Ruminations on micro-aggressions

Aweh dearly beloved fellow ruminants & groupies

For those of us in the global south, it is spring day and a warm summer helped by climate change and El Niño awaits. Those in the global north can start preparing for winter. Our spring day son, Connor, turns 20 today and we no longer have any teenagers in the house. In our household, we have pink Fridays but for September 2023 we are going to have green Fridays to ensure we win the Rugby World Cup again as we must. Nothing taboo so far.

Let’s get to the taboo stuff. South Africa has the highest Gini coefficient in the world which means it has the highest wealth inequality in the world. The gap between the rich and the poor is unequalled globally and it is getting worse. This gap is evident in every aspect of our society, particularly in our schools. The bottom 90% of our schools are extremely challenged and operate in very difficult circumstances. At the other end of the spectrum, there are world-class private schools and semi-private schools. These schools are the breeding ground for future leaders, educated professionals, and our world-class rugby team. My father, our boys, and I are products of St Stithians Boys’ College. We are all very privileged to have attended this school. With the wisdom of age, I now realise that St Stithians gave me a very good foundation for my further education and instilled in me the value of critical thinking.  When I was at St Stithians in the late seventies in the Apartheid era it was an all-white school. This is no longer the case.

Both South Africa and the United States share a history of racial oppression. In the South African case, the unjustifiable and immoral policy of Apartheid came to an end around 30 years ago. There has been much thought and guilt associated with this history of racial oppression. How should we make amends for past injustices?

Much has been done in the last 30 years to try and create a fairer environment. There has been a lot of change for the better. This has partly been driven by initiatives like employment equity, black economic empowerment, and diversity initiatives. How successful these have been and what their shortcomings are is not the topic of discussion today.

One of the more recent things we have done is to introduce the concept of micro-aggressions as a form of racism and this has found its way into many policy documents. This has become a big topic at South Africa’s elite private schools. So, what exactly is a micro-aggression? The Oxford English dictionary defines this as follows: “a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority”. This definition does not help much regarding what constitutes subtle discrimination. How do you avoid unintended discrimination? You consult Google of course. If you ask Google for a list of micro-aggressions, the first thing you find is a table from the University of Minnesota which is ranked as number 195 in the world. This must be one of the silliest documents I have seen in a long time. Look at it yourself and form your own opinion. Who gets to decide what constitutes a micro-aggression? Who challenges this? Well, me, of course.

Apparently asking someone where they are from is a micro-aggression. The reason given is that you are tacitly assuming they are a foreigner. This speaks volumes about the prejudices of the drafters of this document. What is wrong with being a foreigner? Everyone on the planet is a foreigner in most countries in the world. Why does asking someone where they are from imply, they are a foreigner? Can’t they be from somewhere in your own country?

Every time I get into an Uber, I commit a micro-aggression and start a conversation with the driver and ask them where they are from. Very few of them are from Johannesburg and we usually have a useful and interesting discussion about our respective backgrounds. Many of them are “foreigners” from Zimbabwe. There is nothing wrong with that. There is no shame in being Zimbabwean.

Apparently, meritocracy is also a myth. Saying I believe the most qualified person should get the job is a micro-aggression. The reason we will win the Rugby World Cup again is because there is a culture of meritocracy in South African rugby. We select the best players. If you need complex brain surgery, will you select the surgeon based on merit? If you do away with meritocracy you get meritless lists of micro-aggressions.

According to the list, an overabundance of liquor stores in communities of colour is a micro-aggression. Say what? Who judges and determines that an area has an overabundance of liquor stores?  Do they teach economics at the University of Minnesota? If there is an overabundance of liquor stores in an area, then some of them will go bankrupt. The market determines how many liquor stores an area can support. A liquor store owner is not going to support a loss-making store to make a racist statement.

To be completely fair to this list there are some valid points raised and these are worthy of discussion and consideration. Perhaps the University of Minnesota needs a micro-aggressions committee and an editor.

In South Africa, we would approach this differently. We should appoint a judicial commission to investigate micro-aggressions and then appoint a minister of micro-aggressions. Ideally, this should be an aggressive male. He would need a blue light brigade and bodyguards. In this way, we can demonstrate we are serious about micro-aggressions.

Thank you for all the ideas and comments. I really appreciate them and please keep them coming.

Regards

Bruce