Stories of Microaggressions and Microaffirmation: A Framework for Understanding Campus Racial Climate

Abstract

Stories of Microaggressions and Microaffirmations CRT analyses of the ways race operates within institutions and the ways it shapes perceptions of campus climate. This study used narrative interviews, a method that encourages participants to retell stories about important events, the social context in which they occurred, and the feelings associated with them (Muylaert, Sarubbi, Gallo, Neto, & Reis, 2014). To solicit a story about a MAG, we asked students to describe an experience in which they felt misunderstood, disrespected, insulted, or excluded in relation to their social identity. To solicit a story about a MAF, we asked students to describe an experience in which they felt affirmed, respected, strengthened, protected, or included in relation to their social identity. Participants were also asked how these stories informed their understanding of the racial dimensions of their university’s campus climate. Data collection was completed in 2016–2017 at a predominantly White university on the East Coast. Participants were recruited through contact with organizations and programs on campus geared toward racially minoritized students. Snowball sampling, recruiting through personal networks of the participants as well as students working on the project, was also utilized. Participants included twenty-seven undergraduate and twenty graduate students from racially minoritized groups. The research team consisted of a Latinx faculty member, four female graduate students (three African American, one Asian/Black), and three African American undergraduate students.