I am an Asian American, and contrary to popular belief, math is not my favorite subject. Whether it was said out loud, or subconsciously thought of, this minor belief builds and contributes to prejudices against Asian Americans, because not all of us like math. 

Imagine this: you’re purchasing a baking cookbook, and the cashier tells you, “Wow, you must really love cakes!” However, you don’t like cakes, and you’re rather purchasing this cookbook to bake cookies. You explain your dislike of cakes to the cashier, but they respond, “You must like cakes though! You’re purchasing a baking cookbook so you have to like cakes.” How do you prove that you don’t like cakes? How do you make this cashier understand that you don’t need to like cakes in order to buy a cookbook? How can this cashier come to terms with the fact that their belief that all cookbook owners must like cake is not always true/false?

Microaggressions can take on many forms, but they are most often seen when someone pushes a certain statement, belief, or action that (intentionally or unintentionally) perpetuates bias toward a specific marginalized group. Much like in the instance of buying a cookbook, the cashier had pushed their belief that all cookbook buyers love cake, even though you don’t identify with that. Though the example poses no real harm, microaggressions discriminate against real people that have lived experiences that are often ignored. Microaggressions can be very discrete and unnoticeable.

Oftentimes, microaggressions push a certain stereotype or prejudice of a certain community and minimize the person’s/that community’s experiences. To relate it back to the cookbook situation, it feels like a constant game of trying to prove that you don’t like cakes to the cashier. Despite letting the cashier know of your clear distaste for cakes, the cashier is not convinced of your distaste. You are still a cookbook purchaser, but you do not fit in with the demographic of cookbook purchasers that enjoy cakes, and that’s fine. It also minimizes your experience as a baker because there is so much more to baking; you do not need to identify with cake lovers in order to be a cookbook buyer. This experience feels invalidating when someone tells you that you must be a cake lover in order to be a cookbook buyer. Oftentimes, for people that fall victim to microaggressions, it feels like constantly trying to prove that you don’t fit into a certain stereotype. However, you don’t have to fit in with the stereotype to be a part of a specific community.

In relation to my experience with the microaggression that “all Asians like math,” I should not be constantly proving that I am not good at math to the people that have said that to me. Additionally, I am still an Asian American even if I don’t fit in with the demographic of Asian Americans that do like math; math not being my strong suit does not make me any less Asian American than my Asian American friend that does happen to like math. Microaggressions like these can minimize and invalidate the lives and experiences of Asian Americans because there is much more to the Asian experience than math could ever explain. I should not have to be good at math in order to be Asian American.

So, now that you understand that microaggressions can push harmful stereotypes and can undervalue the experiences of people, it can be a struggle to break those beliefs and prevent microaggressions. Again, to connect it to the cookbook, how do we make sure that the cashier understands that their belief can be harmful, and how do we make sure they don’t make that presumption again? How do I make sure that people understand that all Asians don’t need to like math to be Asian American? The first step in stopping microaggressions is educating and raising awareness that challenges these stereotypes. Taking the step to bring awareness to the fact that there are cookbook buyers that don’t like cake and that there are Asians that don’t consider math as their favorite subject. Also bringing to light that microaggressions are harmful because they push harmful stereotypes; reducing the experience of Asian Americans to math lovers perpetuates that they must confine to those stereotypes. Bringing awareness is able to help people be aware of prejudiced thoughts that they may not have known are harmful. 

Be aware of your words, they leave an impact even if that wasn’t your intent. 

Think twice about those who don’t like cake.