This article provides a critical analysis of microaggressions and anti-discrimination law in academia. There are many challenges for faculty claiming discrimination under current civil rights laws. Examples of microaggressions that fall outside of anti-discrimination law will be provided. Traditional legal analysis of discrimination will not end systemic inequality in higher education. Instead, a critical microaggression analysis, based on principles of critical race theory, should augment a legal approach to discrimination. This article provides a conceptual and practice framework to address microaggressions in the academic setting that fall outside of the legal definition of discrimination by encouraging academic communities to recognize that microaggressions permeate institutions of higher education and that both narrative and data are necessary to create a whole picture of the harm microaggressions cause. Additionally, universities and colleges must centralize the response to microaggressions, making faculty and administration accountable to end the unfair use of marginal group status within their institutions.
