Invisible racism and Microaggressions In recent years we have witnessed a lot of development in the theory of racism, and a lot of new adjectives to describe it: subtle, modern, micro, unconscious, every day, and invisible. Unfortunately, it does not mean that racism in its classical form does not exist, it does. However, there are studies that indicate that there are actions or non-actions, which many do not consider harmful, when in fact they are.
When we talk about invisible racism, we refer to the harmful behaviours which are considered normal and accepted by society. The line that draws between what we all know by racism and what invisible racism is, is a line of tolerance. Some examples of what invisible racism could be are people telling racist jokes, or avoiding contacts with a person coming from a different ethnic group by simply going to the other side of the street, or deciding not to date a person who is not white. These behaviours, although not considered harmful by many, lead to exclusion, anxiety, and influence people’s wellbeing. While there are different terms to describe these behaviours, we have decided to consistently use the term ‘invisible racism’, due to its clarity and simplicity. However, to understand better how invisible racism works, we can look at other very much related theories – like the theory of microaggressions developed by Columbia University psychologist Derald Wing Sue. To understand microaggressions, it might help to ask yourself the following questions: have you ever witnessed a situation or an act that you felt is violent but you could not explain why? Or have you ever been around someone who was telling you that an action was violent but you did not feel this way? If so, you have most probably witnessed a microaggression, something that you would not see if you did not know it existed. In the text below, we aim to define what microaggressions are, to see how harmful they are and explore them in depth.
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Constellations . A manual for working with young people on the topic of racism and invisible racism
