Microaggressions are everyday slights. To put it another way, they’re a death by a thousand cuts. What makes them pernicious is that they’re often unintentional and can be framed as compliments.
Imagine, for instance, that a young colleague is told she’s “really mature for her age.” It’s hard to argue that this is a well-meaning statement. But it reveals an acceptance of social norms and perpetuates the stereotype that young people are typically immature. Not only is this assumption overly simplistic, it’s also plainly flawed.
Such statements come from bias: the stories we tell ourselves about other groups of people.
What are examples of microaggressions?
Here’s one example that’s close to home: my brother occasionally visits me at my house, yet when he leaves to walk the dogs, or to venture through the neighbourhood, the WhatsApp group is ablaze with people questioning who he is amidst calls to report him to the police. That he is black equals an assumption of criminality and the net result cows his movements.
Other examples are obvious. When someone says “She is pretty for a dark skinned girl,” there’s the unspoken assumption that dark skinned women are not beautiful. Or a colleague is working with someone who has an African name, like Tshegofatso.
They make no effort to learn how to pronounce it or spell it, so they propose the alternative: “T”. What does that say? It’s not a pronounced slight, but it’s a small cut that builds up over time.
Microaggressions can be unintentional, but they have a rippling effect that trickles down to the group under the microscope.
Can microaggressions be non-verbal?
Yes, they can. Examples include refusing to make eye contact with someone who’s trans, or refusing to touch the cup of an HIV-positive person. Another example includes following someone in a shop who you believe to be a criminal; all along, they’re only minding their business.
Non-verbal microaggressions are everywhere we look, and they’re all borne of simple stigmas.
How do microaggressions exist in the workplace?
Unfettered microaggressions lead to discontent and, eventually, staff turnover. Yet microaggressions are difficult to report. Many people feel they can’t speak up. They don’t want to appear sensitive, even if their sensitives are being tested.
What organisations can do is check for patterns. Is a particular manager losing staff on the regular? Because victims of microaggressions will leave en masse: that is a constant.
Going forward, companies need to address the issue of bias head on. No organisation can grow without teaching people the skills to work in diverse teams. Microaggressions only serve to hold people back and reduce performance.
Teams need a framework where they can have these discussions openly; where they give each other feedback and act on the information with fully-informed self-awareness. You see, self-awareness is key.
Understanding people different to you is predicated on the idea that you’re dedicated to lifelong learning. There’s no such thing as a quick fix. You need to operate consciously throughout your lifetime to be sensitive and considered.
Julia Makhubela is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consultant. She’s the founder at 54twentyfour, an organisation that partners with business leaders to help them design their organisation’s inclusive employee experience.
Julia has extensive experience in leadership development, team development and culture transformation, and is passionate about creating organisations that are inclusive, equitable and good for human beings.
