Self-Estrangement Pattern Within Microaggressions

Self-Estrangement Pattern within Microaggressions Shenyi Yu Lehigh University Abstract Racial microaggression is a problem that is increasingly being experienced in the current society, having replaced the explicit humiliation on the black community that was common in the past. Racial microaggressions can be defined as the minor indignities that commonly occur, whether behavioral, verbal, or environmental, and may be either intentional or unintentional. Studies done Sue et al. (2008) indicate that there are three different types of racial microaggressions and all of them are related to various dilemmas experienced by the victims. Research shows that with higher level of social well-being or educational level, black people encounter more white-predominant environment with more microaggressions, and thus are more negatively impacted by microaggressions. Microaggressions also worsen the level of anxiety. The scope of the paper includes the different forms of dilemmas associated with racial microaggressions. Also examined is how various social and environmental factors contribute to worsening cases of racial microaggressions. The results show that microaggression tends to worsen the problem of self-estrangement, especially when the affected individuals are unable to effectively handle the impacts. In conclusion, the paper finds that racial microaggressions have a negative impact on the physical and psychological health of the affected individuals, resulting to self-estrangement. Keywords: Racial microaggression, self-estrangement, physical and psychological health. Self-Estrangement Pattern within Microaggressions Introduction The time when black people would be explicitly humiliated and physically beaten has gone. Instead, in present time, racial microaggressions is replacing, but not deleting racial assaults with its “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral and environmental indignities” (Sue et al., 2008, p. 273). In the scholarly article entitled “Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life—Implications for Clinical Practice," Sue et al. categorize racial microaggressions into three different types. More importantly, the scholars also propose four dilemmas within interpreting microaggressions that hinder people from understanding the context of people of different ethnic groups. Microaggressions include acts or words against black people that develop stress and worsen three fields of life, including physical health, level of well-being, and people’s psychology. Most of the time, readers have an impression of microaggressions only at conversational occasions, and because it is micro, it is not severe. However, research that uncovers the increasing impact of microaggressions in a more educational environment suggests that readers refresh their knowledge on this subject. The aim is to discover the severity of microaggressions, to explore how the issue affects black people negatively from the interpreting pattern, and how further studies could resolve the issue and cure the related injuries. Sufficient experiments are found to examine the extent of the problem, and some discuss coping methods to lessen the harm after microaggressions have influenced the recipient (Sue et al., 2008). Although scholars put many efforts in...