Microaggression

The term microaggression describes commonplace and subtle actions and communication, directed at marginalized people. Microagressions mark the people in question as ‘different’, they are seen as deviating from the norm in society, stereotyped or, at times, demeaned and excluded. This concept attempts to underline that not only visible physical violence counts towards experience of discrimination, but also subtle, repeated, deliberate or inadvertent behavior. One example of microaggression is everyday racism, which manifests itself towards BIPoC (short for Black People, Indigenous People and People of Color) in Germany including the following: people touching their hair without asking first, complimenting their German language skills, asking where they come from or automatically using the informal “du” form in German.

Sources: University of Cologne; IDA-NRW; Spektrum