The Macro Subjectivity of ‘Microaggression’ Studies | RealClearInvestigations
But in an exhaustive analysis of the research supporting the current microaggression construct, or CMC, Cantu and Jussim find that a microaggression is basically what a microaggression researcher subjectively believes it to be, with almost nothing in the way of scientific evidence that racism is embedded in it or that its alleged victims even see it as racist or harmful.
Most studies attempting to measure microaggressions and their harm are based on such small samples as to be statistically meaningless, their analysis concludes. In some instances researchers draw clear conclusions from what are actually murky data. They cite one study, for example, in which the white lab partner of a black woman asks her, How did you get so good in science? — a statement that, according to the CMC, embeds the insulting racist assumption that blacks are not good at science.