We need to keep the concept and eliminate the word. Micro-aggressions, unlike other racist acts, are not actually aggressive. That is why, I would re-label micro-aggression as macro-cluelessness.

An aggressive act is by definition an act performed with a particular intention. If I try to hit you by throwing a rock in your direction, that is an aggressive act. If the rock accidentally slips out my hands and hits you in the same place, with the same degree of impact, that is not an aggressive act. That distinction has been demolished by the new definition which says racism is defined by impact not intent. OK, I can run with that, but different manifestations of racism still must be fought with different strategies.

If somebody says or does something racist because they hate Black people, we have to change their feelings about black people to get them to change their behavior. But Micro-Aggressions are performed by people who are trying to be friendly and welcome. These efforts often fail spectacularly, but that’s because of cluelessness, not malice. If you haven’t had to live under the shadow of racism, you are not going to be sensitive to what will be painful and upsetting to those who have. So the privileged person calls the marginalized person “articulate”, means it as a compliment, and is surprised and disappointed when it is taken as a micro-aggression. Maybe the pain caused by white cluelessness is every bit as bad as that caused by aggressive white racism. I can’t feel that pain, so I can’t judge. But there will still be different strategies required to combat intentional racism and unintentional cluelessness, even if the impact is the same for both.