Toward a Harm-Based Account of Microaggressions

In this article, we critique the dominant understanding of microaggressions introduced by Derald Wing Sue and his colleagues-what we call the act-based account of microaggressions-by identifying its theoretical and practical shortcomings. On the basis of this critique, we introduce and defend an alternative, ameliorative account of microaggressions, what we call the harm-based account of microaggressions. Instead of understanding microaggressions on the basis of the acts committed by the microaggressing agent, we call for a reorientation of the concept so that the recipients of microaggressions and the harms they experience become the focal point.