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The microaggressions against the BIPOC community you might not even realize you're doing

January 02, 2021

woman's grayscale photo

Photo by Juan Manuel Merino on Unsplash

Indy100-Conversations

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Breanna Robinson

As a BIPOC—specifically a Black woman—it can sometimes be incredibly uncomfortable to be in spaces that are majority white due to microaggressions. A microaggression is "a subtle, often unintentional, form of prejudice."

What is most interesting about this definition is this keyword: unintentional. This indicates that these views of marginalized groups are sometimes done without awareness that it's distasteful.

For decades, many Black people have dealt with microaggressions throughout their lives. From experiences in school to life in the workplace and day to day life, these actions eventually could harm Black people emotionally and mentally as they view themselves in a less than favorable light.

Understanding this, check out some examples below that shed light on some of the microaggressions that occur or are used daily and why they are offensive.

"Are you (insert person's name)? You look so familiar"

This is a classic case of mistaken identity or playing into the 'fact' that every BIPOC, especially Black people, look the same. A few years back, my friend invited me to accompany him to an event in New York City. One of my friend's colleagues at the event asked if I was the girl in many of his photos on Instagram. That wasn't the case. It was our mutual friend. According to an article in Psychology Today, a study was conducted with 17 white participants who viewed Black and white faces on a monitor. What was discovered was that the visual cortex (which specializes in the processing of faces) indicated that the participants were more inclined to recognize differences in their own races only, which is understandable. Still, if not careful, people can be wrongly accused of things that they didn't do.

"Hey, do you mind if I touch your hair? I've never felt curls like this"

The whole topic of Black hair has always been met with controversy. Growing up, you either had hair relaxers, cornrows, or wore your natural hair out, yet there would sometimes be instances of people mimicking or mocking the hairstyles (celebrities sporting cornrows then renaming them "boxer braids), and now laws to prevent Black people from being discriminated against because of their hairstyles in the workplace. There has always been a long and contentious journey regarding our hair.

On top of that, Black people- especially Black women and girls- have dealt with some commentary about it that can be off-putting. Regardless if you're at school, at the mall, or out to dinner with friends, asking a Black person if you could touch or feel their hair makes me believe that Black people couldn't possibly have their own hair, which is baffling.

Moreover, it is not uncommon for non-Black POC and white people to ask this question because of the deep-rooted perception that Black hair is under a wig or in weave most of the time.

If a Black person tells you that it's their real hair, please do not feel comfortable to go ahead and touch it. It's not your hair, and it isn't very respectful to be treated like a pet.

Hopefully, this provides some insight into why appropriating Black hair is very infuriating. If someone on the fashion runway can be praised for sporting an afro or dreads but is not a Black person, why can't we be left alone to enjoy the state of our hair as well?

READ: What it means to be Black in the fashion industry

What it means to be Black in the fashion industryconversations.indy100.com

Being Black is my identity, not a trend.

"You sound like a Caucasian person"

First of all, anyone who would ask me this growing up was met by a question of my own: "what is that supposed to mean exactly?"

Unfortunately, there is this common misconception that Black people are limited to African American Vernacular English (AAVE), or merely Ebonics. Because of the stereotype portrayed in this way of speech among Black people, people believe that if a Black person speaks without much slang, they are trying to sound "white". This stereotype, in my opinion, also alludes to the idea that Black people aren't educated. Speaking clear has nothing to do with race. Someone's vocabulary shouldn't be an indication of their level of intelligence at all.

Wow, you're good looking for a Black person"

This brings me back to my high school days, and goodness, was this infuriating to hear. Because of the Eurocentric standards of what is deemed beauty in society, the common view of more delicate features and fair skin tends to be a widespread perception. I've even had friends recount their stories of nights at the club when someone would walk up to them and say, "I normally don't date Black people, but you look good. I want to get to know you."

In no way is this complimentary. It implies that some people are not generally attracted to a particular race, but they are the exception. This casual racism can make Black people feel that they are insignificant, lowering their perception of self.

We really should have more conversations to learn what is unacceptable, further preventing these experiences from persisting.

Have you got something to say about this subject? Submit a post here and start the conversation.

Can tech help female entrepreneurs break the bias?

Women founders continue to come up against common challenges and biases

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Written by Kelly Devine, Division President UK & Ireland, Mastercard

Starting a business may have historically been perceived as a man’s game, but this couldn’t be further from reality. Research shows women are actually more likely than men to actively choose to start their own business – often motivated by the desire to be their own boss or to have a better work-life balance and spend more time with their family.

The recently published Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurship 2021 found that in the category of 'Aspiration Driven Entrepreneurship’ – capturing those who actively choose to start their own business – women in the UK surpass men: 60% vs 56%. And Mastercard research from February 2022 found 10% of female business owners started their business in the past two years compared to 6% of men – meaning women were 67% more likely to have started a business during the pandemic.

Yet, there are common challenges that women founders continue to come up against - not least the gender imbalance in the household and long-held biases which are still prevalent.

In the UK, women are almost three times more likely to be balancing care and home commitments than men, and this was exacerbated during the pandemic as the additional barriers of school closures and lockdowns meant that the care time of dependents rose significantly on a day-to-day level for women. In addition, women were less likely to have access to a home office, greatly impacting the work they were able to accomplish when working from home was the only option.

It's also widely known that female business owners are still more likely to struggle to access funding for their business ideas. According to Dealroom, all-women founding teams received just 1.4% of the €23.7bn invested into UK start-ups in 2021, while all-male leadership teams have taken almost 90% of the available capital.

Without financial support, and when juggling significant time pressures both at home and at work, how can women grow their companies and #BreaktheBias (as this year’s International Women’s Day termed it)? What tools or support can save them time and money, and give them the headspace they need to focus on building their business?

With female owned businesses collectively estimating revenue growth of £120 billion over the next five years, solving this problem is bigger than supporting women – it’s about supporting the national economy.

Using tech to level the playing field

There are clearly societal issues at play that need to be resolved. But when we look at the rise in technology businesses during the pandemic, we can plainly see an alternative source of support critical for business growth: digital tools.

A third of female business owners say new technologies will be crucial to the success of their business in the future and one in five say it is the most important thing for business growth.

With new technology comes new ways to pay, create, and work. And yet there are barriers that prevent business owners accessing this technology. Women are significantly more likely to say they want to use more digital tools but don’t know what is best for their business and also more concerned about the security of digital tools.

When technology is adopted by businesses – whether using online accounting solutions or messenger services for communicating with staff – it saves them time, allows them to maintain and grow their customer base, and ultimately increases cost savings and profit.

By drastically improving the training and support that is available to women-owned business to access and utilise technology we will allow these businesses to grow and succeed. And we know there is demand for it.

Research done by the IFC and Dalberg shows that female entrepreneurs are more likely to invest time and money in business development. This includes product development, customer base expansion, and digital tools and training and there are plenty of services available offering this type of support – many of them for free.

One such programme is Strive UK – an initiative of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth – which aims to reach 650,000 micro and small business owners across the UK and empower them with the tools they need to thrive in the digital economy through free guidance, helpful tools and one-to-one mentoring.

Working together with small business experts – Enterprise Nation, Be the Business and Digital Boost – we hope to ensure hundreds of thousands of UK female business owners have the tools they need to succeed and reach their ambitious goals. Because this ambition remains strong in the UK, with female business owners largely optimistic about the future despite the multitude of challenges they are facing. Four in ten say they will grow their business in the next five years – compared to only a third of male business owners – and they’re also 35% less likely than men to say they plan to downsize or close the business.

But if we do not empower female entrepreneurs to access the tools and technology they need to grow, there is a risk this optimism could be misplaced. Support programmes that provide business owners with guidance and mentorship can help ensure this isn’t the case, allowing female entrepreneurs to not only survive but thrive in the months and years ahead.