LOIE
Gold Member
- May 11, 2017
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Currently reading “So You Want To Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo. These excerpts helped me further understand the daily and constant struggles some people must deal with.
“Microaggressions are small daily insults and indignities perpetrated against marginalized or oppressed people. Racial microaggressions are insults and indignities perpetrated against people of color. They are more than just annoyances. The cumulative effect of these constant reminders that you are “less than” does real psychological damage. Regular exposure to microaggressions causes a person of color to feel isolated and invalidated. The inability to predict where and when a microaggression may occur leads to hypervigilance, which can then lead to anxiety disorders and depression. As harmful as they can be, they are very hard to address in real life because they are very hard to see.
It is very easy to dismiss a small offense as a misunderstanding or simple mistake.
On their own, each microaggression doesn’t seem like a big deal. But just like one random bee sting might not be a big deal, a few random bee stings every day of your life will have a definite impact on the quality of your life, and your overall relationship with bees.
Because each microaggression is just one sting perpetrated by a different person, it is hard to address with each individual person without (1)becoming exhausted and (2)being written off as hypersensitive.
Much of our oppressive actions are done in complete ignorance of their effect, or subconsciously – where we aren’t fully aware of why we are acting aggressively toward someone. Rarely does somebody perpetrating one say to themselves, “I’m going to find a small way to hurt this person.”
Let’s take a look at some of the ways in which microaggressions show up in everyday conversations for people of color:
“Are you the first person in your family to graduate?” “Are you an affirmative action hire?” “Wow, you speak English really well.” “You aren’t like other black people.” “Why do black people give their kids such funny names?” “That’s so ghetto.” “Is that your real hair? Can I touch it?” “Is the baby-daddy in the picture?” “Do your kids all have the same dad?” “You have such a chip on your shoulder.”
For nonwhites, racial microaggressions find a way into every part of every day. They are constant reminders that you don’t belong, that you are less than, that you are not worthy of the same respect that white people are afforded. They keep you off balance, keep you distracted, and keep you defensive.
Microaggressions are a serious problem beyond the emotional and physical effects they have. They have much broader social implications. They normalize racism. They make racist assumptions a part of everyday life. These microaggressions help hold the system of white supremacy together, because if we didn’t have all these little ways to separate and dehumanize people, we’d empathize with them more fully and then we’d have to really care about the system that is crushing them.”
“Microaggressions are small daily insults and indignities perpetrated against marginalized or oppressed people. Racial microaggressions are insults and indignities perpetrated against people of color. They are more than just annoyances. The cumulative effect of these constant reminders that you are “less than” does real psychological damage. Regular exposure to microaggressions causes a person of color to feel isolated and invalidated. The inability to predict where and when a microaggression may occur leads to hypervigilance, which can then lead to anxiety disorders and depression. As harmful as they can be, they are very hard to address in real life because they are very hard to see.
It is very easy to dismiss a small offense as a misunderstanding or simple mistake.
On their own, each microaggression doesn’t seem like a big deal. But just like one random bee sting might not be a big deal, a few random bee stings every day of your life will have a definite impact on the quality of your life, and your overall relationship with bees.
Because each microaggression is just one sting perpetrated by a different person, it is hard to address with each individual person without (1)becoming exhausted and (2)being written off as hypersensitive.
Much of our oppressive actions are done in complete ignorance of their effect, or subconsciously – where we aren’t fully aware of why we are acting aggressively toward someone. Rarely does somebody perpetrating one say to themselves, “I’m going to find a small way to hurt this person.”
Let’s take a look at some of the ways in which microaggressions show up in everyday conversations for people of color:
“Are you the first person in your family to graduate?” “Are you an affirmative action hire?” “Wow, you speak English really well.” “You aren’t like other black people.” “Why do black people give their kids such funny names?” “That’s so ghetto.” “Is that your real hair? Can I touch it?” “Is the baby-daddy in the picture?” “Do your kids all have the same dad?” “You have such a chip on your shoulder.”
For nonwhites, racial microaggressions find a way into every part of every day. They are constant reminders that you don’t belong, that you are less than, that you are not worthy of the same respect that white people are afforded. They keep you off balance, keep you distracted, and keep you defensive.
Microaggressions are a serious problem beyond the emotional and physical effects they have. They have much broader social implications. They normalize racism. They make racist assumptions a part of everyday life. These microaggressions help hold the system of white supremacy together, because if we didn’t have all these little ways to separate and dehumanize people, we’d empathize with them more fully and then we’d have to really care about the system that is crushing them.”
