MICROAGGRESSIONS 101: Examining the Classroom

Photo Credit: Berkeley

Before I begin here, let me start with stating how important this message is to me, and hopefully the students I've interacted with in class one too many times. It's time we start talking about microaggressions and violence in the classroom. Since arriving at this university I've experienced a hostile and violent classroom which has been terrible to my personal health, class performance, and overall well-being.

For those of you who are not familiar, let met provide a definition of microaggressions. Microaggressions, as defined by psychology professor Derald Wing Sue of Columbia University, are "brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership." More specifically, microaggressions span across three different categories which include the following: verbal microaggressions, nonverbal microaggressions, and environmental microaggressions.

1. Verbal microaggressions, for example, are normalized in the classroom when students regularly say "illegal aliens" and "illegal immigrants" when referring to undocumented immigrants. Such microaggressions usually go unchecked as students of color are subject to such messages that are often not regulated by the professor.

2. Nonverbal microaggressions, as mentioned by a Huffington Post article, can also constitute "someone not making eye contact with you in a meeting."

3. Environmental microaggressions, on the other hand, concentrate on one's environment and include "looking at the pictures in the hallway of current and former senior leaders of the company [and realizing] that no one resembles [you]", as well as being the only person of color in your college classroom.

Thinking about how these microaggressions manifest in a college classroom is crucial as we think about the heavy emphasis placed on participation in the classroom. I've been in college for several years and all my classes have required "participation", which usually involves attendance and talking regularly during class discussion. Typically, this participation requirement makes up anywhere from 10-40% of a student's overall grade. As such, in a hostile classroom environment with ongoing microaggressions in all forms, participating in the classroom can be even more difficult. Yet, students who face these microaggressions suffer from its cognitive, physiological, and emotional effects while still having to perform at the level of students who don't experience microaggressions in the classroom. Considering the fact that participation can account for so much, and overall classroom performance is prized, professors and universities alike need to consider how a hostile climate impacts the performance of marginalized groups on campus.

Overall, microaggressions and their negative health consequences need to be taken seriously by other students, professors, and the university alike. We need to understand and be there for students when they speak about tensions in the classroom and speech that often questions their humanity, and the humanity of communities they come from. Professors also need to take control of the classroom in this regards and ensure that safe spaces are created for students which do not allow for such occurrences to continue to exist.