By Lilia
This blog was written as part of Aid with Perspective, a student initiative led by Ambassador Payton Johnson.
Reflect for a moment and think about what you consider to be offensive. Have you ever heard something about your actions, personality, or your identity that made you feel hurt? Do you or anyone you know commonly use “hostile humor” around friends or other people? Think about at what point a joke crosses the line. Begin to consider if small moments can add up to causing harm.
A microaggression is a small act or remark that acts as either an indirect or subtle discrimination against a member of a marginalized group. An example of a microaggression could be a direct comment such as asking where somebody is “really from” because of their non-white appearance. Microaggressions are also indirect acts such as somebody clutching their purse or wallet as a person of color approaches because they feel that person constitutes as more dangerous simply because of their appearance. These kinds of behaviors directed, intentional or not, towards others are the “small moments” that many consider to mean nothing at all, but in fact can be quite harmful. So, how can this be addressed? In this blog, the psychology of microaggressions and discrimination will be explored, helping to answer your questions and hopefully open your mind to how actions can impact others.
An important thing to understand about microaggressions is although they seem like ‘small acts’, it’s crucial that they are acknowledged. The world has an undeniable past of targeted hatred and violence against minorities. Only recently has there been a shift towards an approach to understanding each other, and an effort put in to celebrate our differences. While this is a great step towards progress, we are still far behind where we actually need to be, and it’s the “small things don’t matter mindset” which holds us back more than we realize. This story, originally from Buzzfeed, includes anonymous quotes from high schoolers about just how much microaggressions affected them. (This website has small anecdotes about microaggressions that I encourage you to read on your own.) One student from the article speaks about experiencing multiple instances of microaggressions including casual touching of her hair from peers, how she was often told she didn’t “sound Black” and many told her she was “well-spoken, considering” her race, and how people were surprised because of her intelligence.
Unfortunately, these belittling comments are far too common, with data from The University of San Francisco, California stating one in five people experience microaggressions on a daily basis [1]. Comments and behavior like this make people feel small, and when someone is constantly hearing these things repeated, there is a risk that they will begin to believe it’s actually true. As a result of these recurring experiences, people can internalize these sentiments and feel like something is wrong with them even though they didn’t even do anything wrong. They may also feel uncomfortable or excluded in professional and educational settings. For example, according to HBR, only 3% of Black professionals report feeling ready to return to in-person work as compared to 21% of their white peers, because work-from-home environments have served as a (partial) buffer from microaggressions [2].
Now that we’ve discussed the impact of microaggressions, let’s think about the flipside. What do you do if you have committed a microaggression? This would no doubt be a very embarrassing situation because nobody wants to be viewed as ignorant or insensitive. The first reaction might be to become defensive, taking a victim’s stance and claiming that they are being unjustly accused. However, you have to look at it from the other perspective. It’s impossible to know how many times this person has dealt with microaggressions, and you have no idea how it makes them feel to have to experienced this on a recurring basis. Defensive reactions are what make people feel unsafe about pointing out microaggressions in the first place. Why should an attempt to speak about something that hurt someone or made them feel uncomfortable be a cause for drama, why does something like that have to make things “them vs you”? Instead, this should be taken as an opportunity for education. Maybe what was done had a significance of which you were unaware of, maybe you thought what you said was a compliment— but the reality is what you do and say can just straight up be discriminatory. It doesn’t matter whether you realized it or not.
If this has happened to you, it’s best to approach the situation calmly with an open mind. Prioritize listening to the person’s concern so you can avoid hurting anyone else. Listening with an open-mind will help improve the relationship with your peer and pave the way for better communication in the future. At a time where “offensive-humor” is mainstream, it can be easy to see humor directed at a marginalized group and think it is ok, when in reality it takes on a completely different meaning when used by someone outside of that group. To avoid this in the first place, always keep an open mind, and if you get even an inkling that something might be a microaggression there is never any shame in simply trying to ask, do research or talk to a trusted and well-informed adult.
Our conclusion, as young people who have spent the semester researching this topic, is that microaggressions are silent but deadly. They can have a significant harmful impact that includes increased anxiety, increased depression and decreased psychological wellbeing [3]. It doesn’t matter who you are, because anyone can commit one without even realizing it. In the end, the best cure is awareness. Simply being aware that the impact of your words and actions can be hurtful, even if they were unintended, will help put an end to discrimination. Nobody should have to feel on high-alert at all times because of their experiences with the world. If you feel you've had a microaggression committed towards yourself, say something. If you see someone else using microaggressions, tell them. And most importantly, if you find yourself using one, acknowledge it and better yourself. If you feel your actions towards ending microaggressions are insignificant, think about how insignificant many think the very impact of microaggressions are in the first place. No problem will ever get better by doing nothing, so go out there and do something. Below are some sources on what you can do to combat microaggressions, how you can deal with them, and what to do if you’ve been called out for using one.
References
[1] Lopez Gonzalez, L. (2024, May 2). Say What? Microaggressions,Your Health, and What to Do About Them. UCSF News and Media. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2024/05/427501/say-what-microaggressions-your-health-and-what-do-about-them
[2] Alinor, M. (2022, May 17). Research: The Real-Time Impact of Microaggressions. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/05/research-the-real-time-impact-of-microaggressions
[3] Williams, M.T. (2020, May 23). You’ve Committed a Microaggression - Now What? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culturally-speaking/202005/youve-committed-a-microaggression-now-what#:~:text=Pointing%20out%20a%20microaggression%20was,you%20care%20about%20their%20feelings.
[4] Sue, D.W. (2023, August). How to combat microaggressions. Speaking of Psychology, American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/microaggressions,
[5] Knight, R. (2020, July 24). You’ve been called out for a Microaggression. What Do you Do? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/07/youve-been-called-out-for-a-microaggression-what-do-you-do
