TY - JOUR
T1 - Migrant Black African Youths’ Experiences of Racial Microaggressions in the Workplace
AU - Kalemba, Joshua
PY - 2022/10/7
Y1 - 2022/10/7
N2 - This article offers an exploration of migrant Black African youths’ (MBAYs’) experiences of racial microaggressions in Australian, predominantly White, workplaces. Data for this article are drawn from qualitative interviews conducted with 20 MBAYs working in Newcastle, a traditionally White working-class city. Drawing on a theoretical framework that approaches racial microaggressions through a Critical Race Theory lens, the article centres MBAYs’ experiences of racial microaggressions in the workplace as a site of legitimate experiential knowledge. The findings of this article underscore how MBAYs perceive questions like ‘Where are you from?’ posed by their White colleagues and clients as a racial microaggression. They showcase how MBAY experience racial microaggressions in the workplace as an invisible, insidious and infantilizing process. Finally, the findings highlight how some MBAYs respond to racial microaggressions by accepting or contesting them in the workplace. The article concludes by reflecting on how these microlevel, subtle forms of racism contribute towards institutionalizing and sustaining White supremacy.
AB - This article offers an exploration of migrant Black African youths’ (MBAYs’) experiences of racial microaggressions in Australian, predominantly White, workplaces. Data for this article are drawn from qualitative interviews conducted with 20 MBAYs working in Newcastle, a traditionally White working-class city. Drawing on a theoretical framework that approaches racial microaggressions through a Critical Race Theory lens, the article centres MBAYs’ experiences of racial microaggressions in the workplace as a site of legitimate experiential knowledge. The findings of this article underscore how MBAYs perceive questions like ‘Where are you from?’ posed by their White colleagues and clients as a racial microaggression. They showcase how MBAY experience racial microaggressions in the workplace as an invisible, insidious and infantilizing process. Finally, the findings highlight how some MBAYs respond to racial microaggressions by accepting or contesting them in the workplace. The article concludes by reflecting on how these microlevel, subtle forms of racism contribute towards institutionalizing and sustaining White supremacy.
KW - Critical Race Theory
KW - race
KW - racial microaggressions
KW - racism
KW - work
KW - youth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139402050&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/00380385221117351
DO - 10.1177/00380385221117351
M3 - Article
JO - Sociology-The Journal of The British Sociological Association
JF - Sociology-The Journal of The British Sociological Association
SN - 0038-0385
ER -