In Under 2 Minutes, These Teens Say Everything You Need to Know About Microaggressions

Speaker 1: “Oh, you’re so pretty for a black girl.”

Speaker 2: “Oh, she has a Jew nose.”

Speaker 3: “Oh, your hair would look so good if it was straight.”

Speaker 2: “Jews are so cheap. Why are you so cheap?”

Speaker 4: “Do you speak good English?”

Speaker 5: “How are you an Iraqi Jew?”

Speaker 4: I think a person saying microagression doesn’t really think about it.

Speaker 1: This person who said it was my friend and I was astonished they would say something like that.

Speaker 4: You don’t want to make a big deal about it, but then it’s also you just said something that offended me, so I feel like I should speak up.

Speaker 2: Because they’re micro, because they’re very subtle, they’re small. You feel like you don’t have a reason to be upset. You’re over-reacting and people even can make you feel that way when you bring it up.

Speaker 1: They’re like, “Oh, you can’t take a joke.”

Speaker 4: “You’re making too big of a deal of this.”

Speaker 3: “Why are you over-reacting?”

Speaker 2: “Don’t take it so seriously. It was just a joke. Chill out.”

Speaker 1: Say, “Oh, no, I actually love black people. I love people of color.” They try to just minimize the situation.

Speaker 3: If someone feels hurt by microaggression, it shouldn’t just be pushed to the side.

Speaker 1: It definitely has negative impacts and leads to people disliking who they actually are.

Speaker 2: Those kinds of subtle offensive comments can build up over time and they can have a deep psychological effect. They can make you feel bad and they can make you doubt yourself.

Speaker 5: We try to just use jokes to make things less awkward or use social experiences, but it is important because you need to be aware of what you’re saying and who you’re speaking to.

Speaker 3: Think of what you say and how it can affect the person you’re saying it to.