Basketball: Microaggressions, "Racism without Racists"

"I didn't mean it like that." What we say, what we do, and what we ask all leave an impression. 

Microaggressions are the everyday slights, indignities, putdowns, and insults that  people of color, women...and those who are marginalized experience." They occur because "they are outside the level of conscious awareness of the perpetrator." Some have called this "racism without racists." 

And they leave scars or open wounds that we don't know exist. 

What words trigger us? When I was in the Navy making rounds at Bethesda Naval Hospital, a few patients asked, "what country are you from?" Nowadays, I might answer, "The People's Republic of Massachusetts" but then it was just "Massachusetts." Everyone makes assumptions that may have no factual basis. 

When people call me, "Mister" Sen, that's no problem. In fact, many patients call me "Ron," except for people who knew me as a youngster, who might say, "Ronnie." The opposite of a microaggression occurs, too. One parent, who played professionally overseas, always called me, "Coach." 

Minorities and women have faced microaggressions since...forever. When I hear someone called "articulate" then I think that presumes they shouldn't be. Microaggressions happen in multiple settings. 

Here are excerpts from a paper on classroom microaggressions:

• Failing to learn to pronounce or continuing to mispronounce the names of students after they have corrected you. 
• Scheduling tests and project due dates on religious or cultural holidays. 
• Setting low expectations for students from particular groups, neighborhoods, or feeder patterns. 
• Assigning student tasks or roles that reinforce particular gender roles or don’t allow all students flexibility across roles and responses.

Racial microaggressions are legion. 

• "I don't see color." 
• "I have black friends." 
• Blacks being followed by security in stores (presuming criminal intent).
• "All lives matter" has become a recent example. 
• At a postseason game over a decade ago, opposing fans chanted "you can't read" at a black girl on our team. 

In the Navy, Sexual Harassment Training was "mandatory." I'm not sure what percentage of us ever attended. Some notoriously needed none. Gender microaggressions are more readily recognized as people add pronouns to their identity. Psychology Today shares some gender and sexual orientation microaggressions.

• An assertive female manager is labeled "bitch," while her male counterpart is described as "a forceful leader."
• Whistles or catcalls are heard from men as a woman walks down the street.
• A young person uses the term "gay" to describe a movie she didn't like (Being gay is associated with negative and undesirable characteristics.   

In coaching, we've heard or seen examples. Patriots coach Bill Parcells famously called the late receiver Terry Glenn, "she." My college baseball coach asked (about afternoon labs at Harvard), "are you serious about baseball or are you here to study?" Putting a player in the "doghouse" is a form of microaggression. 

Microaggressions can have negative health outcomes - impaired immunity, worse physical and cognitive performance, and mental health problems like anxiety and depression. 

We exert unconscious bias in coaching. During tryouts (middle school), I look to project what players could become (future) based on their size, athleticism and skill (now). As discussed in The Playmaker's Advantage, the difference between skill and talent is untapped potential.  Bias is at work. 

Implicit bias is everywhere and unrecognized. We can take implicit bias (implicit association) tests as part of a Harvard study. 

What should we remember? See and confront bias. Know that microaggressions say everything about the source and nothing about the target.

Lagniappe: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”- Alvin Toffler

Lagniappe 2: Scout with Bryan Nets Preview