A tone-deaf inquiry into an Asian-American’s ethnic origin. Cringe-inducing praise for how articulate a black student is. An unwanted conversation about a Latino’s ability to speak English without an accent.
This is not exactly the language of traditional racism, but in an avalanche of blogs, student discourse, campus theater and academic papers, they all reflect the murky terrain of the social justice word du jour — microaggressions — used to describe the subtle ways that racial, ethnic, gender and other stereotypes can play out painfully….
This is the lead of a March 21 New York Times article by Tanzina Vega. Click here for the rest.
The subject of “microaggressions” will be the topic for Continuing Conversations on Race and White Privilege on Monday, April 7, at 7 p.m. at the Princeton Public Library. Don Stryker and LeRhonda Gates will facilitate this “anything goes” confidential discussion, where what is said stays in the room and honest feelings are accepted. Everyone is invited.