Documenting Weblog expressions of racial microaggressions that target American Indians.

Abstract

The authors obtained and analyzed data from 10 weblogs (989 pages of raw data), in which online forum contributors expressed varying views on the discontinuation of a university's racialized mascot (i.e., Chief Illiniwek). First, the authors used a modified consensual qualitative research approach (C. E. Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997) to identify common themes among the data. Next, they used the Sue, Capodilupo, et al. (2007) racial microaggressions model to situate the themes from the current investigation within a relevant, parsimonious theoretical framework. The data fit well within the 3 broad categories of racial microaggressions identified previously in the literature (i.e., microinsults, microassaults, and microinvalidations). Extending the previous racial microaggressions model, 7 themes emerged from the data that comprised microaggressions targeting American Indians: (a) advocating sociopolitical dominance, (b) alleging oversensitivity, (c) waging stereotype attacks, (d) denying racism, (e) employing the logics of elimination and replacement, (f) expressing adoration, and (g) conveying grief. Some themes are consistent with previous microaggressions research, whereas others are specific to the current investigation. Implications for future research and campus interventions are discussed.

Racial microaggressions and perceptions of Internet memes

“…As noted by Wong et al (2013), more experimental studies are needed in order to better understand the factors that may contribute to how People of Color (and other individuals holding positions lower in power; Sue et al, 2007) construe possible transgressions in their environment. By presenting our participants with one type of environmental microaggression, racial themed Internet memes (Clark et al, 2011;Sue et al, 2007;Tynes & Markoe, 2010;Tynes et al, 2013), we provide the first evidence that previous experiences with racial microaggressions may lead to an increased sensitivity to future transgressions in their environments, including online contexts.…”

“…In an analysis of 10 weblogs (e.g., social network sites, news blogs, personal blogs, etc. ), Clark and his colleagues identified comments related to a racialized Native Indian mascot as being racial microaggressions (i.e., microinsults, microassults, and microinvalidations; Sue et al, 2007) that targeted Native Indians (Clark, Spanierman, Reed, Soble, & Cabana, 2011; see also Steinfeldt et al, 2010). Further, individuals may be exposed to racialized images such as memes on social networking sites and websites (Tynes & Markoe, 2010), which is another way racial discrimination may be subtly manifested online (Dyer-Barr, 2010 Tynes et al, 2013).…”

“…Although previous research has examined the incidence and consequences of online racial discrimination, the majority of studies have used either qualitative observational designs to examine the extent to which users post discriminatory content in weblogs or comments (e.g., August & Liu, 2015;Clark et al, 2011;Kettrey & Laster, 2014) or correlational designs to examine the relationship(s) between experiencing discrimination online and health-related outcomes (e.g., Lee-Wong et al, 2015;Tynes et al, 2008;Tynes et al, 2012;Umana-Taylor et al, 2015). Despite the existence of racially discriminatory material online (Daniels, 2012), to date few studies have directly examined how Whites and People of Color interpret and respond to such discrimination.…”

“…It is important to note that the expression of racial microaggressions is not limited to face-to-face interactions but can occur through environmental cues, such as People of Color being negatively portrayed in the media or underrepresented in positions of power within society (Sue et al, 2007). Thus racial themed Internet memes, such as stereotypical images posted on Facebook, can be categorized as one form of environmental racial microaggressions (Clark, Spanierman, Reed, Soble, & Cabana, 2011;Tynes, Rose, & Markoe, 2013). As an illustration, one racial themed Internet meme that went viral in 2010 (see Gomstyn, 2010) depicted an image of a Black doll priced at nearly half the cost as a comparable White doll.…”

“…For example, People of Color experience racial microaggressions (i.e., subtle slights or 'put downs') in their face-to-face interactions (Nadal, 2011) and in online contexts (Clark et al, 2011). This study investigates whether experiencing subtle racial discrimination offline can influence perceptions of online content, specifically racial themed Internet memes.…”