Module 1: What is Micro-aggression?

Imagine walking down the street and getting punched in the face. Whether you did something previous to provoke that or not at all, that’s obviously major aggressive behavior right? This type of aggression is easy to recognize, and also easy to condemn. People around you will probably be shocked, get scared, or try to intervene. In any case, the person hitting you is definitely the aggressor, and you are the victim.

Now imagine walking down the street and as you walk by, people suddenly clasp their purse or check if their phone is still in their pocket. We probably wouldn’t call that aggression as easily and quickly as the example before. People around you, and maybe even the people doing it themselves, probably won’t even notice. Yet, just as the earlier example, this can also be classified as a type of aggressive behavior, which we would call micro aggression.

Still today, not many people know about micro aggression, let alone recognize it in every situation. While at the same time it is present in everyone’s everyday life, whether you have been a victim of micro aggression, behaved in a micro aggressive manner yourself, or both. The purpose of this chapter is to help you understand what micro aggression is exactly, how to recognize it and explain why it is harmful.