Last week, OHSU's Center for Diversity and Inclusion hosted a talk by the preeminent scholar researcher on the topic of racial microaggressions: Dr. Derald Wing Sue at Columbia University.
I first learned about Dr. Sue's ground-breaking work on microaggressions at a racial justice workshop hosted by the Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Institute. Dr. Sue's research gave a name to a phenomenon that people or color and other marginalized communities face everyday:
Racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults towards people of color.Microaggressions are embedded in comments like "You speak English very well." or "Where are you from?" or "I don't see color." Often, these insults and slights are perpetrated by well-meaning people, and even allies and advocates. These verbal slights may be unintentional, but damaging anyhow.
In his OHSU talk, Dr. Sue identified the hidden manifestation of microaggressions and described their relationship to unconscious bias and prejudice. He outlined how they detrimentally impact psychological and physical health, and discussed how they create disparities in health care, education and employment. He also explored the coping mechanisms used by targets of microaggressions, and suggested solutions on individual, institutional and societal levels. The event drew over 200 people from the greater Portland area to the OHSU Auditorium.
Here's the link to the PDF of Dr. Sue's presentation. Below is a photo of OHSU Diversity and Inclusion team members who played key roles in bringing Dr. Sue to Portland.
