• Maya A liken racial MAs as small murders & blatant form as grand executions
• lifetime of MAs will take its toll; they have lifelong insidious effects of silencing, invalidating, humiliating the identity & voices of those who are oppressed
• the black experience refer to MAs as offensive mechanisms used against blacks-may result in diminished mortality, augmented morbidity, & flattened confidence

• researches have identified 5 phases that are likely to occur when potential racial MA presents itself
• Incident - Perception - Reaction - Interpretation - Consequence
• phase 1 the incident - an event or situation experienced by the participant
• phase 2 perception - participant's belief about whether or not the incident was racially motivated
• phase 3 reaction - participant's immediate response to the incident: cognitive - a reaction that involves thought processes whether spoken or internal; behavioral - a reaction that involves an action; emotional - a reaction that involves an emotion
• phase 4 interpretation - the meaning the participant makes of the incident, answering such questions as why did the event occur?
• phase 5 consequence - for individual behavioral, emotive, or thought processes which develop over time as a result of said incident

• incidents may be the result of:
• a. ongoing interactions betw perpetrators & recipients(discussion of topics betw individuals or groups of people during social events)
• b. more distant & passive relationships (overhearing comments made by a stranger)
• c.those in which environmental cues signal a devaluation of group identities

for AAs -

• ascription of intelligence, second class citizenship,
• assumption of criminality, assumption of inferior status,
• assumed universality of black experience
• assumed superiority of white cultural values, communication styles

for AAs

• alien in own land, ascription of intelligence
• denial of racial reality, invisibility, second class citizens
• exoticization of AA women,
• invalidation of interethnic differences
• pathologizing of cultural values/communication styles

lgbts

• oversexualization, homophobia, sinfulness
• heterosexist language/terminology
• assumption of abnormality,
• denial of individual heterosexism
• endorsemt of heternormative culture & behaviors

women

• sexual objectification, invisibility, sexist humor jokes
• second class citizenship, use of sexist language
• assumption of inferiority, restrictive gender roles
• denial of the reality of sexism, denial of individual sexism

• direct or indirect verbal comments to target
• nonverbal/behavioral incidents thru use of body language or physical actions - double take when observing gay apparel
• environmental -where the physical surroundings represent the micraggressive event

• perception refer to the belief about whether the incident was biased
• factors that go into the assessmt process-the relationship with the person, the racial identity developmt of recipient, the thematic content of MA, & personal experiences of target

• refers to target immediate response; the inner struggle that evokes strong cognitive, behavioral, & emotional reactions

Health paranoia

• or cultural mistrust which operates before, during, after incident - its a healthy suspicion of the behaviors & motives of dominant culture
• targets give greater weight to view incidents from past experiences of prejudice & not on what was said
• it serves several functions:
• a. it warns against simply accepting offender definitions of whether racial, gender, or so MAs were delivered
• b. it allows targets to use lived experiences as a counterbalance in determining R, G, SO realities
• c. it reduces energy depletion by terminating constant internal questioning & rumination
• d. it may lead to functional & adaptive mechanisms to deal with the slights, invalidations, etc delivered

Sanity check

• black folks often use each other (family, friends, coworkers) as a way of checking the accuracy of their perceptions
• a. it reaffirms one's experiential reality
• b. it communicates that the target is not alone & that others experience similar situations
• c. it creates a validating group experience that immunizes targets against future subtle expressions of racism, sexism, or heterosexism

Empowering & validating self

• victims of MAs adapt by shifting the fault to the aggressor; it empowers & shields them b/c it locates blame/fault to perpetrator than themselves
• empower self is highly correlates to POC, women, lgbts who are firmly rooted in their own identities
• they trust their intuitive thoughts, beliefs, feelings, evaluate events & experiences from an internal loci of control
• are less externally oriented, & are active in using contextual cues to evaluate situations

Rescuing the offender

• several blacks felt a pull to take care of the offender
• the victim of MA is cognizant of their behaviors & fears but intent is to put the offender at ease
• many say white people just cant help it-they have inherited the racial biases of their ancestors & are culturally conditioned to fear POC-the belief that whites are also victims
• some make a distinction as to who is the true enemy

• meaning given to a MA incident; it signifies the intent of the aggressor
• You don't belong - POC are not wanted in their environmt
• You are abnormal - lgbts believe to be abnormal. AAs are shy, inhibited, repressed b/c of their culture, blacks are too emotional -abnormal
• You are intellectual inferior - women are deficient in rational thinking, AA poor people skills, blacks lack abstract conceptual reasoning
• You are not trustworthy - blacks & Latinos are watched in stores
• You are all the same -individual differences do not exist & AAs & blacks have universal experience

• the psychological effects on the recipients

Powerlessness

• results in inability to control defined reality; the belief that one has little control over a situation leads to impotent feelings
• thru repeated experiences of being made to feel helpless & ineffective in determining one's fate, the locus of control becomes externalized

Invisibility

• being ignored, overlooked, made to feel invisible

Forced compliance/loss of integrity

• being forced to think & behave antagonistic to your true beliefs & desires makes people feel inauthentic
• feelings of selling out, a false self, not being true in 1's self creates feelings of uneasiness & superficial-due to navigating the dominant culture's way of life
• conforming to white standards, being fearful of potential consequence of breaking social norms, letting 1's true beliefs, feelings be known often results in extreme emotional turmoil

Pressure to represent 1's group

• POC have a heightened awareness that every mistake, failing, deficiency exhibited by POC would be attributed to respective minority group
• some feel pressure to act a certain way so not to confirm particular stereotypes about their group

• the microaggressive model is a descriptive 1 & attempts to identify the internal psychological dynamics that occur within targets & groups

• for further research-the need to identify & proactively devise functional survival or adaptive mechanisms that can be used to immunize POC & other minorities
• 2 avenues of focus: #1 we can remove or mitigate the causes of MAs that reside in everyone, insitutions, society; #2 at same time teach targeted groups about how to effectively take care of themselves

A few survival attributes

• heightened perceptual wisdom
• nonverbal & contextual accuracy
• bicultural flexibility
• collectivistic sense of group identity

heightened perceptual wisdom

• POC develop the ability to discern truth & determine reality better than those who occupy positions of power, privilege
• accurate perception means the ability to read betw the lines, see beyond the obvious, become aware of inconsistencies betw verbal & nonverbal behaviors-oppressor
• for POC it means vigilance in discerning the motives, attitudes, unintentional biased contradictions of whites
• a way of optimal functioning for POC

Nonverbal & contextualized accuracy

• POC recognize that nonverbal behaviors are a true depiction of biased attitudes & actions
• communication theory - reveals that only 30-40% of communication occurs verbally, while the remainder depends on nonverbal/contextual cues;
• then nonverbals are least under conscious control & nonverbal msg are more accurate - being able to  accurately read nonverbal communication & discern the truth correlates with healthy functioning & suggests the oppressed groups have strengths unmatched by oppressors

Bicultural flexibility

• in dealing with forced compliance & pressures to conform assimilate acculturate, minority groups have developed a bicultural flexibility that allows them to maintain their own sense of integrity
• the ability to see others worldviews & more readily understand the other's point of view

Collectivistic sense of group identity

• POC relay on others for collective sense of identity, validation, confirmation of their experiences, for sharing healthy coping mechanisms. this reliance provides strength to overcome oppressive environmts/situations
• peoplehood - sociopolitical to refer to a sense of group identity forged thru common or shared experiences of oppression & lessons learned that survival depends on each other
• racial, ethnic pride & collective cultural values aids minorities to flourish in toxic environmt & immunize against forces of racism