Table 2 Racial Microaggressions based on taxonomy of Williams and colleagues [52]
From: Racial microaggressions and interculturality in remote Central Australian Aboriginal healthcare
Microaggression Theme | Discourse Example | Subtext Message |
|---|---|---|
Racial Categorization and Sameness | RAN2: You know what they’re like… | Collusion regarding Aboriginal people - ‘They are all the same.’ Stereotyping. |
Assumptions about Intelligence, Competence or Status | RAN4: Yeah, because it’s us telling them [AHPs] what to do all the time … I haven’t had any issues with the girls. | AHPs are not equal peers. Infantilising AHPs with language of ‘girls’. |
False Colour Blindness/ Invalidating Ethnic Identity | RAN4: I always treat everyone exactly the same; doesn’t matter what colour. | Implies equality. Equality is giving each one the same whilst equity is giving each one what they need. |
Criminality or Dangerousness | RAN3: And well I’ve been particularly told, ‘Don’t ever think that’…like, ‘don’t be friends’, that ‘you’re only there to provide a service.’ | Friendships with Aboriginal people are inappropriate and can be dangerous. |
Reverse Racism / Hostility | RAN1: Personally, I think that the white fella came in and started taking care of the people. And now that’s the expectation that we are, in some ways, subservient to be honest. Because a lot of clients will come to the room [and] sit down. They’re quite capable [of getting] a cup. ‘Give me a cup, a cup of Kapi’ (water). I think [they’re] definitely, they are on a higher level than us. To be honest. We are here to, in some ways, in some people’s minds, to serve. | HCW annoyed that she is seen as one who serves despite her professional ranking and whiteness. |
Pathologizing Minority Culture or Appearance | RAN1: … what’s the use of growling at them? It’s hopeless. It’s their choice! | Aboriginal patients make the wrong health choices due to their ethnicity and this is not amenable to growling (a euphemism for chastising). |
Second-Class Citizens / Ignored & Invisible | RMP1: She [AHP] did leave, and she felt unappreciated and unsupported, of course, because … she was constantly an outlier and never got anything. | Aboriginal people excluded or treated as less valued health professionals than other team members. |
* Unequal Power Relationships | RAN6: Most times it’s because they’re transient. They go without prioritizing that my medications are important. | The clinic has the resources, and the RAN is the gatekeeper. |