Quote:
Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall
Dude, this happens all the time. That's the point of the book. Whenever we talk about an experience, white people find a way to say that the person probably isn't racist.
A senior associate walked into my office today and told me that when he was in the Boston office, he was holding the door for a secretary. They had a friendly exchange and the secretary asked him if he was there to fix the printers. Now, in my mind, there is no way around the racism behind that question. But I guarantee if I tell that story to 80% of the people at this firm, they will find a way to not make it racist. We stop telling you this shit because you don't fucking hear us. We are too fragile. You seize on the term "micro" in "micro-aggressions," and dismiss it. You label it PC. You say, "Why is everything always about race with you?" Etc. That shit is exhausting. This is what the book is talking about. You don't need a handy fucking diary in the life of a black person. You need to listen and be open to understanding what we're saying.
And I'll tell you this: Adder is.
TM
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The really hard part when this stuff happens is understanding what to do about it. 90% of the time, if I was talking to the associate who had that story, they'd ask me not to bring the complaint any farther because they're afraid they'll get flak for saying anything. And you can't bring it anonymously because figuring out which minority is involved is usually pretty easy to figure out, or at least narrow down to two (which means they'll both get flak).
