Americans have largely come to agree that overt acts of racism and discrimination are unacceptable, but this hasn’t necessarily changed the types of inequality that are embedded in the way U.S. systems and institutions—including colleges and universities—function. In addition, unconscious biases, which show up in less direct though no less frequent ways, continue to exist through microaggressions. This term, coined by Chester M. Pierce in 1970, was defined by Derald Wing Sue as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color.”

Students have shared multiple examples of microaggressions they’ve experienced on IC’s campus. For instance, during class discussions, students might be asked to speak on behalf of their race or teach the class during a "multicultural" section. In one class, a Japanese American filmmaker was invited to speak about her work in film. At the end of the question-and-answer portion of the discussion, a student in the class said, “Your English is really good.” During a class discussion on higher education, a student stated that it is not fair that nonwhites have an easier time getting into Ithaca College.

What makes all of these examples microaggressions is that each taps into a larger system of inequality. In the first example, asking a student to “teach” a class is an undue burden. It also assumes that the student, by virtue of being a member of a marginalized community, knows more than anyone else in the class about a particular subject. In the second example, the meta-narrative is that the student is surprised that someone of Asian decent would speak English well. It reinforces the idea that Asian Americans do not “fit” in the U.S. In the last example, the speaker draws on stereotypes that students of color are not as intelligent or academically qualified as their white counterparts and thus must have received preferential treatment in the admissions process.

Research on microaggressions finds that they can affect the physical and mental wellbeing of those on the receiving end. Being constantly reminded that you do not belong affects work performance, self-esteem, and productivity.

Students of color are apt to experience several microaggressive events per day. Sue, a Columbia University psychology professor who expanded the use of the term microaggression—and spoke at IC this March—describes the cumulative effect of microaggressions as “death by a thousand cuts.”

Many of the students of color who joined campus demonstrations across the country last fall pointed to microaggressions occurring inside and outside the classroom as motivating factors for their participation. Gonzalez notes that people who haven’t had these experiences themselves are often dismissive of the term and suggest that students need to grow thicker skin or toughen up. “That perception is mind-boggling to me because it’s sort of the exact opposite,” says Gonzalez. “You don’t get any tougher than continually being reminded, ‘You don’t belong here.’ Yet they’re still able to stay here, thrive, and graduate. You need a much tougher skin to do that.”