Are you Guilty of Microaggressions?
Whether we like to admit it or not, most people have unknowingly or accidentally said something offensive to someone who doesn’t look like us.
Have you ever said or heard one of these phrases?
“I’m not racist, I have lots of black friends.”
“What are you?” [referring to race or ethnicity]
“You don’t talk/act like a black person.”
“How come you don’t have an accent?”
“Do you speak English?”
“When are you going to get married and settle down?”
These types of racial, ethnic and gender-laced statements are called microaggressions, and they’re sometimes so subtle we don’t even recognize them for what they are.
Microaggressions were officially defined in the 1970s but the term has become more broadly understood in the last decade as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color.” (Derald Wing Sue, 2007)
The definition has since been expanded to include members of the LGBT community and other marginalized communities.
Microaggressions perpetuate systemic racism and, when un-checked, can cause emotional and psychological harm. Yet they can be difficult to spot and confront because in many cases, they’re not meant to be intentionally malicious or don’t appear to come across as overtly racist. In fact, they often come from well-meaning, good-hearted people.
Drawing attention to microaggressions, whether they are intentional or not, is an important step in eliminating stereotypes. Be aware of the assumptions you make. Call them out in yourself, and in others when you hear them.
In order to change, we must train ourselves to engage with others in more intelligent ways. And that starts with recognizing that certain things we say – even casually or with the best intentions – can be unintentionally harmful.