By: Ya'el McLoud
May 5, 2022
FORT COLLINS, COLO. --Breonna Abuya pops up on Facetime. She is fighting off a cold right now but is still smiling and cheerful as she sniffles. Her hair is blonde and is styled in waves with a pixie cut. It is cute and stylish and textured and no you may absolutely not touch it. “In a social manner I experience lots of microaggressions from white women, who will touch my hair and body, like my ass and hips, said Abuya, “which is weird cause I am not a petting zoo.”
Microaggressions are everyday racial offenses, found in higher education and elsewhere, that are said in response to gender, class, race, and religion. These are often seen as less harmful comments that are perceived as insults and are rooted in racism, sexism and stereotypes.
Abuya is a junior at Colorado State University, pursuing her bachelor’s degree in ethnic studies with a double minor in women and gender studies and anthropology. Abuya’s father, a native of Kenya and her mother an Indigenous, white woman, separated when she was young. Abuya identifies as a queer Black, Indigenous and White woman. Navigating her own intersectionality has been difficult but doing it within a predominantly white community has added to the challenge.
“I experience microaggressions from white cis-gender female professors the most and particularly in my anthropology minor,” Abuya said. From white cis-gender female professors presenting rhetoric of black and brown-bodied people being primitive and savage to dropping classes because the professor believes that an entire film glorifying “white savior” behavior is appropriate academic material. Abuya has had to defend her identity and mental, emotional, and physical safety and comfort at every turn.
However, Abuya has been dealing with microaggressions and more blatant forms of racism since her childhood. “In middle school, we [Abuya’s stepmother and father] moved to a very white conservative town. I experienced a lot of racial traumas. I was followed home by a boy all throughout 7th and 8th grade,” said Abuya, “He eventually stopped, but he also yelled at me to go back to where I came from.” Abuya never felt safe, she never told anyone about the incident because she did not believe her safety and comfort would be prioritized and she wouold not be believed.
Within Abuya’s home, she was racially targeted by her stepmother and sister. “She [her sister] would hide leave-in conditioner, combs, and twist my hair and make it raggedy before school without telling me.” Abuya stopped eating certain foods like watermelon and had banana peels thrown at her. These microaggressions and macroaggressions caused her to have her own internalized racism. “I would tell my father that I didn’t want to date black men and that black men were not attractive, or would not be good to me,” said Abuya. These were ideas that she was internalizing from her white female peers. She said, she did not find her black physical characteristics attractive. Abuya said she had to work in order to deconstruct these harmful narratives she had internalized.
When she came to Colorado State University, she found it difficult to feel accepted in Black, Indigenous, or white spaces. She found herself lonely and simultaneously experiencing racial battle fatigue. According to William Smith, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Utah social-psychological stress responses to microaggressions can be frustration, anger, exhaustion, physical avoidance, psychological or emotional withdrawal, escapism and acceptance of racist attributions. Abuya described struggling with many of these stress responses in academia and in broader society.
Everyday microaggressions are so commonplace that on social media platforms like TikTok there are multiple hashtags for microaggressions. One influencer in particular, Clare Brown, made her entire account a satirical commentary on the harmful impact of microaggressions. Brown creates skits that treat white people as minorities and describes common microaggressions and applies them to white people. In one skit she talks about the name Catherine being “exotic” and refers to white people as European Americans. Brown also creates skits regarding hair discrimination, in one saying “Your daughter is so cute, but that hair is so flat! Do you think it will get darker as she gets older? Well, if all else fails you can just perm it.”
Brown’s approach to discussing microaggressions has been seen as relatable as white people can empathize with what and how a microaggression might be interpreted and how they are harmful. Another TikTok influencer, Cheslie Kryst, who was a Black attorney in North Carolina describes how her hair was touched by strangers who did not ask, and how when in the courthouse she was frequently asked for her bar identification to prove she was an attorney. Her white colleagues were not asked for proof in these cases.
A study published in BMC Psychology cited 15 common categories of racial microaggressions experienced by Black students on predominantly white campuses/universities. Of the 15 common categories Abuya described experiencing 14 of the 15, these categories were experiences such as, invalidation of her racial or ethnic identity and having her physical characteristics made to seem exotic or erotic. Some consequences of microaggressions found by the study include, increased anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicidality in Black college students.
When people of color are attaining higher positions these microaggressions do not stop. An Indigenous scholar, Darby, who teaches and studies at CSU described many similar experiences as Abuya. “I experience microaggressions almost every time I interact with administration and department leadership,” said Darby.
Darby’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.
Darby said that she is given extra work that is not in her job description simply because of her identity. “I am expected to carry emotional burdens and answer all questions regarding Native Americans, and take on requests for extra work that are not in my job description.” Harvard Buisness Review names these tasks “office housework”.
Office housework refers to work that is not glamorous or high-profile but rather tasks like chairing a diversity or company culture committee. Harvard Buisness review notes that women and in particular women of color attend to these tasks at a higher rate than white or male counterparts and they are tasks that rarely lead to promotions or recognition. Office housework is systematic inequality, but in part the expectation of women of color to say yes to these tasks can also be a microaggression.
Darby said, “people try to get my validation or stamp of approval for doing or saying something they know is wrong.” Darby expressed how she now monitors what jokes she will say in order to show through her how behavior that “politically incorrect” jokes are not appropriate.
Identifying microaggressions especially when you are the one committing them can be difficult. “If you think it is a microaggression, or you have to ask is this a microaggression, it is,” Darby said.
Darby also expressed experiencing invisibility. Faculty in one instance will praise her work simply because it is “great for our diversity” and not for the work itself. Other colleagues will avoid any kind of conversation on how they handle Native and cultural issues. “The microaggressions of neglect or silencing has a real impact on my view of myself as faculty and a researcher,” Darby said.
The Indigenous Foundation reflects on how white people in particular can identify and help prevent microaggressions. “Remember the best way to defeat microaggressions and the harm they cause is to become better educated on what they are, how they show up, and how to stop them.” This is similar to a suggestion that Abuya made as well saying “Professors and faculty need better training on white fragility.” Darby said that fellow faculty members who have taken advantage of racial bias training available commit fewer microaggressions in her experience.
“Subtle Acts of Exclusion: How to Understand, Identify, and Stop Microaggressions,” points out that it is not the intent of the speaker that matters but rather the impacts of the acts. In other words, it does not matter when you ask to touch a black person’s hair, or you say “Wow, you’re so articulate,” that you did not mean to marginalize or exclude, it matters that you did. Darby reflects a similar sentiment saying, “think before you speak, and you will avoid a lot of harm.”