Discrimination/Microaggression

A ground-breaking study found glaring disparities in the language that healthcare professionals use when recording patient interactions, which could have an impact on the caliber of care that minority groups receive. Titled “Examining Linguistic Differences in Electronic Health Records for Diverse…

Marginalization, as we currently define it, is the act of relegating someone to an unimportant or powerless position—making them feel, if you will, like they’re the notes squeezed into the margins of society. Scrawled. Practically unreadable. Small. At work, marginalization happens because a…

Emotional tax is defined as a psychological burden, usually as a result of being different from those around you in terms of race or gender.  Are you always on high alert, defending and explaining yourself when you really shouldn’t have to? Maybe you hide your true self, trying to deflect…

Tone policing is one of many ways that dominant culture “polices” marginalized people. Either subconsciously (informed by one’s unconscious bias) or intentionally, some people use tone policing to deflect from their own inappropriate misconduct and put the person reacting to their…

First, when a colleague makes a biased remark, the situation usually feels tense and adversarial, which makes it more likely you’ll freeze up or bungle your reply. Second, as we’ve noted, sometimes an immediate response is necessary—you don’t want to let a harmful comment…

It’s easy to be told non-white folks are being “too sensitive” or we should just “get over it.” All that does is exacerbate the situation — and pretend that what was said wasn’t such a big deal.  Of course, it’s a matter of perspective. What may…

Tone policing is when someone (usually a privileged person) in a conversation about oppression shifts the conversation from the oppression being discussed to the way it is being discussed. Tone policing prioritizes the comfort of the privileged person in the situation over the oppression of the…

This Essay examines professionalism as a tool to subjugate people of color in the legal field.  Professionalism is a standard with a set of beliefs about how one should operate in the workplace.  While professionalism seemingly applies to everyone, it is used to widely police and regulate…

  The term “microaggressions” was coined in the 1970s by Harvard University professor Chester Pierce to describe the subtle, everyday ways that Black people experienced discrimination from their white counterparts. Use of the term has since become more widespread. It’s powerful to have a…

From the article: “When we aren’t overly talkative, overly expressive and living our lives out loud as they expect, I believe our lack of animation and conversation can be misread as mean, unfriendly, angry, unhappy, and even not engaged. The trouble with this is, this misperception…

Addressing and eliminating microaggressions should be part of your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy to ensure the improvement of company culture. Microaggressions are thinly veiled, everyday instances of racism, homophobia, or sexism. Often, they surface as small comments, gestures,…

Addressing and eliminating microaggressions should be part of your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy to ensure the improvement of company culture. Microaggressions are thinly veiled, everyday instances of racism, homophobia, or sexism. Often, they surface as small comments, gestures,…

5 tips when confronted with being called a racist. "Every so often, I hear stories from indignant people about how someone called them racist.  These indignant souls are looking for me to affirm for them that the accusation is not true.  Unless the accuser thinks that the active…

We live in a society that is uniquely afraid of Black children. Americans become anxious — if not outright terrified — at the sight of a Black child ringing the doorbell, riding in a car with white women, or walking too close in a convenience store. Americans think of Black children as…

Definition of basic concepts of racism such as interpersonal, institutional, structural and internalized racism. 

Tone policing can be used against anyone. It is frequently used against marginalized people, in part due to unconscious bias. Consider this example: Chris believes that Fran doesn’t have a right to tell Chris what to do because of Fran’s race or gender. For this reason, Chris may try to shift the…

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We’ve extensively covered the legal industry’s shortcomings in creating and sustaining a diverse workforce for the last several months. On a recent Law.com panel, several Black attorneys described another issue: microaggressions, which the attorneys described as daily comments…

From the summary to the article: As a person who wants to be an ally to members of marginalized groups, how should you respond after a colleague calls you out for committing a microaggression? First, make sure the other person feels heard. Replace your instinctive defensiveness with curiosity and…

From the article: A discussion that has gained more attention over the last few weeks of the Black Lives Matter movement is that white women, despite belonging to a widely marginalized gender group, are also often marginalizers themselves in their continual reticence and apathy towards the fight…

An overview, description, and explanation of the impact of the four levels of racism, race equity and resilience - ideological, internalized, interpersonal, and institutional.  

Activity to understand common discriminatory or racist behavior. 

It’s a trope to say America has a long tradition of welcoming immigrants. This is only partially true. It also has a long tradition of treating immigrants with open discrimination and even violent hostility. The current debate over whether to accept Syrian refugees has echoes of a different time…

From the introduction: This revision builds on the previous work to introduce new concepts and expand on others. These standards reinforce the concept of “culture” as being inclusive beyond race and ethnicity; inclusive of, but not limited to, sexual orientation, gender identity or…

Microaggressions are more than just insults, insensitive comments, or generalized jerky behavior. They’re something very specific: the kinds of remarks, questions, or actions that are painful because they have to do with a person’s membership in a group that’s discriminated against or subject to…