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How Microaggressions Reinforce and Perpetuate Systemic Racism in the United States

Bibliographic Data

ID8074375
AuthorsAllison L Skinner (0000-0003-1220-4791, corresponding author), Apoorva Sarmal (0000-0002-5462-4607), Christine André (0000-0001-9734-2397), Kasheena G Rogbeer (0000-0002-9925-4064)
Year2021
Volume16
Issue5
Pages903-925
Publication date2021-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePerspectives on Psychological Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1745-6916 • E-ISSN: 1745-6924
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/17456916211002543
PMID34498526
OpenAlexW3198641989
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited16

The consequences of racial microaggressions are most often discussed at an interpersonal level. In this article, we contend that microaggressions play an important role in maintaining systems of racial oppression beyond the interpersonal context. Specifically, we illustrate how microaggressions establish White superiority in the United States by othering people of color (e.g., treating people of color as if they are not true citizens) and communicating that they are inferior (e.g., environmental exclusions and attacks, treating people of color as second-class citizens). We also present evidence that microaggressions play a role in protecting and reinforcing systemic racism. By obscuring systemic racism (e.g., false color blindness, denial of individual racism) and promoting ideas that maintain existing systemic inequalities (e.g., the myth of meritocracy, reverse-racism hostility), microaggressions provide cover and support for established systems of oppression. Overall, we find considerable evidence-from both empirical studies and real-world examples-that microaggressions contribute to the maintenance of systems of racial oppression in the United States. We conclude with a discussion of how we might begin to challenge this cycle by increasing awareness of systemic racism and the microaggressions that aid in its perpetuation

Criminology · Hostility · Oppression · Political science · Politics · Prejudice (legal term · Racism · Sociology · White privilege · Critical Race Theory in Education · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Gender Studies · Law · Social Psychology

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Unique citing works22
Citations per year4,4
Citation span2021 - 2026 (6)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 21
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