Microaggressions

Minorities are often perceived negatively and are given a lower status than the mainstream population, leading to social injustice and unequal treatment (Sue et al., 2007). This unequal treatment may not always be visible, but it can be embedded in everyday interactions in the form of microaggressions. Microaggressions are defined as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults” (Sue et al., 2007, p. 271). Repeated exposure to these erosive communications over time results in an accumulation of negative messages that impact self-esteem and self-concept (Yearwood, 2013). It leads to the othering of minorities, thus enforcing marginalization. These hidden messages cause the invalidation of the group’s identity, demean them and negate their sense of belonging to the majority group (Sue, 2010). These microaggressions convey a message of inferiority to the marginalized group by displaying threatening and intimidating treatment. Indeed, “the power of microaggressions lies in their invisibility to perpetrators and often the recipients. The definition of oppression includes imposing abusive messages (microaggressions) that both reflect and perpetuate false beliefs about people of color” (Sue, 2010, p. 6). Most of the time, people are unaware of their racial biases, but they act on them in the form of microaggressions, which cause humiliation and unidentified pain, lowering the recipients’ self-worth. Additionally, microaggressions may take three forms: (1) microassault; (2) microinsult; and (3) microinvalidation (Sue et al., 2007). Microassaults are conscious biased beliefs or attitudes that are directly and publicly expressed through racist, sexist or heterosexist statements. They may be intentionally expressed or acted out towards a marginalized person or a group (Sue et al., 2007), whereas microinsults likely occur unconsciously on the part of the perpetrator. These can be verbal, nonverbal, or environmental cues that communicate rudeness, insensitivity, and insults to demean others based on their racial, gender, sexual orientation, or group identity and heritage (Sue et al., 2007). Lastly, microinvalidations occur unconsciously on the part of the perpetrators. However, this is the most damaging form of microaggression as it directly attacks or denies the experiential realities of minority groups (Sue, 2010). Any form of microaggression leads to demeaning the socially devalued group and thinking less of them, making them feel targeted and impacting their self-worth.