Digital Resistance: How Online Communication Facilitates Responses to Racial Microaggressions
Abstract
Recent research finds negative impacts of racial microaggressions, defined as racial slights, on a variety of outcomes. Targets of racial microaggressions often report feeling pressured to remain silent in the face of these subtle interactions, which can be coded as aracial by perpetrators or bystanders. This article explores the ways Internet-based communication can change this dynamic and structure distinct responses to racial microaggressions. Drawing on in-depth interviews with undergraduate students of Color, I find that in some online spaces, students of Color have access to unique technology-based tools that increase their perceived and actual capacity to respond critically to racial microaggressions. I discuss implications for understanding online racial discourse and resistance on college campuses and beyond.
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Biographies
Rob Eschmann is an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Social Work, a faculty affiliate in the Department of Sociology, and a faculty affiliate in the African American Studies Program. His work explores the changing nature of racism and resistance in the digital age, from more explicit presentations of racist ideologies to innovative forms of resistance.
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Article first published online: June 25, 2020
Issue published: April 2021
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