Sometimes the biggest hurts don't come from the biggest attacks. Subconscious racial behavior is not a new concept, racial prejudices have affected people for centuries. Instances of subtle racist interactions can be described as racial microaggressions. These are “everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slurs, insults, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target people based solely on their membership in marginalized groups” (Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D. ).. People who regularly utter these insults often have no basis in their aggression and base their attacks solely on the victim's race rather than personal character. The targets of these assaults are typically African-American, yet other ethnic groups receive similar amounts of bigotry, with equally harmful stereotypical projections, and unlike overt racism that incites violence in almost every case, racial microaggressions cause greater psychological harm. Microaggressions can be caused by a person's prior assumptions based on racial stereotypes, whether negative or positive. So what are the consequences of racial microaggressions? Racial microaggressions cause mental trauma and psychological distress that can cause them to have a mental block. Given how common these attacks are, they can often cause health problems for victims. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Racial microaggressions are prevalent during students' interactions on campuses across the country with peers and professors. You might believe that someone with a lot of authority and experience like a professor would be more cautious and wiser when it comes to racial assumptions, but that's not always the case. In research conducted by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, several professors and specialists documented students' accounts of their professors using race as the basis of jokes. One student reported an incident where she couldn't understand the concepts being taught and asked the professor to slow down, in response the professor made a nasty joke to the entire class by saying "Hey everyone, I guess I need to slow down for the girl Chinese" '. In this case, the professor felt the class would feel comfortable using stereotypes to jokingly respond to a student's request. Many cases of these incidents are caused by highly qualified authorities such as professors, meaning that one cannot be sure that the people they interact with are prejudiced. Students also receive direct microaggressions from peers, such as students with Arab heritage being discriminated against because they do not match the stereotypical skin color of their race. With these examples and stories of how often students receive subtle racist comments, it is clear that there are not many safe spaces for students to avoid discrimination, as even trained professionals can make these comments unconsciously. Because of how common these interactions are, students will often experience mental blocks that impact their health and academic success. School can already be stressful enough for many hard-working students, and adding racial aggression to the mix can have an even stronger effect on the student. In a survey conducted by researchers at Columbia University, it was found that racism is linked to mental health conditions such asanger and depression and can cause unhealthy behaviors such as overeating. There is clearly a correlation between receiving racial microaggressions and having health problems. Experiencing any type of racism is quite traumatic, however microaggressions are especially harmful because they usually come from colleagues who ignore the impact of their actions. That said, these instances of microaggressions have a lasting effect on a person, because they are so subtle and frequent throughout the school day, that they continually damage the student's mental state. Such discrimination can cause “fear, resentment, anxiety, helplessness, isolation, stress and exhaustion.” These symptoms can leave the victim unmotivated to accomplish anything, causing an inevitable cycle of loneliness and feeling powerless to improve their situation. Students and professors may practice and perceive racial microaggressions in different ways. When it comes to professors, not all of their microaggressions are explicit—their actions often show bias toward certain races. For example, one African American student felt he was not being called out when he raised his hand and refrained from trying again. This situation shows how professors practice microaggressions in different ways than students. They can demean students of color by denying them the opportunity to participate in classroom discussions and the ability to learn by investigating things they are unsure about. This not only hinders the student academically, but also creates an unsafe learning environment that punishes growth and curiosity. Professors may also ignore the fact that they are racist towards students. In one case, a student said they had recently visited South Asia and the professor asked them if they had ridden an elephant simply because the student was from that area. While this observation isn't entirely offensive, it shows that some professors don't know exactly when they're crossing certain lines. This is not exactly a comment a professor should make in front of a class, no matter how mild they deem it, a student will always feel some level of discomfort with these types of remarks. On the other hand, students who participate in microaggressions often make their peers feel like they don't belong, such as White students who doubt their African American peers when they express intellectual observations during class discussions. This is a much more assertive approach to microaggressions. While professors make more general statements about a person's race, students often isolate victims by displaying rude behavior and comments toward that person. As in this example, the African American student was judged by the white students for his display of intelligence. If the student demonstrated otherwise, however, he or she might not receive any attention from white students because it would be considered “typical” behavior for a student of color. So the general theme here is that students tend to be more specific about their racial attitudes than professors, perhaps because they interact with their peers more frequently. There are several ways for both the perpetrator and the victim to remedy the problem of racial microaggressions. While a victim should focus on processing these attacks and learning to help themselves, there are ways they can prevent these incidents from happening again. Instead of staying silent about their hardships, an individual can act assertively. This may include calmly addressing the offender and explaining how they did it..