written by Justin Williams
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This week I will be discussing what exactly a micro-aggression is and my takes on victimization. I offer a practical solution for coping with micro-aggressions. Capitalism sure does a doozy. I hope you enjoy this content, feel free to comment or contact me if you would like to talk more about this topic. Thanks. Anyhow...
What exactly is a racial micro-aggression anyway...
Photo by Obi Onyeador on Unsplash
According to work done by my special topics in racial trauma professor, Dr. Gladney at Delaware State University " racial micro aggressions are broken into three categories. Sue et al. (2007),
Microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations (pp. 330-331). Microassaults are intentional acts intended to intimidate people of color through symbols, words, or gestures. Microinsults are racially insensitive words or suggestions disguised or presented as compliments. Microinvalidations are insensitive comments that discredit the positive traits and personal characteristics of ethnic minorities.
Defining discrimination without the confusion
Unjust or prejudicial treatment on the basis of a person’s race or ethnicity.
Other words that are similar (but not the same)
Stereotyping – lumping all members of a racial group together in an oversimplified idea of that group. Can be positive or negative.
Prejudice – an opinion or belief that is not based on fact or experience (or based on limited experience).
Experiencing different types of micro-aggressions through time & reading to cope.
It’s time to talk about real life. It’s funny how to crappy things people do in grade school transcend time and space to manifest into veiled adult behavior. School clicks turn structural discrimination. Petty interaction turn internalized imposter syndrome. Ubiquitous emotional unintelligence turns racially micro-aggressive coworker. School is truly a microcosm of adult society, less and more controlled. Experiencing micro-aggressions has been a reality of mine since the seventh grade.
* que melonchonic music
That is the first time I remember being thrown outside of myself and made conscious of my race. To be aware of ones own existence apart from being human oppressed my world view so intensely, I wished to be white.
Back then, everyone was just human. Until I was comfortably told that my writing was good for…me. A prudent micro aggression had very real impact on my academic self esteem. It was so low that I wrote the rest of my papers how my teachers "wanted" them to be for the rest of the year. Fast forward a draining institutional decade and a half, and micro aggressions are just as pestering and even more agitating, as intellectual immaturity now has an adult mask.
Let me pause here. Something never really felt right about the thought of sharing my experience with micro-aggressions. Nevertheless actually sharing them. It felt for a lack of a better world…victimy.
In grade school when a bully exhibited hostile behavior, it was up to the other kid to defend themselves/counter or else they would be made a victim through the other person attacking first. If one protected themselves then the bully could do no more harm and nobody would be declared a victim. Through the adult perspective, it would look like kids being rough kids, whether the confrontation was verbal or physical. Just two balls of pent up primal aggression.
( disclaimer: black kids tend to be the blame for school altercations ; African American overrepresentation in out-of-school suspensions has increased steadily from the 1973 Office for Civil Rights data collection)
Taking accountability is coping. Filtering experiences through a lens of victimhood is counter productive and ultimately pointless.
These thoughts are not meant to sound pessimistically “Kanye” but neglecting to criticize any black folk about engaging in victimhood ,would be a huge disservice to the ongoing battle for intellectual sovereignty. That is the end goal of democracy isn't it ? To solve to economic oppression and bring people on a more even playing field even though the working class is 400 steps behind.
Question. Do healthy rational behaviors not begin with thoughts? The answer is a standing yes. Let’s free our minds from brooding and ruminating in a soup of resentment and escape the feeling of alienation in our own land. Anything less than taking accountability for the future of black and brown folk in America would be group sabotage.
If an entire groups identity can change once, ex. the Harlem renaissance; then it can be done again. Policy mustn't be passed as though an identity bound by co-dependence. Celebrity personalities must stop dropping public statements filtered through victimhood. If we truly live in an era of information, it would be logical to conclude that we all have access to learn new behaviors that will shift how people and systems interact. Until the day comes where there is a massive group revelation, it's our intellectual duty to invest in ourselves through world view expansion.
How moving on and letting go of being the victim has boosted my reading experience
Aaaah. I remember the days of putting myself in an intellectual reading bubble bound in piousness. I would only read black authors and I felt like it was somehow giving my reading a profound sense of purpose. Naturally, becoming an afrocentric charactature that could be featured on a BET sitcom kind of felt like Malcolm X as he was doing research in preparation for the Ballot or the Bullet speech. Lights Dim. With jazz music playing somberly in the background.
The drama of it felt really progressive and liberating. However, the truth is I was limiting myself to indulging in a particular perspective. After several Malcom Gladwell books I was completely open to literature that offered statistics and graphs in-between points! Points that were not describing my experience of external oppression, but random, fun, and enlightening angles on obscure topics that bought positivity into my mind and day. Ive found that a culturally diverse reading list:
. Brings a peace of mind to focus on the book apart from intrusive memories
. Leads to better sleep after a good night time read
. Gives a better control of time
. Prioritizes mindfulness with the ability to adapt
. Normalized more cooperative attitudes for a change in a larger society structure
. The importance of a chill reading spot for introverts of color
Environment is everything when it comes to a wholistic reading experience. Its not like reading in a noisy place impacts your attention experience, right ? ( sarcasm alert) It completely doesn't for some. For those, I now pass you a digital cookie. Nothing is worse than when someone interrupts a great part in a book. Theres an insurmountable amount of quiet places in your local area that you can escape to. Shaking it up and trying something different makes the reading experience just that more memorable. I will never forget the time when, as a grown man. I was crying In Barnes and noble while reading “ the same kind of different as me” If you have never seen the look of utter confusion on the look of an old white persons face when the see a 6’3 black man ring while reading a book, you should come with me the next time I read a travel book which reminds me of how broke I am. Anyhow, intimate spots that escape soul irritating distractions:
. Help you engage and are ultimately more comfortable
. Are a good conversation starter with people with similar yet alternate perspectives
. Reveal coziness can be found in public and private places. Get out of the box and explore
.More grounded in reality
. Anxiety can be reduced by the smells of your environment & improve concentration
Unconventional places & times to read...away from micro aggressors
The stupidest thing I could possibly do , would be to go back to the same spot in which I publicly lost my masculinity. So I had to get creative. I went from reading on trains, to reading next to homeless people on a bench, to reading in pretentious cafes playing indie music. One time I even found myself reading in a quiet sub shop in Philadelphia. It’s a gift. The experience and information above describes who I am based on what I have experienced and how I cope with stressing micro-aggressions. Others actions do not define anyones reality. Your life is your kingdom and you rule who and how people engage in it.
Through this philosophy, I have taken note of what places work and which places didn’t. And compiled a small list of unconventional places to read and not be pestered by paradigm stifling Micro-aggressions.
1. An Indoor Hammock
2. On an empty board walk
3. On a train with headphones
4. parked car near high walls
5. On Fallen Trees ( Don't fall )
6. An Indi-book store
7. A cozy piece of furniture in a secluded area
8. Under a canopy
9. An airbnb in a cozy quant town
10. Hotel Lobbies
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