Everyone believes that MIHS should be a safe space and that everyone is valued as a person, but some microaggressions continue to affect groups and may be too hard to confront.
Microaggressions are defined by Brown University as “an everyday exchange that cues a sense of subordination,” because of a person’s identity, including “race, gender, sexual orientation…and disability.”
“I think we need a lot more people talking about what microaggressions entail,” senior James Young said. “I think we do need more diverse education with specific targeted [topics].”
Students here at MIHS have recognized that there is a lack of representation within the community on preventing these instances.
“The culture of 25% of Asians here means that a lot of the instances of anti-Asian racism that are seen as excusable or are able to be funny.” Young said.
Young recalls a student who was not of Asian descent, using the slur “Ching-chong” in front of their Asian friends to make them laugh.
“Then this suddenly gives some semblance of approval. I think it happens pretty frequently just because there’s many Asians within our community, which makes people feel like they can do that sort of thing.” Young said.
Students at MIHS are frequently exposed to stereotypes, and it can desensitize people to the real-world impacts of them, and it confuses the idea of what is truly offensive versus what is a joke.
“In general, people have the stereotype that Asians should be super smart, and that they are supposed to be perfect,” sophomore Jeffrey Yeh said. “I feel like that stereotype can be pretty harmful because it puts a lot of Asian students up to a high standard, which is unrealistic.”
This mistreatment can create a separation between Asian students and the rest of the school, which makes it an uncomfortable environment for some. With the rise of social media, it has made many posts, racist comments or other content as entertainment.
“The issue is that when something is repeated enough as a joke people will stop questioning it. It becomes normalized, and then the same ideas show offline in classrooms and the way people interact with each other,” sophomore Kavya Muralidhar said.
With the constant algorithm social media presents now, it can numb the brain to what is morally right or wrong, and whether it can hurt an individual.
“I’ve seen content specifically within the Indian community that turns cultural traits into a punchline, and when that kind of content gets popular, it blurs the lines between laughing with a culture and actually laughing at it and making fun of it over time. This makes it easier for people to repeat the same jokes in real life without thinking about the impact,” Muralidhar said.
“In general, I feel people aren’t always educated with other cultures, and it can lead to harmful stereotypes,” Yeh said.
