Words Matters
The burden of exclusion is often invisible. Even small comments or casual phrases can impact someone’s sense of belonging. Words shape our experiences, our relationships, and the ways we understand one another. In university and workplace spaces - classrooms, offices, hallways, and emails - language is one of the most powerful tools we use daily. Yet for many marginalized students and educators, words can also be a source of harm.
Microaggressions, assumptions based on accent or appearance, racial slurs, and persistent stereotypes are not just isolated incidents. They build up, creating environments where people feel invisible, disrespected, or unsafe.
This chapter shares the lived experiences of students and educators who courageously speak about the weight of these everyday interactions. At the heart of their reflections is a clear message: words matter because they signal who belongs, whose voice is valued, and who is seen as fully human. As we read their stories, we are invited not only to listen, but to reflect on how our own language choices can either uphold or dismantle barriers to inclusion.
Relevant Definitions
Microinvalidations are unconscious behaviours that minimize the lived realities of a minority group, such as denying existence of racism, regarding minorities as foreigners.
| Concept | Example | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| alien in own land | "Where are you from? How do you speak English so well?" | These questions perpetuate the idea that a non-white person will always be considered a foreigner. |
| colour blindness | "I don't see colour", "the only race is the human race" | Suggests that the person’s history and experiences based upon their race are unimportant and irrelevant. |
| myth of meritocracy | "men and women have equal opportunities for achievement" "you can get succeed if you work hard" | Assumes that the only thing holding back marginalized groups is their capability, dismissing the privilege non marginalized groups have. |
| denial of individual racism/sexism/hetrosexism | "I have Black friends, I'm not racist" | Assuming they are allowed to be racist just because they have friends who struggled, and therefore understands the struggle by association. |
Micro-insults are the most overt type of microaggressions. Most often they are done intentionally and the person doing them knows that they are harmful and derogatory
Microaggressions are statements, actions, or incidents regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority (Oxford Dictionary). Examples:
- "Where are you really from?" belief that visible minority citizens are foreigners
- "Why are you so quiet?? speak up more!" pathologizing cultural values/communication styles , notion that white culture/communication style are ideal
- "I don't see colour" denying a person their racial/ethnic/minority experiences
- "As a women, I know what you are experiencing"—the belief that because they experience hardship, they can't be racist
- Complimenting a person born and raised in Canada on their English simply because they are not white
Media Attributions
- Typewriter, Words, Write © geralt is licensed under the Pixabay License
