Ethnic-racial discrimination
Unfair treatment based on ethnic/racial background
Ethnicity vs race based discrimination
Ethnicity and race are often construed with each other, and it can be hard to tell if discrimination is due to your ethnicity (shared values, language, etc.) or race (color of your skin for example)
Racism
Systems where certain racial groups are privileged over others
Stereotyping
Cognitive schemas that impact perception of groups of people
Prejudice
Negative feelings towards people of a certain group
Discrimination, prejudice & stereotyping
Discrimination is treating someone differently because of their group membership, often due to negative prejudice and stereotyping
Williams et al., 1997 Everyday Discrimination Scale
- Most common measure of discrimination
- Measures frequency of basic everyday received behaviours of discrimination
- Does not include more ambiguous events like microaggressions
Scheim & Bauer (2019) Intersectional Discrimination Index (InDI)
Major discrimination subscale
- More specific
- About lifetime exposure, frequency
Microaggressions
Brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to people of color because they belong to a racial minority group” (Sue et al., 2007)
Alien in own land microinvalidation
When Asian Americans and Latino Americans are assumed to be foreign-born (Sue et al., 2007)
Ascription of intelligence microinsult
Assigning intelligence to a person of color on the basis of their race (Sue et al., 2007)
Color blindness microinvalidation
Statements that indicate that a White person does not want to acknowledge race (Sue et al., 2007)
Criminality/assumption of criminality status microinsult
A person of color is presumed to be dangerous, criminal, or deviant on the basis of their race (Sue et al., 2007)
Denial of individual racism microinvalidation
A statement made when Whites deny their racial biases (Sue et al., 2007)
Myth of meritocracy microinvalidation)
Statements which assert that race does not play a role in life successes (Sue et al., 2007)
Pathologizing cultural values/communication styles microinsults
The notion that the values and communication styles of the dominant/White culture are ideal (Sue et al., 2007)
Second-class citizen microinsult
when a White person is
given preferential treatment as a consumer over a person of color (Sue et al., 2007)
Environmental microaggressions microinsult, microassault & microinvalidation
Macro-level microaggressions, which are more apparent on systemic and environmental levels
Level of consciousness of microaggressions
Microinvalidation: often unconscious
Microinsult: often unconscious
Microassault: conscious
Class of racial realities (microaggression dilemma)
Individuals may differ in their perception of race relations depending on their place in the social hierarchy
Invisibility of unintentional expression of bias (microaggression dilemma)
People not always, but often act with best of intentions: many microaggressions are both subtle and unintentional
- Given this, how can one “prove” a microaggression has occurred?
Perceived Minimal Harm (microaggression dilemma)
- People’s reactions to victims of microaggression can be a microaggression itself, e.g. saying a black woman is just being “an angry black woman” when she reacts to a microaggression
Damned if you do respond. Damned if you don’t (microaggression dilemma)
- Because of ambiguity, it can be difficult to determine if microaggression occurred
- Victim can connect dots from pattern of past experiences, but perpetrator often can’t – this is an isolated event, will deny being racist
Matheson et al., 2021,
Survey-based study of 158 Black Canadians (Mage 26, range 16-65)
Ambiguous racism was more related to depressive affect than explicit experiences
