DSpace@MIT

Micro-inequities: The term “micro-inequities” is an extension of Professor Chester Pierce’s original 1970 work on racist micro-aggressions—everyday, subtle, intentional or unintentional interactions or behaviors that are perceived to communicate bias and/or hostility. In 1973, Mary Rowe’s original definition of micro-inequities was: “apparently small events which are often ephemeral and hard-to-prove, events which are covert, often unintentional, frequently unrecognized by the perpetrator, which occur wherever people are perceived to be ‘different.’” Her definition was later expanded to include a yet-wider set of all micro-events whose effects are perceived to be unfair, whether or not “aggressive.”

Micro-affirmations: Rowe defined this term in 1973 as“apparently small acts, which are often ephemeral and hard-to-see, events that are public and private, often unconscious but very effective, which occur wherever people wish to help others to succeed.”