Validating the Impacts of Racism and Microaggressions on BIPOC Youth: The Counselor’s Role

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 1:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Cultural Identity, Race, and Resilience in Counseling

Abstract

Young people of color are directly impacted by racist and discriminatory practices in a multitude of ways. Such experiences are particularly detrimental when they take place within educational settings consumed with deliberately avoiding the use of charged words, like “equity”, “diversity” and “inclusion”. Such intentional blindness breeds a lack of cultural awareness, racist rhetoric, and low expectations for minoritized youth. This paper presents a study examining the experiences of BIPOC adolescents with racism, discrimination, and microaggressions during their time in high school, while shedding light on how racist and discriminatory practices in educational spaces negatively impact youth. The authors discuss tangible approaches aimed at student re-attribution toward stereotype-breaking and adaptive motivational self-perceptions that reinstates student agency and their future narratives.

Authors

• Qiana Spellman, St. John's University

• Kelly Kent, Antioch University - Los Angeles