Speak Up, Speak Out (HBR Women at Work Series)

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When and How to Respond to Microaggressions

by Ella F. Washington, Alison Hall Birch, and Laura Morgan Roberts

Around the world, people are finally engaging in real conversations about race, justice, diversity, equality, and inclusion. That’s a good thing, hopefully paving the way for meaningful antiracist action from both individuals and organizations. But those discussions will, in all likelihood, be very uncomfortable—not just for white employees and leaders who might be confronting their privilege for the first time but also for people of color, who know that candid talks with colleagues will mean they either face or need to call out “microaggressions.”

What Microaggressions Look Like

Microaggressions are incidents in which someone accidentally ...