A THOUSAND CUTS
Small acts of prejudice can snowball into serious health consequences. This is how to fight back – and save lives
Small, everyday acts of prejudice can have a major impact on our health. Here’s the lowdown
Deandre Smith, a film-maker from Chicago, remembers being one of two black students in his college film class. One of his professors, a “liberal, progressive white woman”, often pitted the black students against each other by comparing their work. Assumptions from classmates – that, for example, he must have been inspired by Spike Lee and Tyler Perry – also filled him with anger.
The chances are that you’ve been the recipient of a micro-aggression. You have likely heard the term, too – on the news, on Twitter, in your newly instituted company training sessions on bias. Harvard psychologist Chester M Pierce coined “racial micro-aggressions” in the 1970s, after observing subtly racist commercials on television. Black people were portrayed in subservient roles; white actors were shown in positions of authority. In the wake of Black Lives Matter, they’re now being picked up everywhere – especially in the workplace.
In a recent US Gallup poll, 25% of black adults said that they are “very often” treated as though they lacked intelligence. Black men surveyed were more than twice as likely as black women to say that people frequently acted afraid of them.
Micro-aggressions can happen to anyone, however: women, the LGBTQ+ community, the young. Furthermore, those who experience discrimination are at a greater risk of stress, depression and even cardiovascular disease.
Smith acknowledges that micro-aggressions will remain a part of his life – but also that having conversations about them might help to combat the issue. “I have a lot of non-black friends, and I’ve had to call them out a few times. They consider themselves allies but talk about me as their ‘black friend’. If you want to improve things, stop calling me your black friend.
I’m your friend. This is not a seasonal trend. Black people go through this every day.”