A microaggression is an indirect or subtle act of prejudice against a member of a marginalized group—it can even be completely unintentional. It can be a behavior, a statement, or even an assumption, on the basis of a marginalized person’s identity. The term “microaggression” has been used a lot recently when talking about race relations in the United States, because not every instance of racism is obvious or even intentional.
Noughts & Crosses provides plenty of examples of obvious racism—Lynette is beaten almost to death for dating a Cross, Sephy is beaten up for sitting at the noughts’ lunch table, Shania is injured in a riot against noughts attending school, and the L.M. bombs a shopping center specifically to injure Crosses. The novel also presents examples of small, everyday racism—microaggressions—and demonstrates how demeaning, dehumanizing, and ultimately radicalizing those moments can be.
Even though Sephy doesn’t realize it, Callum is subjected to constant scrutiny because he is a nought. Shopkeepers watch him, suspecting he’ll steal something; Cross women hold their purses closer when he walks by. All of these behaviors—whether the Crosses mean to do them or not—are microaggressions, and they change how Callum sees the world and himself. Because of this, when he is ID’d on the train on the way to Celebration Park, it’s a huge deal for him, and it ruins his day, even though it was just a small moment for Sephy.
There is a multitude of instances of commonplace, nonviolent racism in Noughts & Crosses. Plasters, or Band-Aids, are only made to match Crosses—the brown color sticks out against Shania’s pink skin (this example comes from Blackman’s real-life experience of growing up black in the U.K.). Noughts have no representation in the media: every model in magazines is a Cross, and every reporter, analyst, and historian is a Cross. Nought history isn’t taught in school. It’s almost impossible to find nought beauty products. Where Sephy is told to take her time while providing testimony, lawyers are openly hostile to Callum, asking him leading questions to sway the jury—a jury made up entirely of Crosses, even though a nought is on trial.
Microaggressions, everyday racism, and extreme racial violence obviously don’t just exist in Noughts & Crosses. Though this book was first published 20 years ago, many of the behaviors Blackman depicts still persist in society today. When it presents these difficult topics, the novel encourages us to engage with them, both in the story and in our real lives.
