Microaggression And Racial Discrimination

This paper serves as a personal reflection of the implication of racial microaggressions in daily life. Three journal articles and a book chapter are explored in an effort to obtain a greater understanding of the effects of racial microaggressions experienced by people of color and to bring light to how often racial microaggressions are committed by White Americans without notice or accompanied by attempts to explain away the offenses. The sources used provide examples of obvious acts of discrimination as well as subtle microaggressions which are often unconsciously or naively perpetrated and go on to offer recommendations for professional counselors in order to both provide a framework for helping clients of color to cope with encounters of microaggressions and highlight the need of awareness of possible racial microaggressions present during counselor-client interactions which may result in negative impacts on the therapeutic process. Racial microaggressions are broken down into subcategories of microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations, providing a deeper explanation of my own experiences with such discriminatory actions. This ultimately leads to a decision of continuation of training with a necessary focus on increasing mindfulness and field experiences in respect to the subject of racial microaggressive behaviors and attitudes.

It is unfair to be biased and quick to misjudge minorities in America based on the actions of others who fall under the same ethnic or religious background. However these misjudgments occur countless times every day resulting in either physical or verbal abuse against these minorities, as well as encouraging stereotypical views. As odd as it may seem, many members of the police force target these minorities simply because they are not of the same race, gender, or religion. To be more specific African Americans, Muslims, and women are being abused both physically and mentally by intolerant individuals and the police force. Although in some cases an arrest is necessary, the excessive use of force against a person is not and is considered inhumane. Justice is still being sought for the people who have been mistreated and their stories will not be forgotten.

Despite the prevalence of racial discrimination in higher education, not enough is known about Latina/o students’ experience with racial discrimination and racial microaggressions in higher education. The extant explorations of racial discrimination on university campuses have primarily focused on the experiences of White, African American and Asian American college students. The research that has examined Latina/o experiences of racial microaggressions in higher education has largely focused on non-HSIs. Consequently, it is imperative to understand the unique challenges of Latina/os in higher education, including how university racial climate and experiences with discrimination/oppression influence

There has always been a common assumption from the police and society that minorities, primarily African Americans, are associated with criminal activity, in turn causing police brutality today. When the news report shows a police officer hitting a black man who was suspected of a crime, there are many people quick to point out police officers as racists. Usually, the police officers would say something along the lines of, “He attacked first and would not comply,” or “I thought he had a gun.” Now in some scenarios, this may be true as the suspect might have tried to fight back but most of the time, it is not. Many police officers in these cases try to make up lies to get out being known as a racist. Thankfully, there are many witnesses and

Teaching in racially diverse classrooms often leaves educators feeling uncertain about how to proceed and how to respond to historically marginalized students. There is pressure to acknowledge and accept students of color with different perspectives, to diversify the syllabi, be more aware of classroom dynamics, and pay attention to how students of color experience the learning process.

This paper will discuss the racial microaggression how it has influenced the United States in the past decade. Then, describe the racial microaggression influence that affects the individual view. Next describe the community-level influence, impact of racial microaggression, and racial stereotypes are a major problem in our society. Then, discuss the research on racial microaggression is it a social condition that can arise as a result of the conformity of individuals within a society. Also, explain conformity, social, condition, and socially as well as, the attitudes and beliefs, norms, and implicit behaviors. However, discuss the culture in society along with the dynamics of subtle racial microaggression. Also, discuss the family structure facing racial microaggression. Furthermore, discuss the ethnic, racial microaggression with the racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of microaggression. For instance, discuss the different racial and ethnic group are unequal in power, resources, prestige, and presumed worth.

Police brutality has been in the headlines for years. Reports continually stream in, exhibiting the needless force displayed by police. However, the people don’t always have all the information. The media shows the aftereffects itself, not the reasons why the victim was targeted. Perhaps it was a justified arrest. Maybe it was simply because the target of the attack wasn’t white. Police are constantly put on trial for their crimes, but the community may never know the whole truth. The pain and misery caused by racial profiling greatly outweighs the positive aspects.

Microaggressions are committed constantly, among numerous people without them realizing it. I must say I am completely guilty of also playing part in this act. These acts are done constantly and no one understands the affects it has on people. Miller and Garran (2008) states, “Racial microaggressions are similar to aversive racism. They are “subtle, stunning, often automatic,” verbal and nonverbal putdowns and social assaults that wound people of color unbeknownst to the perpetrator” (p.97). This is what produces pain and anger inside countless of people. Many individuals need professional help in order to surpass the neglect they have been summited to.

Racial prejudice toward minority groups has been a problem throughout all of history. While overt racism and prejudice may be diminished from the days of our dark past, covert racism is very much alive. Society loves to embellish on how far the country has come in the fight against racial prejudice by highlighting significant events such as having the first black president. Yet there are still too many instances of subtle racism. In 2011, there were almost 700,000 incidents of stop and frisk policing in New York. Nine out of ten of these incidents involved blacks or Hispanics, which is ridiculous because blacks make up less than a quarter of the New York Population (Bobo 2013). Prejudice causes unfair treatment to innocent people. Everyone should be treated the same and given the same amount of respect. Continuing the fight towards an unprejudiced world has so many benefits including making sure everyone feels safe and respected in society and the possibility to learn from other ethnic groups. A world without prejudice would be a much more effective world with more time spent on making life better for all instead of violence and hate. Government officials and psychologists are trying to advertise how being in contact with other ethnic groups has reduced prejudice. Many psychologists are already praising contact theory research for its contribution toward world peace and its efforts against prejudice (Dixon, Tropp, Durrheim, and Tredoux 2010). However, the two empirical

This is proof that there is racial discrimination in law enforcement that affects police brutality. This also reinforces the culture of people of color being less human than white people, which takes its roots all the way back to slavery in America. When slavery was still prevalent in the United States, white people believed that black people(slaves), did not feel pain like they felt pain. After slavery was abolished, black people were still strongly regarded as inferior to white people and white people still saw them as wild creatures rather than human beings. White people saw themselves superior to every other race of people, so it was common for them to mistreat other races that weren’t white. This mindset is not as strong as it was in the past but, it is still strong enough to affect the choices police officers make during interactions with people of color. As a result of discrimination at the police level, many people have turned to court system’s to reach justice.

Along with misogyny and LGBT+ phobia, racism is one of the many methods of discrimination and bias that still exists today in America. It affects many ethnicities; Asian, Latino, even Indigenous Americans, but racial bias in the United States today especially focuses on African Americans as it did since the times of slavery. How does the race system still exist? The answer is simple; racial bias, like a living creature, will constantly adapt to its surroundings as time passes. Michelle Alexander’s nonfiction book, The New Jim Crow (2010), discusses the several changes made to the racial caste system following slavery and how most African Americans themselves cannot see it in its form today.

In the article “Racial Microagressions in Everyday Life”, Derald Wing Sue and his colleagues highlight racial microagressions that occur in a therapeutic relationship. As defined in the article, microagressions are brief verbal, behavioral, or environmental actions that convey hostility, derogatory, or negativity towards a certain group of people. Microagressions can be subtle such as assuming an Asian American or Latin American is foreign born. It can also be obvious such as specifically going to an Asian person in a group of black and white students for help with a math or science problem. These actions can occur with or without intention of the person portraying the microagression.

We must become mindful of the things that we are doing; there must be a change. We should no longer continue accepting or ignoring things that are not right. Although the incident takes place on the East Coast similar issues have plagued and affected many individuals, neighborhoods, communities, and businesses throughout the nation. Regardless of an individual’s age, race, gender, or economic standing racial profiling is not only unconstitutional but an unfair practice that many persons still encounter in our current society. There is no age limit on when and where an individual can purchase expensive items. Everyone’s constitutional rights should be protected by receiving fair and equal treatment regardless of their genetic

Every person should have equal rights and opportunities not based on their ethnicity, race, or culture. There are countrywide issues that have lead to racial injustice. In recent discussions on racial injustice, one major issue has been the many cases of police brutality and hate crimes against minorities. Many falsely accused people are being incarcerated simply based on the color of their skin or how they look. Racism has been a huge part of Americas past and will continue to be a part of our history as time progresses. It is our history itself that keeps racism in America regrettably alive. It is what has shaped our society today. The actions of unlawful police officers have been presented through media. By revealing the problems with our law enforcement this has allowed the public to see the roots of this issue. There are many factors that contribute to the issue of police brutality, they are all derived from the roots of the tree of our history. It is time that people take a stand against hate crimes such as police brutality.

Police brutality is not a new subject. It has been around for numerous years, and like most issues, has resurfaced to the public’s eyes. The recent events brought up the question: Does there need to be a reform in the system in the police system? In this year alone, there have been countless cases of individuals being harmed or even killed by police officers for reasons that continuously are not explained. What has people more attentive to this injustice are statistics showing that most victims in these police attacks happen to be African Americans and other minorities.