Gina C. Torino (Editor), David P. Rivera (Editor), Christina M. Capodilupo (Editor), Kevin L. Nadal (Editor), Derald Wing Sue (Editor)
https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Microaggression+Theory%3A+Influence+and+Implications-p-9781119466642
p.13 What can educational institutions do to address microaggressions on campus?
Providing a range of educative offerings that allow for the exploration of microaggression experience on campus from both an intellectual and emotional point of view will strengthen community and build pathways to change. Therefore, workshop series, summits, continuous learning, and professional development opportunities that seek to expand awareness on how different groups of people experience the campus environment and university at-large will benefit the overall institutional climate. Moreover, offering these programs to all members of the campus community (from staff to students to professors and deans) is crucial.
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And while the onus to end racism should not fall upon People of Color and there is no prescribed response to mitigate its power or impact, Students of Color, their families, and their teachers have articulated the need to name and respond to racial microaggressions.
A primary step in mitigating the detrimental impact of a racial microaggression is to be able to identify that it is happening.
A secondary step in addressing racial microaggressions on an individualized level is articulating that racism to the perpetrator, as naming racism can—at times—facilitate a climate of reflection.
racial literacy is a skill that can offer an ability to identify what is problematic in the interaction, to thwart an internalization of its effects, and to challenge the injustice, no matter how micro in form.
Considering the need for students to navigate racism that covertly diminishes their educational and career opportunities, the literature points to the importance of racial literacy to shift their understanding from an individualized to an institutional analysis of racism (Epstein & Gist, 2015). Having this skill allows Students of Color the ability to connect, as we did throughout this chapter, the microaggression to larger Microaggression Theory macro systems of institutional racism. This process helps to deindividualize situations, remove themselves as responsible for any pain or failure they may feel, and rearticulate the situation with a clear vision of the role of power within inequity (Perez Huber & Solorzano, 2014).
Racial literacy is one’s ability “to probe the existence of racism and examine the effects of race and institutionalized systems on their experiences and representation in US society,” including the “ability to read, discuss, and write about situations that involve race or racism” (Sealey-Ruiz, 2013, p. 386).
p.286 Institutional Responses to Racial Microaggressions
Diversifying the teaching staff, building upon the community cultural wealth of Students of Color (Yosso, 2005), and having regular reflections and open discussions of racial equity and racism on campus are all things that can support a positive racial climate.
An additional piece of shifting school racial climate is allowing Students of Color to create or access third spaces/counterspaces—places where they can feel supported and validated in their racialized experiences (Nunez, 2011). […] studies have shown that these safe havens can be an important strategy for their academic 17 “Compliments” and “Jokes” survival (Grier-Reed, 2010)
p.298 90-minute interactive workshop on microaggressions woven into a mandatory supervisor-training program.
This administrative decision squarely places the issues of cultural competence within the broader framework of supervisors’ responsibilities within the university and asks them to be problem solvers for questions related to diversity.
The 90-minute presentation teaches microaggression awareness and Microaggression Theory understanding, explains the effects of microaggressions on individuals and on organizations, and teaches how to remove microaggressions.
People break into groups to share their own examples of microaggressions on campus, often hierarchical in nature. The groups then share their examples and their solutions.
The training ends with developing a shared list of strategies to combat microaggressions. These shared reduction strategies help supervisors think about their role in reducing microaggressions from individual and
organizational perspectives