Toward a Harm-Based Account of Microaggressions

Abstract

In this article, we critique the dominant understanding of microaggressions introduced by Derald Wing Sue and his colleagues—what we call the act-based account of microaggressions—by identifying its theoretical and practical shortcomings. On the basis of this critique, we introduce and defend an alternative, ameliorative account of microaggressions, what we call the harm-based account of microaggressions. Instead of understanding microaggressions on the basis of the acts committed by the microaggressing agent, we call for a reorientation of the concept so that the recipients of microaggressions and the harms they experience become the focal point.