[consteval]

I think micro-aggressions are very real, but maybe the word is a little off. They're not aggressive necessarily, but they are micro.

What I mean is that definitely phrases and questions change meaning, a tiny bit, based off of historical understanding of race and gender. On the surface it seems like a wild proposition, but it's really true.

- wow you're so articulate! - your hair looks so clean! - don't you like this kind of music? - you're a better driver than I expected! - you're so nurturing!

To you, or me, innocuous. But people say these things for a reason. I've never heard a white man be told he's articulate, or that his hair looks clean. Do you know what I mean?

These things are racially charged and "othering", regardless of if the perpetrator knows it or intends it. I'd say the vast majority of ANY prejudice is unconscious, meaning people don't know they're it.