'Ghetto Princess'.

"Yeah, this is Kenny. She's the college's ghetto princess."

  There are so many reasons why this was not an okay thing to say to someone that is one of two black girls in a college. Especially as it was said by someone who is supposed to be my friend to a group of freshers that were meeting me for the first time! Sigh because this is the third time that something like this has happened. I confronted the 'friend' and she said the usual.."Oh, I'm not racist, this is just how me and my friends talk to each other back home." Sigh again. She was quite apologetic though and the good thing is that I don't think she'll ever say something like that again.

  The statement is a micro-aggression, a microinsult in fact, to be more specific. Microinsults are communications that convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person's racial heritage or identity. They can take the form of subtle snubs and hidden insulting messages to the person of colour. It is still important to keep speaking out against comments like these because although racism is no longer as overt as it once was, it has now taken the form of snide remarks like the aforementioned, which can become quite harmful if allowed to grow and fester.

  I'm still learning and trying to speak out more as it is not always easy to be the one voice that calls out things like these. But things are looking up because the more I speak out, the more my friends are starting to notice and speak out as well against things that are not okay. So yay for wins!