Table 2.

Microaggressions Experienced.

Microaggression	Description	Quotes
Assumptions of criminality	Avoiding BP based on fear, seeing Whites clutching belongings, etc. Followed in a store, being unable to hail a taxi, etc.	The minute they think you will steal something, they ride on your trail. I’m watching over my shoulder. Uncomfortable. They watch you but don’t speak. Makes me angry.
Surprise at intelligence/achievement	Statements indicating intelligence is unexpected when encountered in a BP	Man, they are calling all these Blacks intelligent because they are educated. Do they think we are all illiterate?
Overfamiliarity	Assuming closeness or similarity of feeling with minorities	They say “Oh I love that song.” Or “Do you cook this?” Don’t entertain me like that. Nah . . . I mean, I don’t know you.
Stereotyping	Assuming sameness of members of a group	They assume that all Blacks think alike, when everyone has their own opinion. Makes you feel small. They want to lump you all together.
Underestimating inferiorization	Statements indicating assumption of White superiority and Black defectiveness	There’s not a genuine . . . positive expectation in any sense. Because their grandfather was in a high military position, they think they should still be in charge. We come out the womb having to prove ourselves.
Infantilizing	Considering BP immature, individually or as a group	All African Americans are thought of as children . . . You were a slave and you must know your place. It’s either overt or very subtle. Just have to do what you are told . . . but I can’t model that to my kids!
Conformity/abnormality	Implications that white appearance is best, that White = normality	If I wear a head wrap they gawk, stare a hole in the back of your head. Why do Black men have to wear their hair short? Some WPs have theirs dyed purple. Look as white as possible . . . I don’t want to be too African, too Black.
Exoticism	Excessive curiosity, objectifying BP as foreign or strange	Staring at me as if I am on display. I understand it is different from what you are used to, but its offensive. You act like you are scared to touch. They think Black men are sexual animals.
Loss of job, forced out	Job lost or not gotten, assumed to be racially motivated. Exceeds “micro” aggression.	When I lost my job, was terminated, I wanted to be sure it would not happen to someone else. I can’t afford to be sick. I’m stressed . . . I worry.
Name-calling	Using demeaning language, hate speech	They yell, “nigger” and I want to throw a brick at them, but I don’t. She (White woman) was recalling what someone else did, and she said he said, “look at those niggers dance!” I didn’t need the whole detail that he had called them “niggers.” Did she really say that?!
Denial of racism in society	Refuting structural and/or subtle racism. Statements about society as “post-racial,” that racism is now resolved.	Very little understanding . . . It is them (WPs) assuming and declaring what is in their own minds. It’s “why are you guys still talking about that?” I was angry . . . little understanding of the dynamics of the Black community and what has happened historically.
Denial of personal racism	Refusing to acknowledge prejudices and White privilege.	When they say “I wasn’t there, or I did not do those things (slavery, Jim Crow) . . . Well I guarantee someone behind you, he did!” She always said “I’m not prejudiced.”
Held back	Promoting less qualified WP. Not giving BP a chance to succeed. Selectively biased hiring, renting, and so on.	White people think they should still be in control . . . hold Blacks back. It is because of your color . . . you try to get ahead in the company, struggling to even get your foot in the door. That brings stress. They don’t call you back.
Colorblindness	Stating, “we are all the same,” or “I don’t see color.”	I would like to pick their brains . . . what do they mean? Never expected it from that person! You see the differences, you see color! It is what it is.
Ignoring/invisibility	Avoidance, not seeing or hearing what BP is saying. Looking past or “through” the BP.	I had thought of ways to make my work easier. No one listens. They think I’m crazy. At work, they make you feel small. I’m here! Frustrating.

Note. BP = Black person; WP = White person.