By Robert Laurie —— Bio and Archives February 17, 2014
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"A microaggression is a brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignity, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicates a hostile, derogatory, or negative slight or insult. Microaggressions are symptomatic of a larger culture of pervasive stereotypes and manifestations of privilege."For example, if you're white and you wear a sombrero to a Cinco De Mayo party, that's a "microaggression" displaying your inherent racism toward Mexicans. If you are eating American-ized Mexican food (think Taco Bell) at that party, you've committed another one. Frankly, if you're white and you're at a Cinco De Mayo party, that's probably one too. Essentially, anything you do or say that can be twisted into a low-level display of your supposedly ingrained racism is a "microaggression." This week, Legal Insurrection is reporting that a student at McGill University in Quebec was forced to apologize after he committed a "microaggression" involving Barack Obama. It's every bit as ridiculous as you might expect, and it centered on this joke from Jay Leno's Tonight Show: The clip went viral, and the following animated .gif appeared in a mass email which was sent by Brian Farnan, Vice President for Internal Affairs at the McGill Students’ Society. In the message, he made a joke comparing the President's door-kicking frustration to students' feelings toward midterm exams. I know, I know. It's hard to watch because it's so patently, disgustingly, racist. Rest assured, the Student Society Equity Committee was equally appalled. They received a complaint and (after a secret deliberation) deemed the animated image a clear violation of their "oppressive conduct" policies. An apology was demanded immediately. Why? Well, it seems that the Leno clip is a microaggression reinforcing a stereotype that minorities - in particular young black men - are angry, violent, and belligerent. The apology reads as follows:
“The email in question contained the phrase “Honestly midterms get out of here” followed by a URL leading to a .GIF image of President Obama violently kick a door and storming out of a room following a press conference. The inclusion of the .GIF image was intended to bring a humorous tone to the email and use President Obama’s frustration with the press conference in question to mimic the frustration students feel when confronted with midterm examinations. Despite the innocent intentions influencing my decision to use this particular image, I have come to recognize the negative implications of adding the .GIF image within this given context. Oppression, as outlined in SSMU’s Equity Policy, means the exercise of power by a group of people over another group of people with specific consideration of cultural, historical and living legacies. The image in question was an extension of the cultural, historical and living legacy surrounding people of color—particularly young men—being portrayed as violent in contemporary culture and media. By using this particular image of President Obama, I unknowingly perpetuated this living legacy and subsequently allowed a medium of SSMU’s communication to become the site of a microaggression; for this, I am deeply sorry.”Well, he should be! Just imagine the "feelings" that have been "hurt" by this monster. We anxiously await apologies from Jay Leno and NBC, who are clearly guilty of microaggressions as well. In the meantime, do yourselves a favor. Research all of the possible microaggressions so that you can avoid committing them. Remember: it can be virtually anything, so you'll have to be extremely careful. ...Every day. ...For the rest of your lives. If you're bold enough to suggest that certain left-wing minority members may be hypersensitive and desperately need to relax, congratulations. You've just committed another one.
Robert Laurie’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain.com
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