Microaggressions Research

Microaggressions Across the World

Canada

Germany

UK

Although much of the microaggression research to date has been done in the US, racial microaggressions are not unique to America. For each of the countries listed below, we describe research studies that suggest evidence of racial microaggressions targeting either resident or visiting Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) within that country.

Canada

Poolokasingham et al. (2014) examined microaggressions experienced by South Asian Canadian undergraduate students at a large English-language university in a metropolitan area, and they identified eight racial microaggressive categories, such as being perceived as ‘fresh off the boat’ (FOB), excluded from social life, notion that being Brown is a liability, assumption of ties to terrorism, and compelled to be a cultural expert. Houshmand et al. (2019) investigated strategies for coping with racial microaggressions used by 10 Indigenous and Black Canadians living in Montreal, Quebec. They found that the participants used a wide range of coping strategies including calling out perpetrators, cognitive reframing, humor, empowerment, outside support, choosing not to engage, and self-care.

Germany

A correspondence testing experiment found that women with a Turkish background are more likely to be discriminated against in the German labor market, and the level of discrimination is significantly greater if the woman is wearing a headscarf (Weichselbaumer, 2020). A study by Wenz and Hoenig (2020) found that elementary school teachers in Germany have discriminatory expectations of their students' future performance on the basis of ethnicity and social class. Additionally, Choi et al. (2020) find that linguistic assimilation does not reduce the discrimination experienced by Muslim immigrants in Germany.

Further, data from six Western European countries, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, showed that non-Muslims hold negative attitudes toward the headscarf worn by Muslims (Helbling, 2014).

Britain

A study by Doharty (2019) demonstrates the influence of institutional racism in legitimizing racial microaggressions targeted toward Black students during a Black History unit at an English secondary school. Another study by Burdsey (2011) documented racial microaggressions experienced by British Asian players in English men’s first-class cricket. The players interviewed reported the following discriminatory incidents:

“I think it was three years ago, after [the London terror attacks]. When I played in club games, yeah. I had a few comments. Well, it was one of my teammates. They were making jokes, you know, [calling me a] ‘bomber’ and that.”

"Whatever’s happened in the last couple of years, I think it’s diverted the effects of racism to a direct effect. As opposed to, I mean, something like being called a ‘Paki’ or being called a ‘black bastard’, you would then be called ‘a bomber’ or be discriminated against by saying, ‘Where’s your backpack?’ or something like that.”

“There’s clubs that always ask the Asian kids about their religion: “Why are you still with your parents when you’re twenty-five?”... I understand how it’s quite hard for people, but sometimes I feel they try to make you feel quite bad about still living with your parents... Some players actually know about our family values, but they’ll just keep asking you questions about it, so you actually can feel like a muppet sometimes in front of them."

France

Having passed a law in 1978 prohibiting the government from collecting any data on race or ethnicity and subsequently removing the word ‘race’ from the constitution in 2018, France subscribes to a colorblind ideology, making it very difficult to collect data on racial microaggressions. However, Miller et al. (2020) surveyed adoptive parents and adopted adolescents about their experiences with prejudice and feeling different, and they found that for adopted adolescents, microaggressive themes included racist remarks (e.g., “Because of my color, I don’t have the right to concern myself with French things”), remarks about their country of origin (e.g., "that country is all drug users"), expectations or assumptions (e.g., the adolescent can tolerate or prefers hot weather), and the legitimacy of their family relationship. Further, they found that 63% of the adopted adolescents interviewed were upset but rude and/or racist comments made by complete strangers.

Spain and Italy

Many studies to date have documented the experiences of BIPOC Americans studying abroad. Willis (2015) writes about the racial and gender microaggressions encountered by Black American women on study abroad programs in the British Isles, the Mediterranean, and West Africa. Although microaggressions were perpetrated in all three regions, they were the most prominent in Spain and Italy. One of the Black women interviewed commented on the ways in which racism manifests differently in the non-European countries she visited (Morocco, Ghana, and India) compared to Spain:

“You know, it was like a subtle racism. So it was more so... You’d go into the stores and people just have a certain attitude..."

Many of the women also reported that they received unwarranted and sometimes unwanted attention from men in both the Mediterranean and British Isles due to their intersectional identities:

“They definitely commented on my skin color. Chocolate, you know, stuff like that. I think there was another word they used too... Morena... Not conversing. Not like to talk like that, but more catcall type of thing... Sometimes it was okay and sometimes you could tell it was a little rude. You know. I’m not big on catcalls, regardless.”

In addition to experiencing catcalling, one of the women also reported being racially profiled by police in Italy (Willis, 2015):

“So he kind of stared and he kind of said something in Italian and I was just like ‘What? Non capisco.’ And he kind of drove away like ‘okay you’re fine because you don’t know what I’m talking about.’ And so I guess that was one of the major things that actually happened. That I kind of got not pulled over, but a police officer really kind of paid attention to me. So I’m just like, ‘Okay, I'm not a prostitute. I'm just an American.’”

The hyper-sexualisation of BIPOC women and their relegation to often humiliating and demeaning racial and gender microaggressions is noted throughout the literature in various countries around the world (e.g., Stephenson, 1999; Talburt & Stewart, 1999; and Woodruff, 2005).

Microaggressions at uOttawa

Our previous research has found that students at universities across the US are subjected to racial microaggressions on campus. In November, the uOttawa Psychology Students for Systemic Transformation (PSST) released their report outlining recommendations to address institutional racism within the University of Ottawa (Courtice et al., 2020). This report also included experiences of microaggressions faced by uOttawa students. Following this report, our lab is preparing a study to examine the extent to which students experience racial microaggressions at the University of Ottawa.

Racism at uOttawa in the News

U of O students hold sit-in, demand action on on-campus racism - CBC News, Dec 05, 2020

Examples of Microaggressions and Message Conveyed

	Category Name	Example	Message Conveyed
1	Not a True Citizen	“What is your nationality?” to a person of colour.	You do not belong; you are not one of us.
2	Racial Categorization & Sameness	“What is your race?” to a person of colour.	I need to sort you into a racial hierarchy so that I can ascribe pathological stereotypes to you.
3	Assumptions About Intelligence, Competence, or Status	“How did you get so good at science?” to Black student	People of colour are generally not as intelligent as Whites; all Asians are intelligent and good in math/science
4	False Colorblindness / Invalidating Racial or Ethnic Identity	“I don’t think of you as Indigenous.”	Denying the significance of a person’s racial/ethnic experience and history
5	Criminality or Dangerousness	Campus police carding students of colour	People with dark skin are criminals/dangerous/thieves
6	Denial of Individual Racism	“I would never treat a minority person differently.”	Denying the lived experience of those who experience racial bias
7	Myth of Meritocracy / Race is Irrelevant for Success	“Everyone has an equal chance at success.”	People of colour are lazy and/or incompetent and just need to work harder
8	Reverse Racism Hostility	“Discrimination against Whites is bad too.”	People of colour are given extra unfair benefits because of their race
9	Pathologizing Minority Culture or Appearance	“Why are Black people so loud?” or “Black fathers are just not around.”	Reducing people to racial/ethnic stereotypes
10	Second Class Citizen / Ignored & Invisible	Waitress forgets to take order of customer of colour.	You are valued less because of your race/ethnicity
11	Tokenism	Including a person of colour to promote illusion of inclusivity.	You are only here to make this organization look good
12	Connecting via Stereotypes	“What’s your favourite basketball team?” to a Black Canadian	Reducing people to racial/ethnic stereotypes
13	Exoticization and Eroticization	“I’ve always had a thing for Asian girls,” or “Can I touch your hair?”	Sexual and racial objectification
14	Avoidance and Distancing	Cashier putting change on counter instead of hand; “Don't talk about race; it's not polite..."	You need to stay away from us
15	Environmental Exclusion	No people of colour depicted in workplace artwork.	You don't fit in here
16	Environmental Attacks	“Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute” in Toronto	You are not wanted here

What Are Microaggressions?

Microaggressions are “brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to people of colour because they belong to a racial minority group” (Sue et al., 2007, p. 273).

Microaggressions have detrimental effects on health, causing stress(Torres et al., 2010; Williams et al., 2018), anxiety (Banks, Kohn-Wood, & Spencer, 2006; Blume et al., 2012), depression (Hudson et al, 2012), PTSD (Dale & Safren, 2019; Williams et al., 2018), as well as physical ailments, such as hypertension and impaired immune response (Berger & Sarnyai, 2015; Clark et al., 1999). One study even found that everyday microaggressions can have a larger negative impact than major discriminatory events (Luo et al., 2012).

USA

References

Banks, K. H., Kohn-Wood, L. P., & Spencer, M. (2006). An examination of the African American experience of everyday discrimination and symptoms of psychological distress. Community Mental Health Journal, 42(6), 555-570.

Berger, M., & Sarnyai, Z. (2015). “More than skin deep”: stress neurobiology and mental health consequences of racial discrimination. Stress, 18(1), 1-10.

Blume, A. W., Lovato, L. V., Thyken, B. N., & Denny, N. (2012). The relationship of microaggressions with alcohol use and anxiety among ethnic minority college students in a historically White institution. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18(1), 1-10.

Burdsey, D. (2011). That joke isn’t funny anymore: Racial microaggressions, color-blind ideology and the mitigation of racism in English men’s first-class cricket. Sociology of Sport Journal, 28(3), 261-283.

Choi, D. D., Poertner, M., & Sambanis, N. (2020). Linguistic assimilation does not reduce discrimination against immigrants: Evidence from Germany. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 1, 12.

Clark, R., Anderson, N. B., Clark, V. R., & Williams, D. R. (1999). Racism as a stressor for African Americans: A biopsychosocial model. American Psychologist, 54(10), 805-816.

Courtice, E. L., Gran-Ruaz, S., Knight, S., McIntee, S. E., Mukunzi, J., Noorishad, P. G., Sarr, F., Sharif, N., & Strauss, D. (2020). Recommendations to address institutional racism within the School of Psychology. School of Psychology, University of Ottawa.

Doharty, N. (2018). “I felt dead”: Applying a racial microaggressions framework to Black students’ experiences of Black History Month and Black History. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 22(1), 110–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1417253

Goldoni, F. (2017). Race, ethnicity, class and identity: Implications for study abroad. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 16(5), 328-341.

Helbling, M. (2014). Opposing Muslims and the Muslim headscarf in Western Europe. European Sociological Review, 30(2), 242–257. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jct038

Houshmand, S., Spanierman, L. B., & De Stefano, J. (2019). “I have strong medicine, you see”: Strategic responses to racial microaggressions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 66(6), 651–664. http://dx.doi.org.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/10.1037/cou0000372

Hudson, D. L., Bullard, K. M., Neighbors, H. W., Geronimus, A. T., Yang, J., & Jackson, J. S. (2012). Are benefits conferred with greater socioeconomic position undermined by racial discrimination among African American men? Journal of Men's Health, 9(2), 127-136.

Luo, Y., Xu, J., Granberg, E., & Wentworth, W. M. (2012). A longitudinal study of social status, perceived discrimination, and physical and emotional health among older adults. Research on Aging, 34(3), 275-301.

Miller, L. C., de Montclos, M.-O. P., Matthews, J., Peyre, J., Vaugelade, J., Baubin, O., Chomilier, J., de Monleon, J.-V., de Truchis, A., Sorge, F., & Pinderhughes, E. (2020). Microaggressions experienced by adoptive families and internationally adopted adolescents in France. Adoption Quarterly, 23(2), 135–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2020.1719253

Poolokasingham, G., Spanierman, L. B., Kleiman, S., & Houshmand, S. (2014). “Fresh off the boat?” Racial microaggressions that target South Asian Canadian students. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 7(3), 194–210. http://dx.doi.org.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/10.1037/a0037285

Talburt, S., & Stewart, M. A. (1999). What’s the subject of study abroad?: Race, gender, and “living culture.” The Modern Language Journal, 83(2), 163–175.

Torres, L., Driscoll, M. W., & Burrow, A. L. (2010). Racial microaggressions and psychological functioning among highly achieving African-Americans: A mixed-methods approach. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 29(10), 1074-1099.

Weichselbaumer, D. (2020). Multiple discrimination against female immigrants wearing headscarves. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 73(3), 600-627.

Wenz, S. E., & Hoenig, K. (2020). Ethnic and social class discrimination in education: Experimental evidence from Germany. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 65, 100461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2019.100461

Williams, M. T. (2020, November 28). Racism and social structures: Historical and current realities [Invited panelist]. Internalized Racism in Afro-Caribbean-Black Communities: Impact on Mental Health workshop, Ottawa, ON, Canada. [Virtual conference due to COVID-19].

Williams, M. T. (2020). Managing microaggressions: Addressing everyday racism in therapeutic spaces. Oxford University Press.

Williams, M. T., Kanter, J. W., & Ching, T. H. (2018). Anxiety, stress, and trauma symptoms in African Americans: Negative affectivity does not explain the relationship between microaggressions and psychopathology. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 5(5), 919-927.

Williams, M. T., Printz, D., & DeLapp, R. C. (2018). Assessing racial trauma with the Trauma Symptoms of Discrimination Scale. Psychology of Violence, 8(6), 735-747.

Willis, T. Y. (2015). “And still we rise…”: Microaggressions and intersectionality in the study abroad experiences of Black women. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 26(1), 209–230. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v26i1.367