microaggressionn.
/ˈmʌɪkrəʊəˌɡrɛʃ(ə)n/, U.S. /ˈmaɪkroʊəˌɡrɛʃən/ Chiefly U.S.
A statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination or prejudice against members of a marginalized group such as a racial minority. Also as a mass noun: this behaviour generally.
ΚΠ
1970 C. Pierce in F. B. Barbour Black Seventies iii. 266 Hence the therapist is obliged to pose the idea that offensive mechanisms are usually a micro-aggression, as opposed to a gross, dramatic, obvious macro-aggression such as lynching.
1989 Yale Law Jrnl. 98 1560 The ‘incessant, often gratuitous and subtle offenses’ defined by black mental health professionals as ‘microaggressions’.
1998 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 15 Aug. 6 On the low days, she finds it hard to struggle against what she calls the micro-aggression, such as people looking through her in shops and not serving her.
2005 D. M. Jones Race, Sex, & Suspicion 6 A pattern of racism—whether in the form of being stopped for driving as a black, or the microaggression of being turned down..for a cab ride.
2014 Jewish Chron. (Electronic ed.) 13 Feb. 9 These microaggressions range from racist tweets to harassing workplace exchanges.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1970