Why I Don’t Use the M Word

Editor’s note: Because of reader request, this post has been moved from the previous post collection page to a solo posting here.

Originally written behind a pay wall in June 2021.
A useful discussion tool in some High school classes.

Updated 7/31/2025

3 Minutes

I HATE the term microaggression on many levels. It suggests the “victim” is overly sensitive and the transgressor wasn’t all that bad. — Roger O. Green

My point of view has not changed. I see the term as dishonest …an attempt to gaslight one’s psyche. Although the word is part of society and may be used by anyone who chooses to do so.

I recently read about a Detroit university educator living and working in another country who wrote about being mistaken for a prostitute on more than one occasion when vacationing solo in a wealthy resort. She classified the experience as a microaggression.

I classify that experience as racist.

Microaggression: a term coined in the 1970s by Harvard psychiatrist Chester M. Pierce, M.D. to describe insulting comments or circumstances experienced by African Americans.

Here’s Why I Avoid Using the M Word

For starters, it is defined as a subtle slight based on implicit or unconscious bias.

And micro means small. Arguably, the word could be classified as a form of suppression. Labeling racial encounters at work or in personal life as a “microaggression” diminishes the impact of each incident… and therefore, how it is felt and handled…

Who decided the nature of a subtle slight based on race?

Why is it the responsibility of the person or group targeted to lessen the impact of someone else’s behavior based on their exposure to hundreds of years of societal conditioning?

Let us acknowledge what a microaggression is… hurtful and insulting.

The healthiest way to handle such encounters is not to continue minimizing incidents but instead to flip as many encounters as possible into a teachable moment for the transgressor.

For instance, one comment heard from time to time is, “You are so well spoken,” might be met with a smile and “Thank you. So are you.” Or some such. (raceAhead)

In some instances, adapting the skill set of a standup comic may be in order.

Thank you for reading.