So You Want to Talk About Race

by

Ijeoma Oluo

Oluo defines microaggressions as “small daily insults and indignities perpetrated against people of color.” Microaggressions are often committed unintentionally, but Oluo argues that they are a form of oppression because they’re psychologically harmful to oppressed people.

Microaggression Quotes in So You Want to Talk About Race

The So You Want to Talk About Race quotes below are all either spoken by Microaggression or refer to Microaggression. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Racism, Privilege, and White Supremacy Theme Icon
).
Chapter 12 Quotes

Don't force people to acknowledge your good intentions.

Related Characters: Ijeoma Oluo (speaker)
Page Number: 176
Explanation and Analysis:
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So You Want to Talk About Race PDF

Microaggression Term Timeline in So You Want to Talk About Race

The timeline below shows where the term Microaggression appears in So You Want to Talk About Race. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 12: What are microaggressions?
Racism, Privilege, and White Supremacy Theme Icon
Confronting Racial Pain Theme Icon
Intersectionality, Oppression, and Social Justice  Theme Icon
Racial microaggressions are “small daily insults and indignities perpetrated against people of color.” They feel similar to... (full context)
Racism, Privilege, and White Supremacy Theme Icon
Confronting Racial Pain Theme Icon
Oluo says that microaggressions are distracting and exhausting. Moreover, they make racist assumptions a part of everyday life. They... (full context)
Confronting Racial Pain Theme Icon
Oluo thinks that it’s important to call out microaggressions when you witness other people using them but to take the lead from the person... (full context)
Confronting Racial Pain Theme Icon
If you’ve been called out for a microaggression, Oluo advises taking a pause (it’s easy to become overwhelmed and defensive), ask yourself why... (full context)
Chapter 14: What is the model minority myth?
Racism, Privilege, and White Supremacy Theme Icon
Intersectionality, Oppression, and Social Justice  Theme Icon
...political representation (there’s only one Asian American in the U.S. Senate), and they face persistent microaggressions. Many people also use the model minority myth to accuse other minorities of laziness. Oluo... (full context)