Racial Microaggressions and the Black Immigrants Living in Portugal
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Authors
De Oliveira Braga Lopez, Rita
Issue Date
2011
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
"Racism","African Cultural Groups","Immigration","Qualitative Research"
Alternative Title
Abstract
This dissertation presents a qualitative study of racial microaggressions experienced by Black immigrants living in Portugal. Four focus groups were conducted in Portugal with sixteen Black immigrants from Cape Verde, Brazil, and Guinea-Bissau. The goal of this study was to analyze () the circumstances in which racial microaggressions occurred, (b) the themes of racial microaggressions, (c) the impact of racial microaggressions, and d) the participants' coping mechanisms in dealing with racial microaggressions. Findings suggest that racial microaggressions are common occurrences in various contexts of the participants' lives. Five themes of racial microaggressions against Black immigrants living in Portugal (BILP) emerged (1) unwelcoming stance towards BILP; (2) belief in the inferiority of BILP; (3) assumption of the dangerousness of BILP; (4) denial of personal differences to BILP; and (5) exoticization of aspects of the cultures of BILP. In regards to the impact of racial microaggressions, both immediate and long-term reactions were analyzed. Immediately, the participants experienced feelings of sadness, shock, disrespect, exhaustion, anger, fear, and shame. Moreover, the participants' cognitive responses revealed a strong motivation to understand and cope with racial microaggressions. On a long-term level, it was observed that racial microaggressions set obstacles to the participants' access to resources and hurt their performance at school and at their jobs. The cumulative effects of immigration were also examined. In regard to coping strategies, the participants discussed whether to ignore or confront the perpetrators of racial microaggressions. Other coping mechanisms included talking with peers and using humor to deal with racial microaggressions. Although these findings have similarities with previous studies on racial microaggressions conducted in the United States, two unique aspects of the racial microaggressions perpetrated in Portugal emerged: (1) as immigrants, the participants had recent exposure to racial microaggressions and were starting to cope with them; and (2) the impact of colonialism was evident in the nature of the racial microaggressions perpetrated by White Portuguese people. Based on these findings, this researcher makes recommendations for policy changes with a particular focus on mental health. Finally, directions for future research are presented.