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"Interestingly, most of the participants acknowledged\nthat the majority of those who engaged\nin microaggressions did so unintentionally,\nand the perpetrators often perceived their\nown remarks or actions in a positive light (interest\nin the Asian American person: “Where\nwere you born?”). Nevertheless, most of the\nAsian American participants were clear that the\nremarks reflected a biased worldview that\ntended to communicate something negative and\ndisrespectful about their group. In general, it\nappears that most of the Asian American participants\nexperienced psychological conflict and\ndistress because of several dilemmas they faced."\n\n- Racial Microaggressions and the Asian American Experience\nDerald Wing Sue, Jennifer Bucceri, Annie I. Lin, Kevin L. Nadal, and Gina C. Torino\n\n© 2009 American Psychological Association\n2009, Vol. S, No. 1, 88 –101\n

"Pathologizing Cultural/Values Communication Styles" \n\n"Another microaggression theme involves the\nperception of cultural values and communication\nstyles other than that of the White majority\nas being less desirable or indicators of deficits."\n\nYou are about to begin your lunch break at work. For lunch, you brought some of your favorite Filipino foods that your mother taught you to make. \n\nYou overhear another work in the breakroom complaining to another person about the smell: "God! That is so strong! It smells like a cheap Chinese restaurant in here!" \n\nYou notice that they are eating Top Ramen. \n\n[[Click here to go to the next situation.|Second Class Citizenship]]

You decide to call him out on his racism and misogyny. \n\n"Hey, man," you say, "that's not okay. Women aren't "exports" and that's pretty creepy that you would say something like that about Filipino women." \n\nHe stares at you, unsure of what to say. After a few passive more passive words are exchanged, he leaves you alone for the rest of the night. \n\nA little later on, you hear him telling someone else at the party that he wanted to ask for your number but you seemed kind of crazy.\n\n\n[[Click here to go to the next situation.|Pathologizing Cultural Values/Communication Styles]]

You are a Filipino-American woman at a private religious university. Of the 30,000 students and staff at your school, about 83% of the population is white, roughly 55% of the student body is male, and the school has 98% membership in the Western Christian denomination that founded and sponsors your university.\n\nThe following situations happen over the course of one day and are based on real racial microaggressions experienced by the author of this game, and other Asian-Americans as found in a study conducted by researchers at Columbia University. \n\n[[Click to Begin|Alien In Own Land]]

"Invisibility" \n\n"This theme is used to label incidents that\ninvolve the experience of being overlooked\nwithout the conscious intention of the aggressor.\nExperiences with the theme of invisibility\nare commonplace among Asian American individuals\nof all ethnic groups who share that they\nwere often left out whenever issues of race were\ndiscussed or acknowledged.\n\nYou and your classmates are discussing international cinema. One person raises their hand and discusses how French and Italian film is the height of culture. Another person raises their hand and discusses their fondness for Asian cinema. At this comment, a few of your other classmates laugh and make jokes about anime enthusiasts. One person comments, "I've spent some time in China, and they don't really have good quality films over there. Most Asians watch American films anyway- and not even the best films, they really like High School Musical over there." \n\nYou roll your eyes so far back into your head that you go blind and you don't see race anymore.\n\n[[The End.|The End]]\n

You decide to play along with his flirtatious comments. \n\nMany of the girls at your university are pale, blonde, thin, and you feel they are prettier than you and so you are caught up in the moment when someone compliments your Filipina attributes. \n\n"Yeah," you say, "I am pretty cute!" \n\nHe laughs and the conversation continues. As it goes on, however, you feel slightly guilty for letting him say those things. \n\n[[Click here to go to the next situation.|Pathologizing Cultural Values/Communication Styles]]\n

"Alien in Own Land" \n"This theme can be described as a microaggression\nwhich embodies the assumption that all Asian\nAmericans are foreigners or foreign-born."\n\nIt is the first day of the semester. In one of your classes, you are separated into groups with whom you'll be working on a final project with throughout the semester. You spend the lecture hour introducing yourselves to each other. \n\nOne young man in your group says, "Where are you from?" \n\nYou reply with your hometown. You were born in the United States. \n\nHe replies, "Oh, that's why your English is so good!" \n\nWhat do you do next? \n\n[[Ignore his comment.|Ignore]]\n\n[[Engage in a critical conversation.|Engage]]\n\n[[Forgive his ignorance.|Forgive]]

"Why do you think I wouldn't speak English well?" you ask him, curiously. \n\n"Well, I don't know, you never know..." he replies, sheepishly. He scrambles to find an answer. "A lot of people have visited foreign countries at this school! I thought maybe you knew another language!" \n\n"That's okay, I'm sorry I said something," you say, questioning why you're saying sorry at all, "it just a little mistake."\n\n"I'm sorry," he says, and then, laughing to try and lighten the mood, "you know what they say when you assume something about somebody! You make an ASS out of U and ME! " \n\nThis is a poor excuse for his ignorance, but you let it go because you have to work with him for the rest of the semester.\n\n[[Click here to go to the next interaction.|Ascription of Intelligence]]\n

"Second Class Citizenship"\n\n"Being treated as a lesser being or second class\ncitizen was another common experience. A\nnumber of Asian Americans relayed similar stories\nof Whites being given preferential treatment\nas consumers over Asian American customers." \n\nYou are out shopping with friends. You are looking for a formal dress to wear at a department banquet for the end of the semester, and find yourselves looking in high-end fashion boutiques. \n\nWhile shopping in one store, you notice that you are being followed by a sales associate while your friends are being left alone. \n\nShe asks if she can help you with anything. You tell her about the event, and the specific cut and length you are looking for. \n\n"I think we can find something more in your price range in this section," she says, pointing to clearance racks.\n\nYou did not give her a price range. \n\nWhen your white friend approaches the sales associate to check the price on an item, the associate brings out items from the back of the store. "We save these for special occassions," the sales associate explains to your friend. \n\nWhat do you do? \n\n[[Ignore the sales associate and leave the store.|Leave the Store]]\n\n[[Tell your friend what happened to you.|Tell Your Friend]]\n\n[[Ask the sales associate why you were treated so differently from your friend.|Confront]]\n

"Invalidation of Interethnic Differences" \n\n"This theme is most closely associated with\nthe statement: “All Asians look alike.”"\n\nYou meet your significant other's parents. They are older than you expected, and seem to be products of a more conservative generation, but you get along anyway. \n\nWhen the subject of your ethnicity comes up, you explain to them how you are Filipina-American. You explain parents immigrated to America long before you were born, and you were born and raised in the United States. \n\nYour signifcant other's parents immediately start talking about how much they loved Hong Kong when they visited on a business trip. \n\nYour family visited the Philippines when you were very young, but you do not speak Tagalog and have a marginal knowledge of Filipino history and culture; however, you do know this: Filipino people are not Chinese. \n\nYour significant other is uncomfortable, but you ignore your own discomfort to try to keep the atmosphere pleasant. \n\n\n[[Click here to go to the next situation.|Invisibility]]

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You have chosen to engage your roommate in a critical conversation of why her comment was offensive. \n\n"Just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I'm good at math-" begin to say.\n\n"Geez, lighten up," she interrupts. "I was just kidding."\n\n[[Click Here to go to the next situation.|Exoticization of Asian American Women]]

"Ascription of Intelligence" \n"This theme is described as a microaggression that\noccurs when a degree of intelligence is assigned\nto an Asian American based on his/her race."\n\nYou are at home studying with your flatmates. One of them is taking a statistics class that you have taken in a previous semester. She asks you for help: \n\n"Hey, you're Asian, so you're really good at math, right? Do you think you can help me with this problem?" \n\nYou can tell that she didn't mean to be offensive and was just joking. \nWhat do you do? \n\n[[Ignore her comment about being good at math.|Ignore2]]\n\n[[Help her, but explain it's because you have already taken the class.|Explain]]\n\n[[Do not help her and tell her that you're actually not that great at math.|Engage2]]

You have chosen to explain to your roommate why her comment was offensive. \n\n"I can help you, but just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I'm good at math," you explain, "I just took that class last year and I think I remember some of the stuff." \n\nYour roommate doesn't seem to listen to your first sentence and upon hearing that you took the same class in a previous semester, just asks if she can borrow your notes if you still have them. \n\n[[Click Here to go to the next situation.|Exoticization of Asian American Women]]

You have chosen to engage critically with this person. You realize that he is unaware of his offensive comment, and that any malice was unintentional. \n\n"Why do you think I wouldn't speak English well?" you ask him, slightly perturbed. \n\n"Well, I don't know, you never know..." he replies, sheepishly. \n\n"You never know what?" you ask him once more, pointedly. \n\n"A lot of people have visited foreign countries at this school! I thought maybe you knew another language!" he defensively replies. \n\nThis is a poor excuse for his ignorance, but you let it go because you have to work with him for the rest of the semester. \n\n[[Click here to go to the next interaction.|Ascription of Intelligence]]

You confront the sales associate about her poor-- and perhaps racist-- service. She becomes defensive. \n\n"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm just trying to do my job here," she tells you coldly. "I'm not racist. I just know that Asian people usually come into the store looking for a bargain. I was just trying to help."\n\nInfuriated, you leave the store and never go back again. You write about the incident on your blog and it quickly gains the attention of a number of empathetic readers. \n\nDespite the online readership, you don't see any immediate changes or direct influences on the store's policies.\n\n[[Click here to go to the next situation.|Invalidation of Interethnic Differences]]

You've chosen to ignore her comment about Asians being good at math and help her. Nothing particularly sensational happens, and when she checks the proof you both got the steps to solution right. \n\nBut because you have taken the class before. \n\nNot because you are Asian. \n\n[[Click Here to go to the next situation.|Exoticization of Asian American Women]]

You decide to ignore his comment and make an excuse to leave. \n\n"Hey, sorry," you say, looking at your phone, "I gotta take this." \n\nYou leave and call your best friend outside of the party. You tell her what happened and she is shocked. "That's so gross!" she exclaims. \n\n"I know," you say, disappointed, "I wish I was a white girl." \n\n"No, you don't," she says reassuringly, "I think you are great as you are." \n\nYou exhange a few more kind words with each other and you go back to the party. You avoid the young man for the rest of the party, and toward the end of the night you see him kissing another girl in one of the corners of the apartment. \n\nYou notice that she is also a woman of color. \n\n[[Click here to go to the next situation.|Pathologizing Cultural Values/Communication Styles]]

After the sales associate finishes with your friend, you tell her what just happened. \n\nYour friend is outraged. "That is messed up!" she exclaims, "We are LEAVING right now!" She leaves her items on one of the racks and takes you to another store where you are both treated equally. \n\nShe realizes she forgot her water bottle in the other boutique and goes in while you wait outside, and meets the manager of the store. She tells the manager about your experiences and they come outside to meet you and apologizes profusely. \n\n"Nobody deserves to be treated that way," they say, "I am sorry that happened and I hope there is a way we can make it up to you. The sales associate will be reprimanded immediately." \n\nYou leave the store with a gift card from the manager.\n\n[[Click here to go to the next situation.|Invalidation of Interethnic Differences]]

You have chosen to ignore his comment. You have to work with him for the rest of the semester so you don't want to start off on the wrong foot. \n\nAs the semester goes on, he continues to say problematic things in your group study sessions that offend you but because you don't want to ruin your group'social dynamic you just grin and bear it. \n\nAt the end of the semester, he sends you a friend request on Facebook that you immediately delete. \n\n[[Click here to go to the next interaction.|Ascription of Intelligence]]

You decide to ignore the sales associate and leave the store. You do not tell your friend what happened, and you both continue shopping. You write a scathing review of the boutique online, but delete it because you don't see the point of thinking about it anymore. \n\n[[Click here to go to the next situation.|Invalidation of Interethnic Differences]]

Anonymous

"Exoticization of Asian American Women" \n\n"This theme can be described as Asian American women being relagated to an *exotic* category."\n\nA common practice in the Western Christian denomination that founded and sponsors your university is embarking on one-and-half to two-year-long missionary service trips in various places around the globe. For many, this is the first experience they have engaging with cultures that are different from their own. \n\nYou go to a party. A young man starts talking to you and you are having a pleasant chat. Suddenly, he asks you what your ethnicity is. \n\n"I'm Filipino," you say, puzzled, "but I was born in the US."\n\n"I knew it!" he says, excitedly, "The best export of the Philippines is their beautiful women! And you are really cute." \n\nWhat do you do? \n\n[[Ignore his comment, and make an excuse to leave.|Leave]]\n\n[[Call him out for being racist and misogynistic.|Call Him Out]]\n\n[[Play along- he is kind of cute.|Play along]]\n\n