You may recall that during the 2008 Presidential campaign, John McCain was stumping at a town hall, talking to an audience, when a crazy old lady told him she couldn’t trust Obama because he was “an Arab.”
“No, ma’am,” McCain replied. “He’s a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.” Many thought it was the high point of McCain’s campaign, if not of his entire political career.
But not Derald Wing Sue. In his book, “Microaggressions in Everyday Life,” Sue calls McCain’s remark “a major microaggression.” This was because “McCain’s denial that Obama was an Arab…seems to indicate that he too has bought into the perception that Muslims were somewhat less than decent human beings.” McCain’s “hidden message,” according to Sue, “was that Arabs cannot be trusted because they are potential terrorists.”
Another major microaggression, according to Sue, occurred when Joe Biden, then a Senator running for President in 2008 against Sen. Barack Obama, said concerning Obama’s wide popularity, “I mean, you’ve got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” But Sue sees Biden’s comment as “a racial microaggression.” Biden meant to praise Obama, Sue concedes, but “the metacommunication (hidden message)…is ‘Obama is an exception. Most Blacks are unintelligent, inarticulate, dirty, and unattractive.’” Biden appeared “surprised that a Black…could be capable of such insightful and intelligent observations.”
In today’s woke world, it seems, you can’t even compliment a person of color without it being an insult.
What are microaggressions, anyway? “The brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative racial, gender, sexual-orientation and religious slights and insults to the target person or group,” says Sue. Although some people may point out that these supposed microaggressions are making mountains out of molehills, Sue says they have extremely detrimental effects on “marginalized groups in our society…They assail the self-esteem of recipients, produce anger and frustration, deplete psychic energy, lower feelings of subjective well-being and worthiness, produce physical health problems, shorten life expectancy, and deny minority populations equal access and opportunity in education, employment, and healthcare.” That’s quite a list. Sue makes microaggressions sound like the emotional equivalent of toxic carcinogens.
The field of studying microaggressions has become a big one in academia, nonprofits and philanthropies, and Sue has become its best-known promulgator. It straddles psychology, sociology, political science, ethics, racial studies and most of the humanities—all areas invaded by wokeness on its long march through the institutions. To invoke a “microaggression” is an elegant way for a “target” to complain about racism in American society: few would dare to disagree because unless you’ve been in the target’s shoes, you wouldn’t know.
I myself don’t buy that argument. We all experience the slings and arrows of indignity every day, and most of us develop a skin thick enough to slough it off. It’s been pointed out by some social critics that some people literally seek out opportunities to be offended. The New York Times opinion writer David French has pointed out that “Victim status is so desirable that it's constantly faked or exaggerated,” and we need look no further than our own local politics to corroborate that. Carroll Fife is particularly adroit at it, constantly complaining that she’s the victim of people who have it out for her because of her race and gender. Sheng Thao has lately joined the victim parade, complaining yesterday about being targeted by “Piedmont billionaires.” Whenever I hear someone griping about having been microaggressed against, I think, “Get over it. Life’s hard. So what? Sometimes people aren’t going to like you. Deal with it and move on.”
By the way, I went to the Recall Thao rally at City Hall yesterday. Seneca Scott is such a compelling speaker. Judge Brenda isn’t as thunderous but in her own quiet way is equally compelling. Together they’re a great team. Spirits were high; there’s widespread belief that Thao is toast, especially after the FBI raid on her house. Right before the rally started everyone was listening on their phones to Thao’s first public statement since she went into hiding, and the overall reaction was contempt. Thao took no questions and said nothing beyond tearily proclaiming her innocence. (It reminded me of Nixon’s infamous “I am not a crook” statement.) I wondered how long Thao had rehearsed her histrionics in front of a mirror. The whole show was a slap in the face to Oaklanders. The fact that Thao’s lawyer resigned afterwards is another sign that, one way or the other, we’ll be rid of the embarrassment of Sheng Thao before long, and she will take her place as Oakland’s Worst Mayor Ever, which is saying a lot, considering how many terrible ones we’ve had.
Steve Heimoff