Abstract
Racial microaggressions are an insidious form of racism with devastating mental-health outcomes, but the concept has not been embraced by all scholars. This article provides an overview of new scholarship on racial microaggressions from an array of diverse scholars in psychology, education, and philosophy, with a focus on new ways to define, conceptualize, and categorize racial microaggressions. Racism, along with its many forms and manifestations, is defined and clarified, drawing attention to the linkages between racial microaggressions and systemic racism. Importantly, the developmental entry points leading to the inception of racial bias in children are discussed. Theoretical issues are explored, including the measurement of intersectional microaggressions and the power dynamics underpinning arguments designed to discredit the nature of racial microaggressions. Also described are the very real harms caused by racial microaggressions, with new frameworks for measurement and intervention. These articles reorient the field to this pertinent and pervasive problem and pave the way for action-based responses and interventions. The next step in the research must be to develop interventions to remedy the harms caused by microaggressions on victims. Further, psychology must make a fervent effort to root out racism that prevents scholarship on these topics from advancing.
Keywords:
interventions; microaggressions; racism; research; taxonomy.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared that there were no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.
Similar articles
Microaggressions: Clarification, Evidence, and Impact. Williams MT.Perspect Psychol Sci. 2020 Jan;15(1):3-26. doi: 10.1177/1745691619827499. Epub 2019 Aug 16.PMID: 31418642
The What, the Why, and the How: A Review of Racial Microaggressions Research in Psychology. Wong G, Derthick AO, David EJ, Saw A, Okazaki S.Race Soc Probl. 2014 Jun 1;6(2):181-200. doi: 10.1007/s12552-013-9107-9. Epub 2013 Oct 24.PMID: 26913088Free PMC article.
After Pierce and Sue: A Revised Racial Microaggressions Taxonomy. Williams MT, Skinta MD, Martin-Willett R.Perspect Psychol Sci. 2021 Sep;16(5):991-1007. doi: 10.1177/1745691621994247.PMID: 34498518
Racial microaggressions in everyday life: implications for clinical practice. Sue DW, Capodilupo CM, Torino GC, Bucceri JM, Holder AM, Nadal KL, Esquilin M.Am Psychol. 2007 May-Jun;62(4):271-86. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271.PMID: 17516773Review.
Making science and doing justice: The need to reframe research on racial inequities in oral health. Bastos JL, Constante HM, Jamieson LM.Community Dent Health. 2021 May 28;38(2):132-137. doi: 10.1922/CDH_IADRBastos06.PMID: 33780174Review.
Similar articles
Anderson K. F., Finch J. K. (2017). The role of racial microaggressions, stress, and acculturation in understanding Latino health outcomes in the USA. Race and Social Problems, 9(3), 218–233.
Baboolal A. A. (2020). Performing intersectional reflexivity: Conducting ethical interviews with Muslim International and Muslim American students in the Trump era. In Sharma D. (Ed.), Ethics, ethnocentrism and social science research (pp. 174–195). Routledge. 10.4324/9780429270260-9 - DOI
Baker J. (2017). Through the looking glass: White first-year university students’ observations of racism in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Sociological Inquiry, 87(2), 362–384. 10.1111/soin.12165 - DOI
Buchanan N., Perez M., Prinstein M., Thurston I. B. (in press). Upending racism in psychological science: Strategies to change how science is conducted, reported, reviewed and disseminated. American Psychologist.
Choi D. D., Poertner M., Sambanis N. (2020). Linguistic assimilation does not reduce discrimination against immigrants: Evidence from Germany. Journal of Experimental Political Science. Advance online publication. 10.1017/XPS.2020.20 - DOI