In case you’re wondering about what exactly is a “microaggression,” wonder no more! A benevolent corporate entity known as MTV has deigned to educate white people by way of illustration:
I watched it avidly, and it made me realize that I too have been the victim of microaggressions. While I have traveled to other countries, until now I had not realized that what I thought were compliments were actually microaggressions.
In Mexico I was repeatedly told that I spoke good Spanish.
I’ll illustrate with a popular “microaggression” meme I altered (and translated) slightly.
Same thing in Argentina.
In Japan I was told that I had nice hair.
In Turkey I was told (swear to God!) that I had a nice wrist.
In Germany I was told that I looked German.
Must have been something to it, because when I was in Spain, some German tourists came up and asked me for directions in German!
Not only did I never take offense at any of these things, I was naive enough to have thought they were compliments.
And if someone were to assume that because of my appearance or race I was good at golf or an authority on NASCAR, I might be amused, but it would never occur to me to feel slighted or insulted in any way.
Failure of education, obviously.
UPDATE: Many thanks to Sarah Hoyt at Instapundit for the link! I’m especially flattered because Sarah is a Portuguese born woman who not only speaks excellent English, but as a prolific and prominent author, is far more sensitive to the nuances of the language than most Americans.
Hmm… Is my pointing that out a microaggression? (Actually, I suspect it’s a macroaggression….)
Comments
15 responses to “Micro passive-aggressive analysis”
Awww, ya’ll think that’s bad…
I remember, back when I could stand listening to NPR, hearing an interview with some whining black guy about all the horrible ways he’d been discriminated against. Like being ignored on line at the deli counter, or forced to wash a shirt before returning it. I spent his whole spiel thinking “that happened to me, that too and that, (and I just don’t believe this next story unless it was a joke). Just to be sure, I checked in the mirror, and I was still white, blue eyes, sandy hair, palor and so on. Conclusion: asshole behavior can happen to anyone, race not needed.
61% of white people who vote republican think white people are the oppressed minority even though they have 98% of the wealth in this country and minority representation in business are a few tokens with all the power residing in the all white power structure even though they think they are oppressed because the muslim communist born in kenya was elected president by the non racist republican voting majority and let us hope dehonkifcation will continue.
[…] DISCOVERING MICRO-AGGRESSIONS: Micro passive-aggressive analysis. […]
> and let us hope dehonkifcation will continue.
Hey captain… what if every white guy with any wealth at all were to change our wills to leave it all to someone of color, and then kill ourselves?
Would that make you happy?
If I’ve got 98% of this country’s wealth, this is a very poor country.
@ CPT Arizona: Apparently, problems that affect minorities are the only problems that exist. We have a guy from a family worth $20 million complaining about how oppressed he is, absolutely amazed that blue collar people who will never be even close to that wealthy don’t feel sorry for him.
Perhaps the rich guy has to wait longer for a taxi than he should, but he’ll never have to worry about whether he can pay for the cab, unlike the vast majority of people of all races.
White auto mechanics, waitresses, and garbage men obviously have NOTHING to complain about. Because even though the “white power structure” benefits tons of minorities more than them, the structure is still white. Never mind that you can’t make ends meet: Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are both white!
You see, even if your life sucks, other white people have it really.good. You need to remember you’re not an individual, you’re part of a collective that includes most of the evil 1%. Therefore, you’re in heaven even if they’ve just cut off your electricity whether you recognize it or not. Likewise, Michael Jordan’s kids are truly oppressed and have the right to demand anything of you.
As for the “dehonkification” you can’t wait for, it makes no sense whatsoever that whites might not welcome the prospect of being ruled by those who hurl racial slurs at them. How unreasonable of them to resist!
You’re a real uniter, Captain. I can’t wait until you’re in charge.
When I was still studying it, I spoke German fluently enough (and since my teacher had lived in Bavaraia, I spoke with a mild Bavarian accent) that actual Germans were asking me for directions during my visit to Regensberg in 2007.
Were those microaggressions? Should I have been offended?
Hmm what’s a worse micro aggression: Awkwardly telling someone you liked their hair or judging a person a racist solely by the color of there skin.
I think this video violates Dr. King’s plea that we judge people by the content of their character not the color of their skin. If the makers of this video want to see real racists they need to look in the mirror.
But I’m sure I just need to “lighten up and get a sense of humor”
So, if I commit a microaggression, will a microapology suffice?
Dear Cpt. Arizona, allow me to share the wisdom of Marshal Raylan Givens, of “Justified”: “If you get up in the morning and you run into an asshole, you’ve just run into an asshole. If you keep running into assholes ALL DAY … you’re the asshole.”
Always glad to help!
A micro-aggression is one millionth of an aggression. If you can’t handle 1/1000000 of an aggression, you’re too delicate for the real world. Try joining the military where the Drill Instructors will teach you about handling full-level aggression. Wimps.
The sad part is that most white people would not care about those comments or simply say STFU – end of discussion. Why don’t these “victims” do the same thing? Get over it.
Hey Cap, wanna buy some punctuation? Or is that too white for you?
[…] been quite a while since I have posted about my dog Coco, but that last post about microaggressions has made me feel particularly remiss, and I’ll have to explain […]
LOL – when in Thailand I was considered one of very few non-crazy farangs (because I carried an umbrella to shield me from the sun). OMG – microaggression. (Sigh – and I actually thought it was amusing – shame on me.)
Sorry, but I’m going to go laugh my head off for a while. I mean, really – that would have to be some sort of reverse aggression – they carried umbrellas to keep their skins lighter – I carried one to keep from turning bright red.