I’ve been thinking about the many people I’ve encountered who don’t know or understand the concept of microaggressions and how prevalent they are. This issue is on my mind because of my existence as a person of color, specifically as a Black woman.

The fact that microaggressions are so common and under the radar has made me numb to them and makes it easier for people to commit them. An incident I’ve recently experienced incited my motivation to write this.

To those who don’t know, microaggressions are remarks, questions or actions that reinforce racist, derogatory or stereotypical attitudes toward marginalized groups.

Some people brush off microaggressions or don’t recognize them as problematic because they are, for lack of a better term, micro. They aren’t as obviously offensive as saying a racial slur, making fun of someone’s ethnicity or denying someone an opportunity due to their background.

My frustration with microaggressions is not that they exist, they always will, but that those who commit them are often self-proclaimed allies, or see themselves as “woke.” A key example is that the news has been reporting the racially-motivated Atlanta shooting that resulted in the deaths of eight people, six of whom were Asian. I heard someone talking about the shooting and state that they couldn’t say the names of those victims because they were “Chinese,” although not all of the Asian victims were Chinese.

At first glance, this seems like a harmless comment, but it qualifies as a microaggression. This issue is common in America, grouping Asian people of different backgrounds together as Chinese is incredibly insensitive and insulting to the various countries, cultures and languages included in the Asian-American community.

The other issue is implying that you can’t pronounce someone’s name because of their language or ethnicity. America already has a history of forcing people to conform to (or assimilate to) American culture by taking on the names, costumes and lifestyles that are considered “American.”

When ignorant people see names they aren’t familiar with they feel that it’s fine to not take extra time to pronounce them, because they only value names that sound “American.”

The easiest way to avoid committing microaggressions would be to look up examples of them and see if you have been a part of the problem; it seems counterproductive but it leaves no room for you to slip up and say something that may hurt those around you.

Destiny Blanchard is a junior management major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or dblanchard@eiu.edu.