Racism in Disguise

By Keyon Gardner | Published December 19, 2022

You would think in a country that is supposed to be united that we would rarely have to face any form of racism but reality shows us yet again that America is a country still divided and there are still underlying problems we need to address. 

It’s been over two years since the incident surrounding the death of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. These incidents in particular go beyond the daily microaggression that people of color and marginalized groups already have to face.

 They are prime examples of “Micro assaults” that have had a profound effect on the African American community and other minority groups.

Floyd, who was 46 at the time of his tragic death, Floyd was laid down on his stomach by an officer while the officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck for approximately 10 minutes suffocating him. 

Moments later Floyd passed away, and the officer continued to keep his knee on Floyd’s neck. Breonna Taylor was shot eight times by police officers who responded on grounds of a no-knock warrant served at her apartment in part of a narcotics investigation happening at the time.

Dr. Chester M. Pierce specifically describes the everyday verbal and nonverbal acts of systemic racism that demean and undermine Black Americans. Though the term originated from systemic racism meant toward African Americans it has broadened and become systemic discrimination towards people of other races, gender, age, or sexuality. 

Other terms like “Microassault”, “Microinvalidations” or “Microinsult” all have to do with intentional or unintentional verbal and nonverbal use of insults and discrimination.  

Microaggression refers to the discrimination of race, gender, age, or even sex among a wide group of people that if accomplished repeatedly can profoundly leave anybody with permanent damages to their mental health, their self-esteem, and self-awareness.

 The Ahmaud Arbery incident is the literal definition of “Microassault”. Not only does the killing and hate crime targeted against three innocent African Americans spark fear and rage among other African Americans but it does physiological damage as well when killings like these happen in a streak. 

Young African American men and women are being traumatized every day from the violent crimes committed against them. 

     Dedrian, who is a sophomore with an undecided major, spoke about how he went to a diverse school that was predominantly white made fun of the Mexican kids, and referred to them in derogatory words. 

“Everybody would always label the Mexicans as this certain word and it wasn’t racism, it was a word that was supposed to be funny, but it was just disrespectful in all,” Dedrian said.

The students at Kean have experienced a moment in their life where they felt they were a victim of microaggression or simply misjudged for looking a different way. Other students also experienced that other groups of races get treated poorly than others. 

Amina, a senior majoring in communication/ film and media said that the races including  African Americans, Latin Americans, and white people all fail to talk with each other to understand one another better. 

“I feel like there is a separation between communication that African American people don’t go out of their way to talk to white people more, and white people don’t take the initiative to talk and get to know African American people,” 

Amina said she was uncomfortable to talk to a person of non-color because she thinks they might not know how to communicate with her. She also referenced an incident of “Microinsult” that happened in a classroom with her and a white student where the student made a comment about African American people’s hair which made her feel uncomfortable, a form of “microinvalidation.” 

Hannah, a freshman, and Spanish education major, heard a student disclosing to their friend inappropriate feelings towards black people. 

“I was on the sidewalk and I experienced this girl in front of me saying these really horrific things about another black girl on my floor,” Hannah said. “She looked around and looked at me and said oh thank god there are no black people around, I can talk freely, I looked at her and said, “what is wrong with you?”

I have also experienced a form of microaggression while I was an employee at The Home Depot in South Plainfield. I can remember a time I was working there and was approached by a customer and police officer who were under the impression that I was selling marijuana. 

The customer who approached me asked if I knew where to get marijuana. Mind you, I am working at an home appliance store minding my business and I was asked a middle age White American that question. I ignored them and continue to do my job. I felt misjudged in the moment but then later shrugged it off. 

A few months later, I was approached by a Black police officer who was looking for lighter fluid. The officer asked me if I knew where the drugs were. I paused for a second and looked at him. seconds later he laughed and went

 “I’m just playing with you man, you should’ve seen the look on your face,” the Officer said. 

Nowhere is it funny as a police officer to approach a young black man in America and try and poke fun at having drugs. 

I felt yet again, so misunderstood as to why anybody would perceive me as the type to sell or do drugs. My feelings and experiences are shared with countless of other black men in America who are often misunderstood,  

 Dr. Kisha Dasent, a communication professor explained that microaggressions “are small indignities but have a larger impact when being expressed in a verbal or nonverbal way.” 

She said Microaggression will come to you in the most harmless and subtle way but will have long-lasting psyche damage to a person. If used by the wrong person, it can be used to break down a person’s confidence leaving them with mental health effects. 

“We don’t even realize how much we experience microaggressions because it’s so normalized and it happens all the time,” Dasent said. 

Microaggressions are so common and ingrained in today’s society that we can experience a form of insult and it wouldn’t process in our brains until we evaluate it from a different perspective.

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