“And Still We Rise…”: Microaggressions and Intersectionality in the Study Abroad Experiences of Black Women

Abstract

Racial microaggressions are racial slights and subtle insults aimed at people of color. Such affronts, though often unintentional, have been documented to come at great psychic, emotional, and physical cost to the targeted individuals. The term microaggression is also applied to women or other groups in society who experience oppression. These insults have been documented in the context of education for years. Though it has been established that students of color often face racial microaggressions on their home campuses, this phenomenon has not been explored in the context of study abroad. How this experience is further complicated by the intersection of gender, race, and other aspects of social identities was the premise of the following study that utilized the Black feminist construct of intersectionality to explore the experiences of 19 African American women who studied abroad through community college programs in three regions: the Mediterranean, West Africa and the British Isles. Findings include experiences of microaggressions by U.S. peers, in-country hosts and in several instances, situations of sexual harassment. Implications and recommendations for study abroad practitioners include discussion of the diversity of community college students, the extension of campus climate to the study abroad program, and the urgent need for critically reflexive staff and faculty equipped to respond effectively to microaggressions.

Race and Participation in International Experiential Learning: Case-Based Exemplar of a Habitat-University Partnership in El Salvador

“…Building on this, we believe that the 'catharsis' Crabtree (2013) writes about that can occur during on-site reflection and the sharing of stories, resonates closely with our own study results where 'narrative reflection' helped to make more visible themes like fluid positionality and personal racialization encounters by participants (Willis, 2015;Drolet, 2013). In this sense, we see the narratives shared by the participants, most notable with the PoC who shared how they see complex shifts in their identities as they move north to south in IEL, as having close alignment with Shah's (2018) CRT notions of 'multiple consciousness' and 'intersecting identities' and with Curry-Stevens' (2007) 'pluralized sites of privilege'.…”

“…Emphasizing the role of 'counter-stories' and 'narrative reflection' in such experiential learning, might in turn, enable and empower PoC to see the value of their distinct social locations (Willis, 2015). This could mean both PoC participants from the North, as well as community members from the South when feasible.…”

African Americans in World Language Study: The Forged Path and Future Directions

“…White female classmates also received catcalls and curbside flirtations; however, the come-ons directed at Misheila differed considerably in tone, persistence, and level of aggressiveness. Similar stories of distinctly racist and sexist abuse young black women endured on the streets of both Spain and Italy were told by Willis' (2015), and my own personal experiences as a recent college graduate working in Segovia during the 1998-99 period of Talburt and Stewart's study were identical to Misheila's. However, she was met with skepticism when she told her white Spanish instructor and American classmates that she felt unsafe and hardly went out, and she lamented that no one in the program prepared her to encounter such problems.…”

The Value and Impact of a Brief Study Abroad Experience on Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Counseling Students’ Learning

“…This is framed by a participant stating, "We noticed when walking in people starred at us…I know the "look" …we watched how the waitress sat another couple who came in after us…". Several researchers have noted similar study abroad experiences of their Black students (Goldoni, 2017;Willis, 2015).…”