Racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color. Perpetrators of microaggressions are often unaware that they engage in such communications when they interact with racial/ethnic minorities. A taxonomy of racial microaggressions in everyday life was created through a review of the social psychological literature on aversive racism, from formulations regarding the manifestation and impact of everyday racism, and from reading numerous personal narratives of counselors (both White and those of color) on their racial/cultural awakening. Microaggressions seem to appear in three forms: microassault, microinsult, and microinvalidation. Almost all interracial encounters are prone to microaggressions; this article uses the White counselor--client of color counseling dyad to illustrate how they impair the development of a therapeutic alliance. Suggestions regarding education and training and research in the helping professions are discussed.

Racial microaggressions cause considerable psychological distress among Black Americans and are manifested in nearly all interracial encounters. They set in motion energy-depleting attempts to determine whether incidents were racially motivated. Reactions can be classified into 4 major themes: healthy paranoia, sanity check, empowering and validating self, and rescuing offenders. Microaggressions result in high degrees of stress for Blacks because of denigrating messages: "You do not belong," "You are abnormal," "You are intellectually inferior," "You cannot be trusted," and "You are all the same." Feelings of powerlessness, invisibility, forced compliance and loss of integrity, and pressure to represent one's group are some of the consequences.

A qualitative study supports the observation that difficult dialogues on race and racism are often triggered by racial microaggressions that make their appearance in classroom encounters or educational activities and materials. Difficult dialogues are filled with strong powerful emotions that may prove problematic to both students and teachers. When poorly handled by teachers, difficult dialogues can assail the personal integrity of students of color while reinforcing biased worldviews of White students. The success or failure of facilitating difficult dialogues on race is intimately linked to the characteristics and actions of instructors and their ability to recognize racial microaggressions. Implications regarding specific education and training recommendations are presented.

Racial microaggression themes were identified using a focus-group analysis of self-identified Black participants. Six categories of demeaning and invalidating messages reflected beliefs of White supremacy that were unintentionally conveyed by perpetrators. Implications for counselors and the counseling process are discussed.

To assist educators in detecting the occurrence, understanding the dynamics, and effectively facilitating a difficult dialogue on race, we conducted a qualitative study to systematically examine the perceptions, interpretations, and reactions of 14 White trainees in counseling psychology graduate classes. In our focus groups, we identified 3 major domains: (a) global perspectives associated with race and racial dialogue, (b) specific reactions to racial disclosures, and (c) classroom strategies or conditions that proved helpful and unhelpful in facilitating dialogues. Participants appeared to have difficulty understanding how and why difficult dialogues on race occur. In addition, preexisting attitudes/beliefs/feelings seemed to serve as major barriers to discussing race honestly and openly. They reported powerful feelings of anxiety, helplessness, and fear of being misunderstood that evoked defensive maneuvers to avoid race topics. Implications for education and training are discussed.