The fallacy that race has a biological basis has resulted in the untrue notion that certain racialized groups have particular skills or proclivities for particular activities. It’s crucial to work on why we might view someone as an “exception” to our racist assumptions instead of evaluating how the assumptions we may hold are racist. Sharing our perceptions about someone’s racial or ethnic group is never complimentary – it’s actually insulting and racist. When we say something like this, not only does it ignore and minimize the identity of the other person, but it also indicates that in systems of white supremacy, we can only humanize individuals when we separate them from their racialized identity. Microaggressions have become so ubiquitous that those who commit them might not consider them to be racist.īelow are examples of some common comments and questions that are rooted in racism, with explanations of why they should be avoided. While overt acts of racism - such as physically harming someone due to racist beliefs - are what we most commonly associate with interpersonal racism, racism takes many forms. Microaggressions have become so ubiquitous that those who commit them might not consider them to be racist. Microaggressions can be better understood as “death by a thousand cuts,” which can be detrimental to a person’s health, safety, opportunities, livelihood, personhood and more. However, microaggressions are not small, nor should they be taken lightly.
Pierce PhD coined the term “microaggression” to describe the dismissive, insulting and disrespectful treatment suffered by Black individuals at the hands of non-Black individuals, and this word is often misunderstood as minor or inconsequential racist actions. This reality of interpersonal racism is often described as “everyday racism” or “casual racism.” Yet these phrases may falsely imply that the severity and dangers of racism should be downplayed.
Racism does not occur exclusively in flashpoint moments of violence it is also like a poisonous mist that slowly kills us. This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from people in the TED community browse through all the posts here.
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