Microaggressions in the Context of an Academic Community

Abstract

There has been much discussion of the concept of microaggressions in the legal literature. These are statements made by members of a dominant group that serve to denigrate, delegitimate or insult minority members of the community. Often they are unintended and unnoticed by members of the dominant group. This article analyzes such statements in order to show 1)that they are not a simple matter of personal insult but that they work strategically to disempower minority members; 2)that their dual nature -- invisibility to one group and offence to the other -- serves to destabilize and polarize the community itself.