What do you do if somebody reports to you that their evidence of discrimination is through a series of microaggressions? At the time of filming this, this most often comes up with folks that have less than ten years of experience in the workforce. Additionally, people who tend to work in industries that engage with social justice activities more often make these sophisticated and academic complaints. But the concept of microaggressions and, in fact, microaggressions themselves, are really hard for investigators. But one of the ways that I’ve found it effective to communicate that difficulty back to a person who is complaining about and education about systemic intolerance is, is about microaggressions.
So, one of the ways I’ve been able to say, “Hey, I need to get from your terminology and your frame of reference to something that I can work with,” is to say, “Hey, I need to get from your terminology and know your frame of reference to something a judge can understand.” And that really clicks with people. So, sometimes, they find it frustrating that maybe their boss doesn’t know what they’re talking about with microaggressions. But if I can say, “Hey, some powdered wig old man, who’s white and a judge needs to be able to comprehend what you’re complaining about.” Let me be the vehicle to help you get there. Follow-up questions can revolve around, okay, microaggressions mean a lot of little things, right? So, give me three examples of small things that have happened to you that indicate this trend of microaggressions you’re talking about.
