Examples Of Microaggressions

Microaggressions With Multiracial Groups In Public Spaces (Revised)

It is an evident fact that surrounding a public space, there is an abundance of ethnic groups amongst men and women. In a public space, it is easier to identify only one solid race, such as African-Americans, rather than a mixture of more than one ethnic group. When this arises, society holds challenges towards multiracial groups, whether it may be at a public park, or at a college lecture hall. When discussing the specific types of challenges, microaggressions-- which are indirect and subliminal forms of discrimination towards marginalized groups, come up. On a daily basis, these range from a white person touching a black/mixed person’s hair without their permission because
Susan Ruddick highlights this in, “Constructing Differences In Public Spaces”. This article highlights that race, class and gender are interlocking systems in public spaces. Ruddick depicts the aftermath Just Desserts robbery in 1994, with other racialized crimes as prime examples of race and gender attributing towards the negative implications black people endure on a daily basis. A microaggression that can be seen here are marginalized groups being easily stereotyped from criminal incidents because of national headlines and the victims being mostly white women. In the middle of the article, Ruddick’s note of the Central Park Five case brings out the point that in the media, there is an immediate favor towards the victims, who are predominantly white women. In discussing marginalized groups, it brings the fact that black men are perceived to be a “menace to society, (Ruddick, 9)”. Towards the end of the article, Ruddick analyzes and comes up with the conclusion that in terms of public spaces, the media creates a medium that brings out local and national images of racial ethnicities which can be “constructed and contested,” (Ruddick, 10). This final point highlights that from these criminal incidents, the national media has portrayed a negative image towards minority groups, especially men of color. This article serves as one of the main components of how minority groups are marginalized and how
These topics often bring out false narratives when it comes to communities where multiracial groups are the target to many microaggressions and having their communities deemed as “unsafe,” based on public perception of racial fear. Valentine addresses this in “The Geography of Women’s Fear.” In the article, Valentine delivers the notion that if a women is outside of her known area, she will then make certain judgements about certain ethnic communities that may be perceived as dangerous, that will often cause racial bias. Valentine then goes on to say, “... both the middle and working class white women interviewed hold an image of a predominantly Afro-Caribbean residential area is as dangerous for white women because of a racist assumption about the violent nature of black males, (Valentine, 388).” These negative stereotypes imply that there is a savagery to black people and mixed groups, because of the preconceived notion that stirs around predominately white communities. In the end, Valentine’s final message of the article is to make larger efforts to study the intersection of race and gender. Thus, highlighting that there needs to be more studying on this subject, not only for the white community, but also for marginalized racial