"Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices just recognize them." ~Edward R. Murrow
Background
Not too long ago I was contacted by a colleague and asked if I would be interested in participating in a podcast to discuss “Microaggression.” He was specifically interested in my sharing with the audience actual real life examples of microaggression within organizations. I realized I needed to learn more about microaggression before venturing off sharing examples or expressing any opinions. So I declined the invitation and did my homework.
Prejudice
In my opinion, it all begins with prejudice. Simply stated prejudice is a strong inclination of the mind or preconceived opinion about something or someone without evidence. According to Wikipedia, prejudice is often used to refer to usually unfavorable evaluation of another person based on perceived race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, language, social standing, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, education or many other personal characteristics. Oh, I should also list the college or university you align with especially if it’s USC or UCLA. Lord Francis Jeffrey (1783-1850) is quoted as saying “Beware prejudices. They are like rats, and men’s minds are like traps; prejudices get in easily, but it is doubtful they ever get out.” This also includes women’s minds. I don’t believe that anyone, including myself, is free of prejudice or bias.
Bias
The Oxford Languages Dictionary defines bias as a “prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.” Bias is very similar but not as extreme as prejudice. “Someone who is biased usually refuses to accept that there are other views than their own.” An “explicit bias” is one where individuals are aware of their prejudices and attitudes toward certain groups and the positive or negative preferences for a group are conscious. Overt racism and racist comments are examples of explicit biases. When a bias occurs outside of the perceiver’s awareness, it is called “unconscious or implicit bias” (onlinegrad.pepperdine.edu, July, 2019). An unconscious or implicit bias is covert and unspoken. Ruth Bader Ginsburg believed that an unconscious bias is one of the hardest things to get at. Why? You can’t read people’s minds.
A few examples of implicit bias include –
· Putting an unconventional candidate through extra hoops.
· Seeing women as too assertive.
· Perceiving women who go on maternity leave no longer caring about their careers.
· Asians are too small for public safety jobs.
· Latinos are all about fun.
· A Muslim wearing a hijab can’t be trusted.
Microaggression
Chester Pierce, an African American Harvard trained psychiatrist, in the 1960s was the first to describe microaggression as covert acts. He defined microaggressions as “black-white racial interactions (that) are characterized by white put downs, done in automatic, preconscious, or unconscious fashion.” Compared to what he called “macroaggressions” (lynching, beatings, and cross burnings), microaggressions are stressful for a recipient “given their ubiquity and deniability.” Columbia University’s Dr. Derald Wing Sue (Edutopia, March 25, 2019) describes microaggressions as one outgrowth of “implicit bias.” They are “prejudices that leak out in many interpersonal situations and decision points; they are experienced as “slights, insults, indignities, and denigrating messages.” Whether intentional or unintentional, microaggressions communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups. The hidden messages are that the person is a lesser human being; suggest the person does not fit in with the majority group; can be intimidating fostering personal insecurities; and/or relegates the person to inferior status and treatment.
Examples of microaggressions I have personally encountered or have been told by others they have experienced are:
· “So, like, what are you?” No really, what are you?”
· “You don’t look Latina.”
· “You don’t sound like a Mexican.”
· “You’re really cute for an Asian.”
· “You’re really smart for a Latina.”
· “You look too young to be competing for this position.”
· “Do you really think you have the experience and energy to do this job?”
· “Do you really want your daughter selected as a firefighter?”
· “Oh, he’s just a diversity hire.”
On Buzzfeed Reader there was a ‘Oh Sorry, Wrong Person’ post, December, 2013, "When I started grad school, the intro class was taught by two white women and I was one of two Mexican-Americans in the cohort. They constantly called me Maria, the other girl's name. My name is Alejandra and we look nothing alike."
Fact or Fiction
Jason Rantz, 770 KTTH Conservative Radio, May 2015, posits that microaggression is merely “an excuse to be offended, feel victimized.” The targeted person sees these as slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages “based solely upon their marginalized group membership.” He argues that these concepts are a progressive’s social contrivances developed to merely make excuses for one’s own failures and fosters a perpetual victim. “It’s a theme activists use to blame their woes on racism, sexism, classism, white privilege, white power, ableism, and everything else, though not anything they did themselves.”
There are those who believe these groups are being much too sensitive. “Just admit it, people of color are lazy and/or incompetent and just need to work hard.” Implicit biases and microaggressions can be a way of avoiding subterfuge being labeled a racist when being openly racist in America is presumed unacceptable. However, I question, if today that’s even a concern for many Americans.
Conclusion
Do I believe that everyone has a prejudice, is biased, and has expressed a microaggression whether consciously or unconsciously? The answer is yes. Do I believe that everyone is a racist and/or knowingly means to discriminate against and marginalize people? The answer is no. Do I believe there are blatant discrimination, racism and marginalization in the United States, organizations, educational institutions and businesses? The answer is yes.
Prejudice, bias and microaggression are attitudes that must be kept in check and never ignored. If left unchecked, marginalization of people creates a toxic social environment that affects everyone. Marginalization can happen to anyone, but most often happens to groups fighting uphill battles. Beth Castle, Inhersight, 2019, states that marginalization in the workplace is especially problematic because it “is both a barrier to advancement and happiness and it’s emblematic of a work environment that’s exclusive and discriminatory.”
It is important to keep this in mind as we work together to rebuild our post Covid-19 economy and a stronger, more united America.