Examples Of Microinsults

Being raised in a rural, southern community, I have admittedly inherited a handful of prejudiced views. In spite of being aware of such biases, somehow I have allowed them to be excusable. Do I think or feel differently than the people within my family or social circle? No, they seem to hold stronger racist beliefs than myself. I’m not nearly as racist as some. Would I ever blatantly disrespect someone on account of his or her race? Of course not; I’m an educated adult—and an educator at that! I would never openly discriminate, especially within my classroom. Skimming the surface, I would never consider myself to be an especially racist individual. As a potential counselor, however, skimming the surface isn’t adequate, is it? Sue

Microinsults are “communications that convey rudeness and insensitivity (Sue, D.W., et al 2007) due to a person’s race. I had to remind myself that ‘communications’ do not have to be verbalized to be perceived. I certainly would not knowingly say anything to a person of color that I think would fall into this category, but I feel confident that I have communicated insults through my facial expressions and body language. In considering microassaults, I can only imagine my expressions of annoyance upon being exposed to a group African American people who seem—in my opinion—overly boisterous during a conversation. Though I have acknowledged that their communication style varies from those I hold, it was only in reflection to this article that I realized I was expecting those people to assimilate to my culture. I am also guilty of becoming quite guarded if I encounter an African American male at night in an area with few other people. I know my body language must show my hesitance and uneasiness. While I would also be wary in the same situation with a white male, my actions and worries are indeed exaggerated in that scenario with an African American male. I do not think I generally classify people of other races to be unusual or dangerous as these examples of my microinsults suggest, but it seems that subconsciously I do have these

Microinvalidations are attitudes that quash the “psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person of color” (Sue, D.W., et al 2007). I have been responsible for microinvalidations especially in the themes of “Color Blindness” and “Alien in Own Land (Sue, D.W., et al 2007).” Racial issues often are uncomfortable topics for many White Americans. It seems a positive thing to say that I don’t see skin color—thinking that I am implying that there are many greater things to consider in evaluating a person than the color of his or her skin—but in doing this, I have unknowingly been dismissing the culture of individuals. While this is shameful enough, I am even more embarrassed to remember a time in which I was offensive to a fellow undergraduate student. George was a Mexican American from California and was within my social circle—a buddy. We knew his parents were from Mexico and that George was American born. I cringe to remember how we would pronounce his name in the Spanish form even after he had asked us to stop. We thought we were simply teasing George as we did all of our friends, but now I realize we were drawing attention to his Hispanic culture and communicating to him that he wasn’t one of us, that he didn’t belong. This is possibly one of my most deliberate portrayals of racial