that is not present for heterosexual men, regardless of racial‐group membership. And there are distinctions within categories. In other words, racial microaggressions are not experienced in the same way by individuals across racial groups. In the United States, for example, Asian Americans and Latinx individuals are more likely to experience “alien in one's own land” messages than are African Americans, who are more likely to be seen as “criminals.” Please note that we elaborate on similarities and differences in microaggressive manifestations across group and context in Chapter 7, where we also address cutting‐edge research on the intersectional nature of microaggressions (within‐group differences).
Microinsults and Microinvalidations: Common Themes
The original racial microaggression taxonomy proposed by D. W. Sue, Capodilupo, et al. (2007) was later refined to include gender and sexual‐orientation themes. Here we present D. W. Sue and Capodilupo's (2008) revised taxonomy and describe some of the more common themes with their hidden messages.
Microinsults
Microinsults are characterized by verbal and nonverbal interpersonal exchanges that convey stereotypes, rudeness, and insensitivity and that demean a person's racial, gender, sexual orientation, heritage, or identity. Microinsults represent subtle snubs, frequently outside the perpetrator’s conscious awareness, but they convey an often‐hidden insulting message to recipients. Common microinsult themes are:
Ascription of intelligence. This microinsult is related to perceptions of intellect, competence, and capabilities and plays out differently for members of different racial and ethnic groups. Saying to African American individuals, for instance, “You are a credit to your race” contains an insulting metacommunication (“African Americans are generally not as intelligent as Whites”). In her 2014 Ted talk, spoken word artist and social justice educator Dr. Jamila Lyiscott discussed how being referred to as “articulate” is not just an innocent utterance suggested as a compliment but rather an insult that ignores the historical context of racism. The belief that African Americans are intellectually inferior is a common microaggression (Jones, 1997; Mercer, Zeigler‐Hill, Wallace, & Hayes, 2011; Smedley & Smedley, 2005; Torres, Driscoll, & Burrow, 2010). When targets are Asian American, the microaggression often is the reverse—there is an assumption that Asians are highly intelligent, especially in math and science. Houshmand, Tafarodi, and Spanierman (2014) found support for this notion in a study with Asian international students in Canada. A Chinese woman reported, “Everybody thinks Chinese are good at math,” and a Chinese man stated that he felt like an anomaly as a history major because of others' preconceived notion about the interests and competencies of Chinese persons being focused on math and science. When considering gender microaggressions, we see ascription of intelligence at play when a male teacher expresses surprise at the math skills of a female student (“Wow, how did you get so good in math?”).
Assumption of abnormality. This theme is related to the perception that something about the person's race, gender, or sexual orientation is abnormal, deviant, or pathological. LGBTQ groups experience these microinsults frequently, especially in the area of sexual behavior that is equated with abnormality (Herek, 1998; Satcher & Leggett, 2007). When a gay man during a physical exam is suspected by a physician to have HIV/AIDS on the first visit, when students use the term “gay” to describe the odd or nonconformist behavior of a fellow classmate, and when someone expresses surprise that a lesbian is in a monogamous relationship, an assumption of abnormality is present. Examples of assumptions could be “LBGTQ people are promiscuous and engage in deviant sexual behavior” or “People who are weird and different are gay.”
Criminality/Assumption of criminal status. The theme of this microinsult appears to be race specific and relates to beliefs that a person of color is presumed to be dangerous, potentially a criminal, likely to break the law, or antisocial. Numerous examples of this apply to African American and Latinx men. Examples include a White woman who clutches her purse more tightly in the presence of Latinx persons, a White man checking for his wallet while passing a group of African Americans on the sidewalk, and a sales clerk requesting more pieces of identification to cash a check from a Black than from a White customer. Torres et al. (2010) found support for this theme in their mixed‐methods investigation among highly educated African Americans. Participants, even those with advanced educational degrees, reported enduring a range of such microaggressions from comments about their appearance (“looking like a criminal”) to harassment from law enforcement. Interestingly, our studies suggest that assumption of criminal status is seldom attributed to Asian Americans. Indeed, they are often viewed as law abiding, conforming, unlikely to rock the boat, and less prone to violence (D. W. Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007; D. W. Sue, Capodilupo, & Holder, 2008). Women may be less likely than men of color to encounter this form of microinsult (Hall & Fields, 2015).
Pathologizing cultural values/communication styles. The theme of this microinsult has two components: a belief that the cultural values/communication styles of White, male, and straight groups are normative and that those of people of color, females, and LGBTQ individuals are somehow abnormal. Examples include telling Latinx students to “leave your cultural baggage outside the classroom” and asking a Black person “Why do you have to be so loud, emotional, and animated?” In the first case, the Latinx students are being asked to assimilate and are being told that their cultural values are dysfunctional and should be given up because they will interfere with their learning. In the latter case, the style of communication by Black individuals is being pathologized because of the assumption that appropriate communication is dispassionate and objective (Kochman, 1981). But there is something more sinister and insidious in the reaction that fosters fear that Black people will become violent and out of control. This is related to the assumption of criminality just described. Relatedly, Houshmand and her colleagues (2014) found among Asian international students in Canada reports of being ridiculed for their accent, pronunciation, or language proficiency. And among a sample of multiracial individuals, Nadal, Wong et al. (2011) found support for pathologizing of their identities and experiences such that people of mixed race were assumed to be aberrant or confused.
Second‐class citizen. This microinsult contains an unconscious message that certain groups are less worthy, less important, and less deserving and are inferior beings who deserve discriminatory treatment. Torres et al. (2010) found this microinsult linked to assumptions of criminality in reports from African American participants. Although these microinsults may be conscious, most are delivered by well‐intentioned people who would never knowingly discriminate (Bonilla‐Silva, 2006). As a result, people of color, women, and LGBTQ individuals are accorded lesser treatment than White, male, and straight individuals. A lesbian woman is ignored and excluded by her female coworkers because she “is not like one of us.” Black patrons at a restaurant are seated at a smaller table near the kitchen door where waiters and waitresses constantly walk in and out. A female physician at an emergency room is mistaken by male patients as a nurse.
Sexual objectification. Sexual objectification is the process by which women are transformed into “objects” or property at the sexual disposal or benefit of men. There is a dehumanizing quality in this process because women are stripped of their humanity and the totality of their human essence (personal attributes, intelligence, emotions, hopes, etc.). Playboy and Hustler magazine pictures of nude women, topless and bottomless entertainment clubs, using scantily clad attractive female models in commercials to sell goods or services, and countless other examples communicate that women's bodies are not their own and that they exist to service the sexual fantasies and desires of men (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). The interaction of race and gender and sexual objectification can be complex (Lott, Aquith, & Doyon, 2001). Researchers in one study found, for example, that Asian American women often experienced microinsults related to exoticization (D. W. Sue, Bucceri, et al., 2007). Participants complained of continual subjugation to the roles of sexual objects, domestic
