Microaggressions, Macroaggressions, and Modern Racism in Higher Education

Abstract

In this chapter, I present and discuss findings on modern racism, microaggressions, and macroaggressions. The data come from 2500 participants at a predominantly White university and a racially diverse institution who filled out a survey that included scales and items related to racist microaggressive and macroaggressive experiences, racist beliefs, post-racist beliefs, perceptions of campus climate, and cultural competence. Major findings include students of color experiencing more race-based microaggressions than White students, Black and Asian students experiencing the highest levels of race-based microaggressions, and students of color experiencing victimization by members outside of their racial group at higher rates than White students. These findings also illuminate the point that race and racism are still significant within academic institutions. This chapter also includes qualitative data from open-ended survey questions. Major themes include anti-Asian sentiments, anti-Black sentiments, claims of “reverse” racism, and racist jokes.

What I have experienced as far as racism goes, can’t be summed up in a single paragraph. Generally, I feel that racism on this campus is subtle, from the looks you get from people or the feeling you get when walking into a room. However, I have had people straight up call me the n-word or tell me that they don’t like people of my race.

—Black man, 21, at predominantly White school