Everytime We Touch I Get This Feeling

guys i volunteered to run a session on racial microaggressions in the workplace for my wider team and i wanted to define microaggressions and their various types and then provide a few examples both anecdotally and personally. what are your thoughts!!

your english is so good! (with a tone of surprise) why why why don’t say anything wtf

where are you REALLY from (after so much pestering - leave me alone!!) say “where’s home for you” and make it a casual conversation, dont harass!

“im gonna probably butcher your name” proceeds to butcher it and NOT leave space for you to correct them. ask first!!!!!

“oh you tick a lot of diversity boxes don’t cha” WHY IT IS HUMILIATING

jumping to conclusions instead of asking “so you must have studied IT” (im indian) instead of “what did you study and why”

talking in 3rd person of people/places/cultures and making offhand comments (like oh i avoid that shop its unruly when that shop is popular among black or minority communities)

touching or asking to touch someones skin or hair!!!!! 

comparing people to foodstuffs, your skin is like caramel or chocolate.

being white and tanning dark and saying “i look like a brown person now”

expecting the one POC to be a spokesperson for everyone

“youre not from here you wouldnt understand”

belittling people who work in “back offices” as not being intelligent (big companies have back offices in India, China, Hungary etc with people doing manual and repetitive work)

Some other key points I want to make:

do not put the burden on us to speak up and educate you, be mindful of your words

if you are commenting on someones behaviour or identity, think before you speak. put yourself in their shoes and think about how it would be perceived

we are not ambassadors for our cultures and definitely not for others

do not dismiss us or gaslight us, we have years of people doing that and it breaks spirits. one innocuously bad comment puts us on guard and kicks our survival instincts in.

ask! listen! be proactive in taking a step back!

speak up and recognize and use your white privilege for the better.

do not argue and get defensive when a POC speaks up about their experiences. It’s difficult to share and it’s even more difficult to change the system when you make this about yourself

pls tell me about more common workplace racial microaggressions, or just any good tips on what to include!

chemistry is better than biology and you can @ me if you disagree. im ready for the fight.

adrien carried and cherished a brain cell this whole episode but then foxnette just fucking… grabbed his brain cell smashed it underfoot and said flY AWAY LITTLE INTELLIGENCE

allium duo smile

TROYBENSON SUPREMACY!!

Chat Noir: *holding a sign that says “homecoming?”*

Tom Dupain: Oh! Oh my god, yes!

Chat Noir: No! No, tell your daughter Marinette!

Tom Dupain: Ok! Marinette, I’m going to Homecoming with your boyfriend!

i just want to say that every part of me, every single ATOM hates, absolutely despises dialogue tags