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 Pathologizing cultural values/communication styles. The theme of this microinsult has two components: a belief that the cultural values/communication styles of White, male, and straight groups are normative and that those of people of color, females, and LGBTQ individuals are somehow abnormal. Examples include telling Latinx students to “leave your cultural baggage outside the classroom” and asking a Black person “Why do you have to be so loud, emotional, and animated?” In the first case, the Latinx students are being asked to assimilate and are being told that their cultural values are dysfunctional and should be given up because they will interfere with their learning. In the latter case, the style of communication by Black individuals is being pathologized because of the assumption that appropriate communication is dispassionate and objective (Kochman, 1981). But there is something more sinister and insidious in the reaction that fosters fear that Black people will become violent and out of control. This is related to the assumption of criminality just described. Relatedly, Houshmand and her colleagues (2014) found among Asian international students in Canada reports of being ridiculed for their accent, pronunciation, or language proficiency. And among a sample of multiracial individuals, Nadal, Wong et al. (2011) found support for pathologizing of their identities and experiences such that people of mixed race were assumed to be aberrant or confused.

 Second‐class citizen. This microinsult contains an unconscious message that certain groups are less worthy, less important, and less deserving and are inferior beings who deserve discriminatory treatment. Torres et al. (2010) found this microinsult linked to assumptions of criminality in reports from African American participants. Although these microinsults may be conscious, most are delivered by well‐intentioned people who would never knowingly discriminate (Bonilla‐Silva, 2006). As a result, people of color, women, and LGBTQ individuals are accorded lesser treatment than White, male, and straight individuals. A lesbian woman is ignored and excluded by her female coworkers because she “is not like one of us.” Black patrons at a restaurant are seated at a smaller table near the kitchen door where waiters and waitresses constantly walk in and out. A female physician at an emergency room is mistaken by male patients as a nurse.