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The literature reveals that there are several elements in the lives of African-Americans that dramatically suffer due to constant exposure to "micro-assaults," or their engagement in the defense of themselves to counter innumerable subtle racist attacks perpetrated by the members of the majority group, or "Whites" (Franklin, 1965; Jones, 1972; Williams, 1987). Of note is that African-Americans are subjected to a variety of forms of discrimination, the majority of which are subtle, while others are overt; that is, African-Americans, due to their race, ethnicity, and culture, are subjected to widespread societally perpetrated discrimination, most of which is racially based. The alienation of African-Americans, though alive and well, is far from novel. With the inception of slavery in the United States, African-Americans have systematically been subjected to crippling discrimination that has resulted in their constantly fending off racist micro-assaults or micro-aggressions. Pierce (Pinderhughes, 1989, p. 64) defines micro-assaults or micro-aggressions, as:

. . . small acts, often subtle and out of the awareness of both people-of-color and Whites, that exploit, degrade, put down, and express aggression against people-of-color. These acts require them to monitor their helplessness and rage constantly a necessity that takes a toll in terms of stress and health problems. People-of-color are convinced that being prepared for rejection, humiliation, and mistreatment is adaptive in that it prevents them from being "off balance" and prepares them for taking appropriate action to protect themselves, their self-esteem, and their ability to behave in accordance with goals. So what they see as sound vigilance and a correct reality orientation is often seen as hypersensitivity by Whites. And the behavior that Whites typically regard as an indication of appropriate awareness in people-of-color is viewed by the latter as an i...