As before, Oluo argues that often, conversations about microaggressions go awry because they force people to confront their own shame in unintentionally saying something racist, which makes them defensive. Oluo reminds the reader that microaggressions are damaging precisely because they place an unfair emotional burden on people of color, which inhibits their chances of success in life. Responses that demand
more emotional labor from the insulted person thus exacerbate—rather than mitigate—the problem.