Sociology of Language, Human Language, and Microaggressions

A focus on language and terms used as a potential trigger? Using alternative terms?

In 1946, George Orwell wrote, “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” These words convey a fundamental truth about the relationship between what we say, the perceptions we hold, and the imagery we evoke through our linguistic choices. While it is widely understood that some words or phrases intentionally hurt or provoke, many others have less obvious but insidious and corrupting effects.

Labels such as ‘struggling youngsters’, ‘cleaning up a municipality’, ‘at-risk youth’, ‘high-crime neighbourhoods’, or any word combination including the words low, deficit, and lacking to describe communities or groups impacted by racism, disinvestment, socio-economic exclusion, and physical destruction can stigmatise and replicate a negative image of a certain marginalized group or individuals belonging to that group.

Furthermore, the labels we attach to communities and individuals belonging to these communities reduce them to their own challenges only, while concealing the systemic forces that cause those challenges and the systemic solutions needed to combat them.[1]

Language can stigmatise youth and certain communities, including minority groups, migrants, and Muslims.

Humanising Language

For years, organisations and institutions like the Associated Press have advocated for using more ‘humanising language’ that acknowledges people’s circumstances without defining them in the same way. For example, the Associated Press removed the term “illegal migrants” from its Stylebook in 2013, stating that someone can enter a country irregularly, but no individual is illegal, that illegality can only refer to action, and that every person has the right to apply for asylum in another country.[2]

Especially for our colleagues in education, civil society, and youth work, given that they are in a position of trust for the youth and vulnerable and/or minority groups they work with, and their position as role models of inclusivity for people working in other sectors, it is important to be vigilant of the language we use since inconsiderate use of language can lead to: ‘othering’, presenting an incomplete picture of someone or a group, presenting a selected negative picture of someone or a group and/or reinforcing and replicating existing stereotypes and prejudices. Naturally, this can also cause minority groups and individuals to feel discriminated against, marginalised, and misunderstood, especially those coming from the wider society and those who need to protect, support, and include these groups of people.

Additionally, numerous studies (Venhaus, 2010; Vidino, 2010; Abbas & Siddique, 2012; Geelgoed, 2012) analysing the root causes of radicalisation have found ample evidence that factors such as perceptions of injustice, discrimination, exclusion, and stigmatisation can indeed play a crucial role (Constructive analysis on the attitudes, policies and programmes that relate to “radicalisation”, pp. 20-21).

For all these reasons, it is important to learn, practise, and avoid such terminology and labels in our work and to be more conscious of the specific language we choose and explore how language can be transformed into a tool for positive social action.

For example, we might use the word ‘New European Citizens’ instead of migrants or immigrants and refer to ‘inclusion’ instead of ‘integration’ when discussing the social involvement of migrants and mutual exchange with locals into a host society. These nuances and precision are context-specific and subject to change and should be re-examined if we want to speak and use humane and inclusive language.

Microaggressions

”Microaggressions are insults that are rooted in stereotype and they are directed at someone because of their membership within a marginalised group.” – Tiffany Alvoid

In this sense, “Micro” does not relate to the “smallness” or triviality of the insult, but  rather its person-to-person nature. Microaggressions can be directed at someone because of their membership to a specific community or group, including age, gender, sexuality, race or ethnicity, religion, or physical or mental disability.

Forms and Types of Microaggressions

There are different forms and types of microaggressions.

Microaggressions can take several forms, including verbal, behavioural and environmental aggressions.‘A verbal microaggression’ is a hurtful or stigmatizing comment or question  directed at a particular group of marginalized people. For example, saying “You are so smart for a woman” would be a verbal microaggression.[3]

‘A behavioural microaggression’ occurs when someone behaves to a certain group of people in a hurtful or discriminatory way. An example of a behavioural microaggression would be when a bartender ignores a transgender person serves a cisgender person (someone whose biological sex matches their gender identity) first.[4]

‘An environmental microaggression’ is the occurrence of subtle discrimination within society. An example of environmental microaggression would be a college campus with buildings named only for white people.[5]

Similarly, there are different types of microaggressions.

Microinsults are communications that convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person’s belonging to a particular minority social group or community. Microinsults are often unconsciously. Themes of microinsults include ‘ascription of intelligence’ (Assigning a degree of intelligence to a person based on their race, gender, ethnicity, and religion), ‘Second-class citizen’ (being treated as a lesser person or group), ‘Pathologizing Cultural Values/Communication Styles’ (Assuming that the values and communication styles of people of minority background are abnormal), and ‘Assumption of Criminal Status’ (Presumed to be a criminal, dangerous, or deviant based on race, ethnicity, religion, etcetera).[6]

Microassaults are explicit derogations characterized primarily by a violent verbal, nonverbal, or environmental attack meant to hurt the targeted victim through name-calling, avoidant behaviour, or purposeful discriminatory actions. Microassaults are often conscious. [7]

Microinvalidations are communications that exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person belonging to a particular group. Microinvalidations are often unconscious. Themes of microinvalidations might include Alien in Own Land (Belief that visible racial/ethnic minority citizens are foreigners), Colour-Blindness (Denial or pretence that a White person does not see colour as race), Myth of Meritocracy (Statements that assert that race plays a minor role in life success), and Denial of Individual Racism (Denial of personal racism or one’s role in its perpetuation).[8]

Within the CommUnity Project, we were barely able to scratch the surface of the depths and comprehend the broadness of microaggressions, not only as a topic but also as a social reality in a global society. During training sessions, project activities, and many discussions, we were startled every day by the depth, reach, and apparent rigidity that we, our community, and the population around us replicated and committed different types of microaggressions, even with the best of intentions. The CommUnity Project Consortium is committed and will continue to educate ourselves and our colleagues nationally and internationally to become more aware of microaggressions and their impact and replace them with microaffirmations, including microrecognition, microvalidations, microtransformations, and microprotections.[9 

Interested in microaggressions and their negative impact on physical and mental health, as well as social cohesion, and society at large? Check out these websites 👇 

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/microagressions#definition

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/currents/17387731.0001.106?view=text;rgn=main

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Categories-of-and-Relationships-among-Racial-Microaggressions-Sue-2010-p-29_fig1_325455294

 

Or, check out the following books and articles! 👇 

D.W. Sue (2010). Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. Wiley. pp. xvi. 

D.W. Sue & D. Sue (Eds.), Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

David E (2013). Internalized Oppression: The Psychology of Marginalized Groups. Springer Publishing Company. p. 5. 

Owen J, Tao KW, Imel ZE, Wampold BE, Rodolfa E (2014). “Addressing racial and ethnic microaggressions in therapy”. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 45 (4): 283–290. 

“Harvard Study Suggests Microaggressions Might Make People Die Sooner”. National Review. 2015-01-13.

Haidt J (2015). “Where microaggressions really come from: A sociological account”. Righteous Mind

[1] https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/07/13/recognizing-that-words-have-the-power-to-harm-we-commit-to-using-more-just-language-to-describe-places/)

[2] https://blog.ap.org/announcements/illegal-immigrant-no-more 

[3] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/microagressions#types

[4] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/microagressions#types

[5] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/microagressions#types

[6] Student-athletes’ experiences with racial microaggressions in sport: A Foucauldian discourse analysis

[7] Student-athletes’ experiences with racial microaggressions in sport: A Foucauldian discourse analysis

[8] Student-athletes’ experiences with racial microaggressions in sport: A Foucauldian discourse analysis

[9] https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/currents/17387731.0001.106?view=text;rgn=main