Comments on: Racial Microaggressions

By: yudera

yudera — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:38:56 +0000

very nice post!
I wil check the links that you left in the body of the text about this microagressions!
i am a japanese-brazilian, and in Brazil we have to deal with those too, althought we dont have those open conversation about it as much as you have in the US. Racism here is commonly related to white-black relations, and its a subject that few accept to talk about. There is a myth that in Brazil there's no racism, and most people who disagree with that myth bases their argument in black-white relations, due to the fact that the poverty here is related to black people. That way, most of the discussion about racism here is based in social-class (poverty), and when you have something to say about racism that is not related to poverty and therefore, economic exclusion, you are not taken seriously.

By: yudera

yudera — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:38:56 +0000

By: lxy

lxy — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:34:37 +0000

His research identifies this behavior as a “racial microaggression.” A racial microaggression is brief, everyday exchange that sends a denigrating message to a person of color.

"Racial microaggression" sounds like a euphemism for the same old White racism that most minorities have to deal with all too often in 'post-racial' America.

Forget about Political Correctness and call a spade a spade.

Call it White cultural racism or White social racism.

By: malfeasanceses

malfeasanceses — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:17:29 +0000

Hey, I'm white, and I don't think that kind of thing is due to anti-white racism. It's more like, 1.) white people think that the opposite of racism is colorblindness, so any kind of acknowledgment of race is bad, or at least super rude and awkward, 2.) accepting that we're white means accepting that we're part of a group of people that commit(ed/s) slavery, genocide, colonization, etc, and that means feeling guilty, and 3.) we want to be seen as "individuals."

Also, what erika888 said.

It might be more acceptable to verbally pick on white people (in some places), but it's never more acceptable for white people to suffer any other form of racism, for example... being vastly unrepresented in positions of power. (We can't even handle ONE president of color.)

By: lupe garcia

lupe garcia — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:19:21 +0000

I have problems like that. I don't know if thei're doing on purpose or just something they have on their minds. I'm not asia, but your article really come to me. Some people when I come close to them start talking about immigration or mexicans. I'm proud of being mexican but i get so annoyed by rude and ignorate things people say about us. But i get what you're saying microagression people think that people don't want to be seen as racist but they are.

By: facebook-3305315

facebook-3305315 — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:31:30 +0000

Thank you so much for this informative article. For those in the New England area, there's an event at the University of Vermont about Microaggressions:

Discrimination in a New Package, Microaggressions: How to Understand Indirect Bias in Our Lives

DATE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2009
TIME: 5PM-6:30PM
PLACE: MEMORIAL LOUNGE, WATERMAN BUILDING, UVM

This program is free and open to the public. It shares the most current research on microaggressions and its impact on communities. The event provides a forum to discuss the best practices for addressing microaggressions from multiple viewpoints and situations by bring together the following experts to discuss the issues:

SPEAKERS:

Kevin Nadal: Professor, psychologist, performer, activist, and author who received his doctorate in counseling psychology from Columbia University in 2008. (Author of Filipino American Psychology)

Nicole Watkins: Multicultural researcher and therapist, academic advisor, and doctoral candidate in the psychological counseling program at Teachers College, Columbia University.

David Rivera: Therapist, multicultural researcher and doctoral candidate in counseling psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University.

This program is open to the public, please call 802-656-8833 for more information

By: facebook-781570365

facebook-781570365 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:43:00 +0000

Really good article !
Being half Filipino – I would get pretty dumb comments when I was little – and when mixed couples weren't the norm in my little English village. Subtle indeed, but sometimes the comments could cross over to being plain stupid – example of micro insults: “You people always have a problem!” But the classic one has to be when summer job hunting with my mum during uni – the woman at the job agency took one look at me and my mum and said to me in a slow patronising tone : ” Do – you – have – a – British – passport ?”

I admire my mum for putting down the “frustration, the anger and the loss of self esteem” and brushing it away like dirt on the floor. I wish somehow I wouldn't get that slight pang when someone does say something ignorant.

By: erika888

erika888 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:20:56 +0000

I don't really think an aggressive form of racism (where someone of one race belittles/threatens/etc another race) has to do with white people denying their whiteness. I think an overall culture where white people have privilege, with the default “white culture” being the default, leads to whites feeling like they need to embrace their true roots and heritage. I think it's great when white people feel pride about their varied backgrounds, whether it's Italian, Irish, Jewish, English, Scottish, Czech, or whatever else. However the outright denial of the concept of whiteness and their ingrained privilege is problematic, obviously.

Blacks denying their heritage seems to stem from another source for the most part; society, comprised of both whites and blacks (and other POC) is used to seeing Blacks in violent roles on tv and in movies, as well as on the news as being a perpetrator of some crime. Many Black people, unfortunately some I know personally, would rather attempt to let go of their heritage than be painted with the same broad brushstroke. Some unfortunately place the blame only on the Black community for its own shortcomings instead of realizing that there is a bigger societal problem.