Morgan, senior director of HR at Safe Streets USA, categorizes micro-aggressions in three ways:
- Micro-assaults
- Micro-insults
- Micro-invalidations
While micro-assaults nearly always deliberately target a person and are easy to spot, micro-insults are typically back-handed compliments that are often not intentional.
Micro-invalidations are the most passive types of attacks of the three. This is where the offender often accuses the person they have insulted of being too sensitive. Morgan likens micro-aggressions to paper cuts.
"You're not necessarily openly wounded but it still hurts," she says. "People who do not fit into the power groups (e.g., white, Christian, male, heterosexual, young, able-bodied) may experience microaggressions several times during their workday. Imagine going through life getting multiple paper cuts every single day for the 40+ years of your career. That's the reality for many black people, women, and other people of color in the workplace."