Racial microaggressions cause considerable psychological distress among Black Americans and are manifested in nearly all interracial encounters. They set in motion energy-depleting attempts to determine whether incidents were racially motivated. Reactions can be classified into 4 major themes: healthy paranoia, sanity check, empowering and validating self, and rescuing offenders. Microaggressions result in high degrees of stress for Blacks because of denigrating messages: “You do not belong,” “You are abnormal,” “You are intellectually inferior,” “You cannot be trusted,” and “You are all the same.” Feelings of powerlessness, invisibility, forced compliance and loss of integrity, and pressure to represent one’s group are some of the consequences.

 

Racism can be defined as a complex ideology composed of beliefs in racial superiority and inferiority and is enacted through individual behaviors and institutional and societal policies and practices (Jones, 1997). Racism devalues, demeans, and disadvantages Black Americans by treating them as lesser beings and by denying equal access and opportunity (Sue, 2003). Over the years, however, social scientists have noted that racism in American society has shifted from overt acts and messages to subtle and implicit expressions (DeVos & Banaji, 2005; Dovidio, Gaertner, Kawakami, & Hodson, 2002). These manifestations have been labeled aversive racism, implicit racism, and modern racism and reside in well-intentioned individuals who are not consciously aware that their beliefs, attitudes, and actions often discriminate against Black Americans (Nelson, 2006). Some researchers prefer the term racial microaggressions to describe the brief, commonplace, and daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental slights and indignities directed toward Black Americans, often automatically and unintentionally (Constantine, 2007; Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000; Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007). Racial microaggressions are similar to unconscious racism, but they are broader, describe a dynamic interplay...