Microaggression

Microaggressions are casual comments and actions that reveal the prejudiced way people see certain groups.

Microaggressions can take the shape of a compliment, honest interest or subtle gestures. For example, bank customers might commend the Hispanic banker on her English language skills although she’s from New York, others may ask the Muslim-American wearing a hijab where she’s really from and people in traffic might lock their cars when a black man passes. Independently, these gestures seem inconsequential, some even well-meaning. Collectively, however, they signal that people of certain races, religions, and other identities don’t belong and betray an underlying bias that perpetuates pre-existing disparities in areas like employment, incarceration and housing...