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In this qualitative study, the authors examined responses to racial microaggressions among community members in Montreal, Canada. To this end, using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA; Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) we conducted individual interviews with Black Canadian (n = 5) and Indigenous (n = 5) community members who pursued employment directly after secondary education. Seven themes emerged from the data (e.g., calling out perpetrators, empowering self and others, choosing to not engage, and using humor). Response strategies convey 4 primary features: (a) importance of social support in accessing resources and confronting racial microaggressions, (b) use of culturally grounded strategies as a form of resistance, (c) multifaceted use of humor to confront and to minimize racial microaggressions, and (d) intentional use of avoidance among women participants. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. This study, set in Canada, is the first to examine responses to racial microaggressions among community members who did not pursue postsecondary education and who were not affiliated with academia. Findings suggest working class community members used dynamic interpersonal responses, and underscore the role of social resources, cultural values and macrointervention in dismantling racial microaggressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study sought to examine South Asian Canadian undergraduate students' (N = 7) experiences with racial microaggressions at a research-intensive Canadian university. Participants ranged in age from 19-23 years and comprised various ethnic groups (e.g., Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, and Tamil). Data were collected during a semistructured focus group interview and were analyzed using the consensual qualitative research method (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Eight themes emerged. Novel themes included the following: perceived as fresh off the boat, excluded from social life, notion that being Brown is a liability, assumption of ties to terrorism, and compelled to be a cultural expert. Three additional themes were consistent with prior research on Asian Americans (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007): ascription of intelligence in stereotypical domains, invalidation of interethnic and racial differences, and treated as invisible. Implications for research and campus interventions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explored East and South Asian international students' (N = 12) experiences with racial microaggressions at one Canadian university. Data were collected through unstructured, individual interviews. Using a modified version of the consensual qualitative research method (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997), we identified six racial microaggressions themes: (a) excluded and avoided, (b) ridiculed for accent, (c) rendered invisible, (d) disregarded international values and needs, (e) ascription of intelligence, and (f) environmental microaggressions (structural barriers on campus). In addition, we used the same approach to identify themes pertaining to the ways in which students coped with racial microaggressions: (a) engaging with own racial and cultural groups, (b) withdrawing from academic spheres, and (c) seeking comfort in the surrounding multicultural milieu. Microaggressions and coping themes differed based on country of origin and language proficiency. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this qualitative study, the authors examined responses to racial microaggressions among undergraduate Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) (N = 36) at a large Canadian university. To this end, we employed the consensual qualitative research method (CQR; Hill et al., 2005; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997; Hill, 2012) among seven focus groups. Canadian undergraduate student participants, who self-identified as East Asian (n = 7), South Asian (n = 7), Arab (n = 9), Black (n = 7), and Indigenous (n = 6), expressed four strategic responses to racial microaggressions: using humor to mitigate tension , seeking community and solidarity for support, avoiding or withdrawing for protection and confronting perpetrators and challenging stereotypes. Findings demonstrated the dialectic between avoiding and confronting racial microaggressions, the nuanced role of using humor as a response strategy, and the importance of social support for BIPOC students. Findings are consistent with and extend current proposals of microinterventions. Social identity markers and power dynamics influenced students' response strategies. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]