Guyanese Online

Micro-aggression and the Caribbean Diaspora: A Perspective

By Lear Matthews

There is a dimension of the immigrant experience that has not received much attention.  Micro-aggression is a concept used by psychologists to describe a phenomenon in multi ethnic societies such as the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia. According to Derald Wing Sue and colleagues, micro aggressions can be defined as, “brief and common place daily verbal, behavioral and environmental indignities, intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative slights and insults to the target person or group”.

Micro-aggression may be an expression of contempt, fear, power, self-defense, implicit bias or discrimination. It may also signify a lack of knowledge of a particular group of people. The author will examine this phenomenon as it relates to the English speaking Caribbean Diaspora, with implications for the wider immigrant community. Personal narratives are used to highlight examples and consequences of micro-aggression. An in-depth, empirical-based study on the topic is forthcoming.   Continue reading →