Abstract:

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how Black undergraduates demonstrate resilience in response to experiencing racial microaggressions. Given that racially hostile and unwelcoming campus environments persist and that some response strategies have been associated with mitigating the effects of microaggressions, there is a need to further explicate how Black students resiliently respond to microaggressive environments that assail their beingness. We used resilience theory as a conceptual framework to uncover positive adaptations that contributed to Black undergraduate students’ resilience. Focus group interviews were conducted with 17 Black undergraduates at a public research university in the Midwest. Findings indicated that students engaged in five positive adaptations that contributed to their resilience: (a) making sense of racial microaggressions, (b) increasing awareness of racism and racial microaggressions, (c) focusing on academics, (d) developing assertiveness, and (e) resisting cultural discontinuity. We offer recommendations for supporting Black undergraduates’ resilience and systematically confronting racism and racial microaggressions.

摘要：

这项定性研究的目的是探讨黑人本科生如何表现出应对种族微侵犯的弹性。鉴于种族敌对和不受欢迎的校园环境持续存在，并且一些应对策略与减轻微侵犯的影响有关，因此有必要进一步解释黑人学生如何灵活地应对侵犯其存在的微侵犯环境。我们使用复原力理论作为概念框架来揭示有助于黑人本科生复原力的积极适应。对中西部一所公立研究型大学的 17 名黑人本科生进行了焦点小组访谈。调查结果表明，学生进行了五种积极的适应，这有助于他们的适应力：（a）理解种族微侵犯，（b）提高对种族主义和种族微侵犯的认识，（c）专注于学术，（d）培养自信，以及（ e) 抵制文化的不连续性。我们提供支持黑人本科生的适应能力并系统地对抗种族主义和种族微侵略的建议。