Microaggressions: what are they?

“In the preface to his 2010 book, Sue describes microaggressions as “brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership.” He writes that “the power of microaggressions lies in their invisibility to the perpetrator, who is unaware that he or she has engaged in a behavior that threatens and demeans the recipient of such communication.”” http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/matt-driscoll/article61843407.html

This happens more often than we realize, and the perpetrators often seem not to understand what they are doing.

While not all of it is about race and gender,, that seems to be the most common type. We also see it with “cliques” within organizations; those not in the inner circle, various little jabs, swipes, and constant sarcasm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0vTzgOBC9A interesting to watch

At this point I know some people are immediately dismissing this as nothing, and that speaks volumes because it tell us they are not willing to listen.

There are so many things we have to be aware of at work it seems nowadays, but the good news is this is a personal thing not a work thing, you can choose not to be a jerk.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/microaggressions-matter/406090/

Try and be cognizant, try and be aware, and try not to offend. This does not mean you are being politically correct, it just means you are trying to be part of human society.

 

PS we are all guilty of this sometimes

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam