Not So Safe a Space: Women Activists of Color’s Responses to Racial Microaggressions by White Women Allies

Abstract

The present study explored the experiences of women of color to understand how they encounter, respond to, and communicatively navigate racial microaggressions in online support groups designated as feminist-ally safe spaces. Through an analysis of 526 Facebook posts and four real-time Facebook chats, we examined the roles that White fragility and the paradox of White feminism play in styming dialogue and effective change, specifically by considering how these phenomena evidence themselves as microaggressions. Our analysis revealed three themes of microaggressions: (a) tone policing, (b) expecting to be educated, and (c) attacking and defensive posturing. Furthermore, our findings also yielded three themes of responses to racial microaggressions: (a) active confrontation, (b) casual consciousness, and (c) aggressive confrontation.