By Evi Tsakali,
“Very good… for a foreigner” was what a fellow student told me when she asked me if I had successfully passed the semester. I had to admit that I was not expecting it; I thought that studying at the top law school of France and one of the top 25 worldwide, it would not be odd that I was an international student. Little did I know, that would only be the beginning of a series of comments like “your French is very good for a foreign student”, “Did you get in the Sorbonne with the same criteria as we did?”, “Don’t you have a law school in your country?” (no exaggeration). Even a time when I was asked why I chose to apply at the Sorbonne, I asked the same question back only to get the answer “Because I am French”. Not to be misunderstood, I love Paris, my university and my studies, however, I wish I could say the same about Parisians. It was because of them that I discovered something that I thought would never occur to me; microaggressions.
What are microaggressions?
According to Derald Wing Sue, professor of counseling psychology at Columbia University, microaggressions are “the everyday slights, indignities, put-downs and insults that members of marginalized groups experience in their day-to-day interactions with individuals who are often unaware that they have engaged in an offensive or demeaning way. Microaggressions are often discussed in a racial context, but anyone in a marginalized group -be it as a result of their gender, sexual orientation, disability or religion- can experience one”.
The consequences of microaggressions
It was after the aforementioned experiences that I realized that discrimination, no matter how subtle, has consequences. It is still discrimination and it can happen to anyone; as long as there is hatred in this world, no one is totally immune to expressions of invisible racism against them. Especially in an academic environment, the University of Edinburgh distinguishes the following effects: loss of self-esteem, feelings of exhaustion, damage to the ability to thrive in an environment, mistrust of peers, staff and the institution, decrease of participation and ability to study, and -on some occasions- students’ drop out. I decided to write an article on this topic so that you know, in case you have experienced such remarks or behaviors, that you are not alone. Besides, a post from Amnesty International inspired me to make a list of simple and practical ways to cope with microaggressions.
How to respond to microaggressions?
- Remain calm and take a deep breath
- If possible assume best intent, or give them the chance to self-correct
- Consider if you want to handle the issue right away or at a different moment
- Explain why and how it is impacting you and/or others
- If the response is not satisfactory take a breath, pause and determine if you want to continue to engage
- It is okay to ask for help: you might benefit from seeking professional help or the help of your family and friends, superiors (in work or academic environments), and check out the services available in your country/institution, as well as the respective helplines.
And as I like to say, times may be tough, but so are we!
References
- Effects of microaggressions. University of Edinburgh. Available here.
- Yoon, Hahna. How to respond to microaggressions. The New York Times. Available here.
