Subtle Acts of Exclusion <> Microaggression and Internalised Racism
By Yi-Yang @ 2024-07-24T03:21 (+28)
In almost all of my writings in this series, I used subtle acts of exclusion (SAEs) as the main term to describe the less-overt type of discrimination non-Westerners may face. It’s a term that was first coined by Jana and Baran as a way to redefine Microaggressions in a more accurate and easier to understand way, which I agree with.
And because microaggression and internalised racism (MIR) may come across as “culture war” loaded terms (despite them also being academic terms), I decided to use SAE (with some modifications so it’s closer to not just microaggression but also internalised racism) instead in my other writings.
In this piece of writing, my aim is to help readers have a better understanding of MIR (which was previously SAE), and to do that, I’ve listed down different types and examples of MIR. And given the fact that MIRs are easily misinterpreted, I’ve listed down some non-examples below too.
Caveats
- The kind of microaggression and internalised racism (MIR) I’m most interested in is between Westerners and non-Westerners. So almost all examples listed down are between these two groups. But to be clear, MIR can also happen between other kinds of groups, e.g., between Singaporeans and Malaysians. In fact, I think "perceived-to-be-higher-status-cultures" and "perceived-to-be-lower-status-cultures" could also be used as more generalisable terms.
- It’s usually not possible to point at a person’s behaviour and immediately know if it’s MIR. You also need to know the person’s intention (even if they’re unconscious about them). Technically, you could infer a person’s intention if you received more behavioural evidence, but it’s almost impossible to know for sure unless you have some miraculous access to a person’s cognition. Furthermore, there are many other factors that could confound your inference, e.g., the circumstance, the setting, the other people, the “vibe”, etc. Hence, try not to over-correct, over-update, or be hyper-vigilant. But if you’re the type to not over-do something, then perhaps the opposite advice may be better for you.
Examples of MIR
Microaggression | Internalised racism | |
---|---|---|
Definition | Subtle acts of exclusion that are any one of prejudicial, unjust, or both
A more thorough explanation can be found here. | Camara Phyllis Jones defines this as “... acceptance by members of the stigmatized races of negative messages about their own abilities and intrinsic worth. It is characterized by their not believing in others who look like them, and not believing in themselves. It involves accepting limitations to one’s own full humanity...” |
Additional notes |
|
|
Examples | ||
Having false preconceived opinions or bias of non-Western folks |
|
|
Unfair treatment |
|
|
Overvaluing the preference of Western society (e.g., norms, people, status symbols, mate criteria, people’s opinions, media, pop culture, etc). |
|
|
Acts of exclusion disguised as jokes or compliments |
|
|
Nonexamples | ||
Examples that are closely related to MIR but are actually not |
|
|
Sources | ||
Chris Leong @ 2024-07-24T14:53 (+7)
And because microaggression and internalised racism (MIR) may come across as “culture war” loaded terms (despite them also being academic terms)
You seem to be assuming that just because something is an academic term that it isn't culture war loaded, despite the fact that some of these fields don't actually see objectivity as having any value.
(I actually upvoted this post because it is very well written and I appreciate you taking all of this time to define a key term).
Yi-Yang @ 2024-07-25T02:27 (+3)
Hmm you're right, thanks for catching this. I think I probably have some false prior that culture warm terms are more affiliated with internet memes? But yeah, makes sense that a term could be both.
SummaryBot @ 2024-07-24T13:32 (+1)
Executive summary: Microaggressions and internalized racism (MIR) are subtle forms of discrimination that can occur between Westerners and non-Westerners, with examples and non-examples provided to aid understanding.
Key points:
- Subtle acts of exclusion (SAE) is used as an alternative term for microaggressions to avoid loaded language.
- Microaggressions are subtle, exclusionary acts that are prejudicial or unjust, while internalized racism involves accepting negative messages about one's own group.
- Examples of MIR include assuming inferiority, unfair treatment, and overvaluing Western norms and people.
- Identifying MIR requires understanding intention and context, making it challenging to definitively label behaviors.
- Non-examples are provided to distinguish MIR from general meanness, genuine surprise, or practical choices.
- The author acknowledges the complexity of the topic and potential for misinterpretation or over-correction.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.