Microaggressions are often represented as little pokes throughout
the day that eventually leave you bruised and tired. In that scenario one micro-aggression
isn’t bad, but a hundred of them are.But
microaggressions are reminders that there is a force present that threatens your survival. So a single micro-aggression can send your survival instinct into ‘ALERT. THREAT TO SURVIVAL DETECTED’ mode which
sends your whole emotional system into overdrive.A microaggression is a reminder that you are not safe. That’s why a single microaggression can hit you like a truck.
I’m gonna expand the politically charged term – “microaggressions” – to “hurtful behaviors in general” because this is a valuable post that means a lot for those unaffiliated with racial and gender-based groups as well as those belonging to them. Those lacking that kind of support and representation might be some of the most alone. Their survival instincts might be some of the most sensitive. So when you think of “microaggressions,” don’t just think of an ideological landscape. Think of a human heart with labels stripped away.
No. Absolutely not. You’ve missed the point by miles.
A microaggression can send you into survival mode precisely because it is a reminder of the presence of a form of SYSTEMATIC OPPRESSION that is dangerous to you.
You feel relatively safe for a bit and then a microaggression happens and you remember that you are not safe.
A white person makes excuses for a killer cop, and in that moment as a person of color you are reminded that you could be killed at any time and that white person would make excuses for your killer.
A cisgender person mispronouns you and then makes it all about their anxiety and makes themselves the victim and in that moment as a trans person you are reminded that cisgender people can weaponize their fake victimhood to justify violence against you and most cis people will go along with it.
That is what I’m talking about. The reminder of the presence of SYSTEMATIC OPPRESSION that could LITERALLY KILL YOU is what gives microaggressions their punch.
@queeranarchism I can’t remember who said it, but it reminded me of this quote by Black activist Stokely Carmichael: “If a white man wants to lynch me, that’s his problem. If he’s got the power to lynch me, that’s my problem. Racism is not a question of attitude; it’s a question of power. Racism gets its power from capitalism. Thus, if you’re anti-racist, whether you know it or not, you must be anti-capitalist. The power for racism, the power for sexism, comes from capitalism, not an attitude.”
The problem with microaggressions is that they remind a vulnerable population that behind the aggression there is the full force of an oppressive system.
(let me know if I’m out of line here, or if I’m misinterpreting your words)
No, that’s pretty accurate. And it’s why a single microaggression is so different from a random single hurtful act. It’s the power behind it.
QueerAnarchism 