Types of Racial Microaggressions
Microaggressions Research
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Category Name |
Description |
|
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Not a True Citizen |
When a question, statement, or behavior indicates that a person of color is not a real citizen or a meaningful part of our society because they are not White. |
|
2 |
Racial Categorization & Sameness |
When a person is compelled to disclose their racial group to enable others to attach pathological racial stereotypes to the person; includes the assumption that all people from a particular group are alike. |
|
3 |
Assumptions About Intelligence, Competence, or Status |
When behavior or statements are based on assumptions about a person’s intelligence, competence, education, income, social status derived from racial stereotypes. |
|
4 |
False Colorblindness / Invalidating Racial or Ethnic Identity |
Expressing that individual’s racial or ethnic identity should not be acknowledged, which can be invalidating for people who are proud of their identity or who have suffered because of it. |
|
5 |
Criminality or Dangerousness |
Demonstrating belief in stereotypes that people of color are dangerous, untrustworthy, likely to commit crimes or cause bodily harm. |
|
6 |
Denial of Individual Racism |
When a person tries to make a case that they are not biased, often by talking about anti-racist things they have done to deflect perceived scrutiny of their own behaviors. |
|
7 |
Myth of Meritocracy / Race is Irrelevant for Success |
When someone makes statements about success being rooted in personal efforts and denial of existence of racism or White privilege. |
|
8 |
Reverse Racism Hostility |
Expressions of jealousy or hostility surrounding the notion that people of color get unfair advantages and benefits due to their race. |
|
9 |
Pathologizing Minority Culture or Appearance |
When people criticize others based on perceived or real cultural differences in appearance, traditions, behaviors, or preferences. |
|
10 |
Second Class Citizen / Ignored & Invisible |
When people of color are treated with less respect, consideration, or care than is normally expected or customary. This may include being ignored or being unseen/invisible. |
|
11 |
Tokenism |
When a person of color is included to promote the illusion of inclusivity, not for the qualities or talents of the individual, and/or the expectation that an individual’s views will represent the views of their perceived group. |
|
12 |
Connecting via Stereotypes |
When a person tries to communicate or connect with a person through use of stereotyped speech or behavior, to be accepted or understood. Can include racist jokes and epitaphs as terms of endearment. |
|
13 |
Exoticization and Eroticization |
When a person of color is treated according to sexualized stereotypes or attention to differences that are characterized as exotic in some way. |
|
14 |
Avoidance and Distancing |
When people of color are avoided or measures are taken to prevent physical contact or close proximity. |
|
15 |
Environmental Exclusion |
When someone’s racial identity is minimized or made insignificant through the exclusion of decorations, literature, or depictions of people that represent their racial group. |
|
16 |
Environmental Attacks |
When decorations pose a known affront or insult to a person’s cultural group, history, or heritage. |
New Article
Williams, M. T., Skinta, M. D., & Martin-Willett, R. (2021). After Pierce and Sue: Evidence for a revised racial microaggressions taxonomy. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(5), 991-1007. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691621994247
Racial Microaggressions Come in Many Forms
Dr. Chester Pierce's conception of “subtle and stunning” daily racial offenses, or microaggressions, remains salient even fifty years after it was introduced. Microaggressions were defined further by Sue and colleagues (2007), and this construct has found growing utility as the deleterious effects of microggressions on the health of people of color continues to mount. Many studies seek to frame microaggressions in terms of a taxonomic analysis of offender behavior to inform assessment and interventions for the reduction of racial microaggressions. We propose an expansion and refinement of Sue’s taxonomy to better inform such efforts. Based on our own work and a review of published papers, we identify sixteen categories of racial microaggressions. These are largely consistent with the original taxonomy of Sue et al. but expanded in several notable ways.
Building on our prior research, new categories supported by other researchers included Tokenism, Connecting via Stereotypes, Exoticization and Eroticization, and Avoidance and Distancing. The least studied categories included Sue et al.'s Denial of Individual Racism, and newer categories include Reverse Racism Hostility, Connecting via Stereotypes, and Environmental Attacks. A unified language of microaggressions may better allow for improved understanding and measurement of this important construct.
Racial microaggressions are subtle and deniable acts of racism.
Related Works
Williams, M. T. (2020). Microaggressions: Clarification, evidence, and impact. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(1), 3-26. doi: 10.1177/1745691619827499
Williams, M. T. (2020). Managing Microaggressions: Addressing Everyday Racism in Therapeutic Spaces. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780190875237