| Comment | >The report noted a range of experiences, stating: “We recognise that ethnic minority students and staff experiences of racial harassment have changed and overt forms of racism are less prevalent in a university environment than more coded forms of racism like microaggressions and incivilities."
This is instructive. 'Microaggressions' is disconcertingly vague. What constitutes a 'microaggression'? Is there even a consensus definition? How many of these campus cases involved 'microaggressions'?
Calling someone a 'Paki Bastard' is different from 'Paki' is different from 'where you from, mate?', no? Why presume the latter example is coded racism? How do we distinguish, at any rate?
Given that university campuses - which spawned most of this new lexicon - are among the most liberal places on earth, I suspect these results are burnished heavily by perceived slights rather than actual racism. |
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