Page 13 - Anti-Racism Pocketbook for Schools and Academies

Examples of microaggressions and SAEs can include:

Microinsults represent subtle snubs, frequently unknown to the

perpetrator, but clearly convey a hidden insulting message to the
recipient.

When a White employer tells a prospective ethnically diverse

candidate “I believe the most qualified person should get the job,
regardless of race” or when an ethnically diverse employee is

asked “How did you get your job?”, the underlying message from

the perspective of the recipient may be twofold:

a. ethnically diverse people are not qualified, and

b. as a marginalised group member, you must have obtained

the position through positive discrimination or quota
programme and not because of ability.

Such statements are not necessarily aggressions, but context is

important. Hearing these statements frequently when used

against positive discrimination makes the recipient likely to

experience them as aggressions.

Microinsults can also occur non-verbally, as when a White

teacher fails to acknowledge ethnically diverse students in the
classroom or when a White supervisor seems distracted during a

conversation with an ethnically diverse employee by avoiding eye

contact or turning away.

In this case, the message conveyed to ethnically diverse people is

that their contributions are unimportant.

• Shortening and/or mispronouncing someone’s name
because it might be too difficult to say

• Actively excluding ethnically diverse people from executive
positions

• Only naming buildings or rooms after White men

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