“Giving Name to My Pain,” Treating the Symptoms, and Naming the Disease: Critical Race Theory, Racial Microaggressions, and White Supremacy

• In Event: Challenging the Discourse of a Postracial Future: Exploring the Continued Significance of Race in U.S. Higher Education

Abstract

Race and racism still matter. Despite assertions to the contrary we have not yet arrived at a post-racial Shangri-La. Through the lens of Critical Race Theory, this chapter explores the various forms in which racial microaggressions, including both verbal and non-verbal behaviors towards, assumptions about, and lowered expectations for Students of Color, continue to dampen educational aspirations for marginalized communities. We examine the effects of social and academic microaggressions on Communities of Color within and beyond higher education. We discuss how the treatment of microaggressions, both institutionally and personally, continues to shape climate. Finally, we speak about the resiliency and/or resistance that enables marginalized communities to confront microaggressions and challenge white supremacy.

Authors

• Maria C. Ledesma, University of Utah

• Daniel Gilbert Solorzano, University of California - Los Angeles