12/2/2023 0 Comments Social faux pas meaningKendi stridently insists that microaggressions are nothing but “racial abuse” and should be called that. In his new book, How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. But that doesn’t erase the harmful impact. Now broadened to include all marginalized groups and their many intersections, “microaggression” has become something of a buzzword within the social justice arena.Īnd as with most buzzwords, the meaning gets diluted at best and ignored at worse. Microaggression is classically defined 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.” The term was coined around the late 1960s, early 1970s, after the Civil Rights era, when visible and violent expressions of racism were eclipsed by subtler incarnations. Other tips violated a seminal rule of BIPOC-ness: thou shalt not waste emotional labor educating White people about stuff they should already know or can Google. Many of the ideas I found online seemed to be intended for use in a fantasyland, where White people are eager learners, unafraid of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), and need actual reasons to call the cops on us. I tried tapping my social network to see how other people effectively dealt with microaggressive interactions and got precisely zero feedback-though, admittedly, just tweeting about them seems to work for some people. I’m not the only one with such a limited repertoire. Unfortunately, unsanctioned hair touching is the only microaggression that I have an effective, emotionally non-burdensome response for. I laugh along with them-because let’s keep it light, right?-and with a little thrill of victory. They usually flinch back, and then resignedly lean into my touch, laughing with recognition as their faux pas-their microaggression-sinks in. Now when that unbidden White hand starts creeping toward my head, mine starts creeping toward theirs. So after years of enduring this overfamiliarity from everyone from the stranger behind me in the checkout lane to a middle-aged male dental hygienist, I came up with a strategy. I don’t mind as long as they ask before they cop a feel, but they usually don’t. White people find my halo of gravity-defying hair irresistible to the touch.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |