Columbia professor Derald Sue describes microagression 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 in the '70s by psychiatrist Dr. Chester Pierce.
An example of a racial microagression? Assuming that someone works in the service industry because they're a person of color.
Or using words like "you guys" and "you people" to tell someone that their entire race looks alike.
Assuming every person of color is good at all things physical, to include, but not limited to, dance, basketball, football, cleaning, and cooking is also NOT okay.
Unfortunately, microagressions happen all the time, even in the workplace.
And chances are if you're a person of color, you've been on the receiving end of them at least once in your career.
So if you have, tell us about it in the comment section below: What was your experience with racial microaggression on the job, and how did you handle it? If you didn't "handle" it because you didn't feel supported enough by your employer, we wanna know that, too.
