long have you lived in this town?”
After you have rewritten the statements, answer the question below.
If a person from a marginalized group pointed out to you that one of your comments was a microaggression, how would you respond at the time? Would it
change the likelihood of your making a similar comment in the future? Why or why not?
In her book, It’s the Little Things, Lena Williams (2000) described how some comments that might seem to be small and unimportant to observers are viewed
differently by the person who hears them. For example, when someone seems surprised that a Black woman is a Harvard graduate or assumes that a welldressed Black man in a hotel is a bell-hop, the overall message is that Blacks are not expected to achieve.
Lawrence Graham (1995), a successful Harvard-educated lawyer who worked for a time at an all-White country club, endured comments about how
articulate he was and was told that it was easy to find the “Chinaman,” a supply clerk, because his office was by the laundry. Nadal (2013) pointed to
comments made to gays and lesbians that reflect gender-based stereotypes, such as “Oh well you’re feminine, so how are you a lesbian?” (p. 114). Sue
(2010) used the term “microaggressions” to describe these “brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their
group membership” (p. 24). As Sue noted, from the perspective of those who experience them (people of color, LGBTs, women, immigrants) these exchanges
are frequent and automatic, but are often “glossed over as being innocent or innocuous” (p. 25). However, as Sue noted, microaggressions cause harm to
people’s mental health and to their chances for success in the workplace and in educational settings. Recognizing the form microaggressions take and their
impact on the recipient of such comments, is an important step toward addressing bias against marginalized group members (see also Nadal, 2013).
References:
Graham, L. O. (1995). Member of the club: Reflections on life in a racially polarized world. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Nadal, K. L. (2013). That’s so gay: Microaggressions and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Sue, D. W. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Williams, L. (2000). It’s the little things. New York, NY: Harcourt.
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