As a person of color, microaggressions can come in many forms, and one form is when people question whether you’re able to attain something valuable like an expensive piece of jewelry. Such an instance was illustrated in a recent video where a Black woman said she was repeatedly questioned at work about her ornate engagement ring.
TikTok creator Reyah (@reyahthelastdragon) stitched a video to another woman’s post about wearing her wedding ring to the office for the first time and constantly being questioned about it.
“It’s definitely pretty enough to make other people envious,” Reyah said about the ring, which was a shiny pearl-shaped diamond with small diamonds adorning it to create the ring band.
The video Reyah was addressing comes from TikTok creator Ashley (@thehypergamousceo), a Black woman who shared that a co-worker asked her on three separate occasions if her engagement ring was real.
“I have very dark humor. So when I say that I could take a joke, I can take a joke. But once they asked the third time, I had to hit the side eye on them. I couldn’t help but think, ‘i’If I was anyone else would they ask me this? And why is it out of scope for me to be able to have a real diamond ring?’”
She asked viewers if they thought the co-workers reaction was just them being passive-aggressive or making a joke.
Based on comment made on her video, many did not believe the co-worker was trying to make a joke.
“I’d ask where’s theirs? And if they have one… is yours real? Don’t let these people play in your face,” user @xo_lylah said.
“I feel like they were definitely being passive-aggressive, that was definitely uncalled for,” user Inga (@ingawoods.waight) said. “You handled it well. They were definitely [jealous].”
“Why is her coworker even focused on her life that much?” user Bree (@bree_rxse) commented on Reyah’s video.
The Daily Dot reached out to Reyah and Ashley individually via email for further comment.
According to a 2020 Gallup poll, about one in three Black adults have said they’ve experienced people who’ve acted as if they were better than them. Young adults and middle-aged Black people have reported experiencing microaggressions more likely than older Black adults. According to Merriam-Webster, microaggressions are “a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group.”
