Jaya Hinton

Leila Jackson

How do microaggressions affect a student of colors social and academic college experience?

Definition of Terms
1. Aversive Racism--A form of prejudice characterizing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of
the majority of well-intentioned and ostensibly non-prejudiced White Americans
2. Dominative Racism--Said to reflect the traditional, blatant form...the dominative racist is the
type who acts out bigoted beliefs - he represents the open flame of racial hatred.
3. Mismatch theory--racial preferences in academic admissions harm their purported beneficiaries
by placing them in schools for which they are inadequately prepared.
4. Racial Battle Fatigue--a theoretical framework for examining social- psychological stress
responses associated with being an African American male on historically White campuses--
addresses the physiological and psychological strain exacted on racially marginalized groups and
the amount of energy lost dedicated to coping with racial microaggressions and racism.
5. Black Misandry--An exaggerated pathological aversion toward Black men created and
reinforced in societal, institutional, and individual ideologies and practices.
6. Double Consciousness--black people are essentially forced to have two identities and pressured
to view themselves as theyre perceived by their non-black peers.
7. Vindictive Protectiveness--Creating a culture in which everyone must think twice before
speaking up, lest they face charges of insensitivity, aggression, or worse.
8. Stereotype Threat--A situational predicament in which people of color are or feel themselves to
be at risk of conforming to stereotypes about their social group.
9. Critical Race Theory--A theoretical framework in the social sciences focused upon the
application of critical theory, a critical examination of society and culture, to the intersection of
race, law, and power.
10. Politically Correct--Conforming to a belief that languages and practices which could offend
political sensibilities (as in matters of sex and race) should be eliminated.
11. HBCU--Historically Black College University & PWI--Predominantly White Institution

Introduction
In the United States, overt racism is no longer the face of discrimination, but has been replaced
with something less explicit and obvious. This subtle form of racism, is known as a
microaggression. Some examples of this are A White employer telling a prospective candidate of color
I believe the most qualified person should get the job, regardless of race...complementing Asian
Americans (born and raised in the United States) for speaking good English or repeatedly asking where
they were born (Sue, 2007). The term microaggression was first coined by psychiatrist and Harvard
University professor Chester M. Pierce in the 1970s, but has since been studied more thoroughly by
social scientists such as psychologists and critical race theorists. According to Columbia University
counseling psychology professor David Sue, racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily
verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate
hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color. Throughout the country
students have come forward to share their experiences with microaggressions and explain how they affect
their lives. Through movements such as I, Too, Am Harvard, a multimedia project that included a play
performed by students who spoke about microaggressions that they face both on and off campus,
microaggressions gained the attention of major news organizations such as The Washington Post, which
helped kickstart this essential conversation. Now the discussion around microaggressions continues to be
prompted by projects such as photo blogs, campus theater, and video projects. One of these projects is a
photo blog run by a student from Fordham University featuring students of color holding up signs with
comments that they have received. A biracial student holds a sign that reads What are you? and an
Asian student holds a sign that says No, where are you really from? Projects like these showcase some
of the common microaggressions that students of color, which, according to The College Board, make up
about 40% of the average universitys population, face.
Microaggressions have been split into three sections: microassaults, microinsults, and
microinvalidations. According to Sue
A microassault is an explicit racial derogation characterized primarily by a verbal or
nonverbal attack meant to hurt the intended victim through name-calling, avoidant
behavior, or purposeful discriminatory actions...Microassaults are most similar to what
has been called old fashioned racism conducted on an individual level. They are most
likely to be conscious and deliberate, although they are generally expressed in limited
private (micro) situations that allow the perpetrator some degree of anonymity.
A microinsult is characterized by communications that convey rudeness and insensitivity and
demean a persons racial heritage or identity. Microinsults represent subtle snubs, frequently unknown to
the perpetrator, but clearly convey a hidden insulting message to the recipient of color and a
microinvalidation is characterized by communications that exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological
thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person of color. Discussion about microaggressions have
become commonplace at universities where the student body is slowly becoming more racially diverse.
From one perspective the term has been helpful for people of color to identify racism that is not always
overt, but at the same time microaggressions have been accused of creating eggshell plaintiffs--
preternaturally fragile individuals injured by the slightest collisions with life. Microaggressions are often
lumped in with things like safe spaces and trigger warnings, but they are more than just a growing
epidemic of liberal sensitivity: 39% of the students of color surveyed at the University of Illinois Urbana
Campus reported feeling uncomfortable on campus because of their race, and 51% of those participants
reported experiences of stereotyping in the classroom (Harwood et. al, 2015). Microassaults,
microinsults and microinvalidations can follow students of color from elementary schools throughout
their entire schooling careers, however this paper will focus solely on microaggressions at the university
level, and how it affects students of color in social and academic situations.

Microaggressions in academic spaces

Microaggressions that are found in classrooms are generally associated with the stereotypes of a
particular race. In a predominantly white college students of color often find themselves being the only
Black, Latinx or Asian student in their class. Faculty members and advisors often have lower academic
expectations of students of color. One way that this manifests itself is in the discouragement of students
of color from pursuing majors that are considered more challenging--such as STEM majors--by their
advisors. In Simba Runyowas article The Impact of Microaggressions and Why They Matter he writes
about an African-American friend of his who asked an academic advisor for information about majoring
in biology. Runyowa writes, Without being asked about her academic record (which was excellent),
[she] was casually directed to look up less-challenging courses in African-American studies instead. It
seems that because of her race the advisor made the assumption that she was not capable of pursuing a
degree in science, and therefore suggested studying a subject that he thought might be easier as it
pertained to her background. Another way in which this manifests itself is by assuming a person of color
was dishonest on an assignment if they did well. In the study authored by Daniel Solorzano et. al on
Critical Race Theory and Microaggressions, he includes the experience of a black student who had taken
a math quiz on which they (singular, gender was not identified) were accused of cheating because they
obtained a 95%. The professor told the student that they were just not sure so they made them retake the
quiz with only the graduate student instructor in the room, and they received a 98%. This shows that
although there was most likely no evidence that the student had cheated, the professor seemed to assume
that because the student was black they could not have gotten a high score by themselves.
Being the only, or one of the only students of color in a predominantly white classroom can
sometimes lead to the professors ignoring them. A black female student in Solorzanos study said, I
think that when the professors see that theres fewer of you, theyre less likely to address your concerns.
Another example of a common microaggression is being stared at. Moriah, a Latino student at a
predominantly white university who participated in a case study on Latinx students said that she felt
stared at and singled out as different than her fellow students (Minikel-Lacocque, 2011). Unwelcome and
doubtful stares fit under the category of microinsult because they communicate the message that they do
not belong (Minikel-Lacocque, 2011). Another issue that arises is white students unwilling to work with
students of color.
[in] a technical field, [as] an engineer, oftentimes youll feel like the other students dont want
to approach Black students for their groups, especially when [they think the Blacks are] are just
not technically smart... as maybe an Asian student. And Ill notice theyll make [study] groups
[and] maybe youll be the last one asked. So you feel more of a need to establish yourself you
need to prove yourself (Solorzano et. al, 2000).
Lastly, another microaggression that seems to be somewhat common is assuming a student of
color is only in college because of affirmative action, and not their own academic achievements. In Julie
Minikel-Lacocques study on microaggressions and Latinx students at Midwestern University she
mentions an op-ed in the school newspaper that sparked debate. The article, written by a white student,
called the universitys admissions policies (which takes applicants racial backgrounds into consideration)
racist because the policy does not prepare academically underrepresented minorities for the challenges
they will face at MU and suggested that their college should help improve urban public schools. Many of
the readers comments on the article argue that improving their status in society and being educated is
simply up to poor minorities, and if they want it enough and work hard enough they can achieve it.
Minikel-Lacocque says that these comments display the myth of meritocracy which refers to the belief
that everyone is given the same chances for success, regardless of age, gender or socioeconomic status. In
Solorzanos study many African-American students said that there were white students who questioned
how they had been accepted into the university. One student said that white students really thought that
the only reason black students were getting in was because of affirmative action.
Effects of microaggressions in academic spaces
One widespread effect of microaggressions is feelings of isolation. Being the only, or one of the
few students of color in a classroom can lead to feelings of unwelcomeness, especially if their input in
class discussion is invalidated or ignored. This may push some of these students to no longer participate
in class discussions and other academic activities. A female student included in Solorzanos study said
that because she was the only black student in a lot of her classes her experience was kind of
intimidating and it was difficult for her to be involved and invested in class. Being the only one of a
racial minority can also place students in a position where they feel like they have to represent their whole
race when it comes to discussion on racial issues. This is identified by the authors of a paper on stereotype
threat, Claude M. Steele and Joshua Aronson, as spokesperson pressure which is the feeling of having
to represent your entire race when speaking while present as a minority in any given situation. Feelings
of self-doubt and diminished self-esteem can also arise as a result of microaggressions. Some of the
students in Solorzanos study said they felt a sense of discouragement, frustration and exhaustion from
racial microaggressions, and felt as if they could not perform well academically. These strains are
different from those white students face, as most of the stress faced by the latter on college campuses has
to do with personal issues (Munoz, 1986).
Students of color can also react to microaggressions in overt ways such as dropping a class,
changing their major, or even transferring schools (Solorzano et. al, 2000). One African-American female
student said that she had to fight racism every day in her science classes, Each time I took a new class
the same thing happened over and over again. In class she had to deal with students who told her she was
in college because of affirmative action and her input was ignored by white students and professors. She
was tired and upset and ended up changing her major to English.

Microaggressions in Social Spaces

Along with academic spaces, microaggressions exist in social spaces in and around campus where
students go to have fun and relieve stress from their academic coursework: campus quads, dorms,
fraternity and sorority housing are examples of these social spaces. Students of color in social
environments more typically experience stereotyping, racial profiling, and exclusionary practices by both
police and other students. For example, female students of color who have attempted to enter parties at
various fraternities have been denied access because the part was for white girls only (Svrluga, 2015).
They have been apprehended by police for being suspicious characters while walking through campus
at night, and their participation in the same extracurricular or recreational activities as schoolmates have
been restricted on racial grounds. According to a qualitative study undertaken by William Smith et al. in
2007
[At] Underhill [residence hall]...almost every night, theres Whites, theres Asians in
Underhill playing Frisbee, or playing football, or whatever have you at 1 oclock in the
morning...and never [having] any problems. So, me and my friends [all Black males] are
out there about to play some football, and its like 11 oclock. All of a sudden, UCBP
[UC Berkeley Police] sweeps up. First, its one car, and they get out...then, after hes
there for maybe about 2 minutes, all of a sudden from this entrance over here, we have
two other [UCBP squad] cars swooping in on Underhill lot.

The inability for students of color to feel safe on campus leads to internalized anger and fear, and
widens the possibility of the student falling victim to stereotype threat.

Ways Students Cope with Social Microaggressions

Students of color in PWIs tend to self segregate. They join Black, Asian, or Hispanic Student
Unions, live in theme housing (ex. African American House), and join black fraternities and
sororities. These environments provide students a reprieve from the insensitive comments and racial
profiling experienced throughout the majority of their campus. Greek life especially provides a
community of brother or sister hood that students rely on for their entire lives. Along with HBCUs, black
greek life builds a community of support for these students that lasts throughout their lives, and
contributes to their overall well-being in the future.
Another system used to counteract this isolation is social counter-spaces
As Solorzano and Villalpando (1998) have determined, academic counter-spaces allow
African-American students to foster their own learning and to nurture a supportive
environment wherein their experiences are validated and viewed as important knowledge.
According to our focus group participants, social counter-spaces because they afforded
African-American students with space, outside of the classroom confines, to vent their
frustrations and get to know others who shared their experiences of microaggressions
and/or overt racism (Solorzano, Ceja and Yosso, 2000).

These spaces on campus allow students of color to discuss and validate their experiences. It
keeps them from believing that they are overly-sensitive or delusional, while also helping them to gain the
confidence to brush it off, or to confront the student and explain why it is offensive. These environments
provide students of color with the immediate support needed. In combination with Greek life, students of
color are able to overcome the strain of microaggressions in order to have a fulfilling college and life
experience.
Psychological and Physiological Effects
Microaggressions have a negative effect on the present and future psychological state,
physiological state, and overall well-being of students of color at universities. Attending predominantly
white institutions leaves room for students of color to fall victim to stereotype threat, impostor syndrome,
and to experience racial battle fatigue, all things that contribute to poor mental health later in life. This
section will take an in-depth look at the physiological and psychological effects of microaggressions on
students of color. Aside from experiencing the mental strain of racial battle fatigue, students also
experience physiological responses caused by the stress and the amount of energy lost from coping with
racial microaggressions and racism. From the review of literature Assume the Position...You fit the
description by William Smith et al. in 2007
The cumulative symptoms of racial battle fatigue are both physiological and psychological
(Smith, 2004, 2005a, 2005b). Examples of physiological symptoms include, but are not limited
to (b) elevated heartbeat, (c) rapid breathing in anticipation of racial conflict (e) extreme
fatigue, (f) ulcers and (h) elevated blood pressure. The psychological symptoms of racial battle
fatigue include (a) constant anxiety and worrying... (d) sleep broken by haunting, conflict-specific
dreams; (e) intrusive thoughts and images; (f) loss of self-confidence; (g) difficulty in thinking
coherently or being able to articulate (confirming stereotype); (h) hypervigilance... (k) John
Henryism, or prolonged, high-effort coping with difficult psychological stressors; (1) emotional
and social withdrawal.

These strains can result in a lack of focus and a decrease of motivation, which can lead to
deteriorating grades and ultimately a lower graduation rate. These can allow for feelings of tokenism--the
practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do a particular thing, especially by recruiting a
small number of people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of sexual or racial
equality--by students of color. When students have feelings of tokenism they begin to experience
impostor syndrome, defined as,phoniness in people who believe that they are not intelligent, capable or
creative despite evidence of high achievement. While these people are highly motivated to achieve,
they also live in fear of being found out or exposed as frauds (Richards, 2015). Tokenism has
erupted through the term mismatch theory which claims that students of color are only accepted to
advanced academic institutions for their skin color. As students of color are constantly told that they they
are inadequate, underprepared, and that their value lies in their skin color, their mental and physical health
start to decline, and they fall victim to stereotype threat. This a repetitive pattern that intensifies as more
students are exposed to it every year. Each student who falls victim to stereotype threat is an example
courts and individual schools and students can use to prove mismatch theory: Justice Scalia alludes to it in
the Fisher vs. University of Texas affirmative action case. As a case is built against students of color,
more and more aspiring college students of color start to see that as their likely path.
The combination of racial microaggressions in both academic and communal places on
historically white campuses is the cause of many students of colors decision towards attending
HBCUs. Though the name recognition and in some cases the academic rigor of an HBCU may be less
than that of a PWI such as Harvard, the students feel less pressured and are more likely to enjoy their time
on campus, which effectively makes them more productive students and members of society
HBCU grads were substantially more likely to say that they had professors who cared about them
and mentors who helped them pursue their goals. They also felt certain that their school prepared
them well for post-grad life. These feelings may help help explain why alums of HBCUs are so
much more likely (49 percent vs. 34 percent for black grads who didnt attend HBCUs) to say
that their university is the perfect place for someone similar to them, and why they have so much
affinity for these institutions, despite the fact that many of these colleges and universities are
struggling (Green, 2015).

Along with this, HBCUs tend to produce more doctoral students of color than PWIs because of
their comfort with themselves as students of color and with their campus experience, Black colleges as a
group were even more likely to have produced Ph.D. recipients when the numbers are examined per
capita based on their enrollments. In 2006, alumni of historically black institutions received 10.1
doctorates per 1,000 bachelor's degrees they awarded to black students, compared to 7.9 percent for non-
black colleges (Lederman, 2008). Alumni of HBCUs also have a stronger connection to their school
after graduation and are more likely to stay in contact and develop positive relationships with their
professors. Because students of color at historically black colleges and universities are much less likely
to encounter microaggressions and acts of tokenism, their mental health stays intact and they are able to
achieve their goals in an environment without inhibitors. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the
experience of going to an HBCU helps these students achieve a greater overall well-being later in life
Graduates of HBCUs ranked their well-being higher in [physical health, social relationships,
finances, goal achievement, and community engagement] than their black peers who attended
predominantly white institutions. Additionally, HBCU alums were more likely to say that theyre
engaged and fulfilled at work and ranked significantly higher in measures of financial success and
fulfillment than black grads who went to other schools (White, 2015).

Overall, students of color who face a nonstop assault of microaggressions are lower performing,
have poorer overall well-being, and are more likely to internalize anger and fear of failure than students
who do not face these aggressions. This has an effect not only on the present state of the student, but on
his or her future as well.
Counterargument
Although research has shown that there are real and lasting impacts of microaggressions, there is
another side to the argument. Critics of the concept of microaggressions often point out that they
perpetuate a victim complex (Runyowa, 2015). As mentioned earlier, microaggressions are put in the
same category as safe spaces and trigger warnings, which are also topics that have been widely debated
and are seen as a way to enforce liberal ideals. Another topic that is important to mention in relation to
microaggressions is political correctness (PC) and the emphasis of PC culture on college campuses.
Political correctness, in its simplest form is supposed to be about respecting people of all genders,
sexualities and races. It is also about being somewhat sensitive and not using disrespectful terms and
slurs. Runyowa mentions that microaggressions are a concept that originated from political correctness.
PC culture is often seen as creating an obsession with fabricating victims, shoehorning radically liberal
ideas into college students, placing identity politics on a pedestal and silencing conservative opinions
(Runyowa, 2015). Political correctness seems to be taken too far, to the point where it can inhibit
productive discussion on important issues such as race or gender. One common observation that is often
considered to be a microaggression is when white people claim to not see color because it invalidates
the experiences of people of color. In an article by Tanzina Vega, John McWhorter, a Columbia professor
says that that claiming that to be a microaggression is taking it too far. Dr. McWhorter says if it is not
considered justifiable for white people to perceive black people as different then it is unreasonable to
force white people to recognize racial differences. If a student is attacked for sharing views that might be
considered offensive instead of debating and explaining why what they said is offensive, both parties feel
attacked and it creates a hostile environment that is not conducive to learning. As issues like this become
more common and colleges start to increasingly diversify political correctness is important.
Another point is that people claim that microaggressions are so slight that they do not matter, and
those who see themselves as victims are simply oversensitive. There are microaggressions that can be
brushed off, but some of them are magnified nonetheless. Runyowa particularly attributes this to the
internet which he says has contributed to an exhausting cycle of retributive outrage that spins the
smallest error into scandal. Microaggressions, however, did not just appear out of nowhere, they stem
from ignorance and implicit bias. So while some individual comments that are perceived
microaggressions could be considered as harmless, it is worth studying the impact of the accumulation of
microaggressions on students of color.
Conclusion
Although existing studies show some effect of microaggressions, more research is needed to
construct a complete picture of the impact of microaggression on students of color. One aspect that is still
lacking is solid quantitative data. A lot of the evidence found for microaggressions is anecdotal, which is
understandable as studies on racism often rely on groups of people sharing similar experiences which can
be connected through a specific theme, As more and more of us (people of color) are walking around, we
talk to each other and we know were not crazy, Sue says (Vega, 2014). One way that quantitative data
can be obtained is by using the Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS). The REMS scale is a
classification of microaggressions which has been validated by qualitative studies. This scale however, is
complicated, still fairly recent and has not yet been widely used. A second issue that should be addressed
by researchers is where to draw the line between actual microaggressions, comments so slight that there is
no use in exploring it any further, and blatantly racist remarks. Some might argue that saying that a black
student got into a college just because of affirmative action is overly racist and therefore cannot fit into
the category of a microaggression, which only has racist undertones. Microassaults, a term mentioned
earlier, is said by Sue et. al to be the closest category of microaggressions to overt racism.
Finally, it would also be important to explore the issue that a relatively successful academic
experience for students of color does not necessarily equate to a fulfilling social experience. The college
experience for a lot of students of color is often categorized in two ways: either success or failure based
on grades and graduation rate (Minikel-Lacocque, 2012). One of the students in Minikel-Lacocques
study who was mentioned earlier, Moriah, graduated and is employed, but Minikel-Lacocque argues that
just because she is successful now it would be false to make the assumption that her college experience
was a complete success. The effect of microaggressions on students like Moriah are psychological,
physiological, and long lasting. Microaggressions affect the day to day lives of students of color as they
walk through campus and engage in class discussions. The positive social and academic college
experience that students of color expect to receive can be derailed due to the effect of microaggressions.