Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

As I listened and watched others in my environment this past week, I was able to pick out forms of microaggressions. One of them happened on Wednesday by a member of my family. A group of students from one of the local high schools left campus for lunch to go and get something to eat. This is exam week and students were allowed to leave campus with permission if they did not have an exam. The students include four Caucasians and one African American. When the father of the African American found out that his son left campus without permission he was very livid. One of the comments he made when he was telling family members about it was…”now if they had stolen something while out there, my son would have been involved or could have been left holding the bag”(Personal Communication, 2012). I considered this to be a microaggression of gender and racial forms. It was immediately assumed that since the people involved were a group of young males they would probably be involved in something illegal or would break the law. Also, the father felt that his son would be left holding the bag because he was African American and the others were Caucasian. From his comment the father has provided verbal and behavior indignities based on what he perceives our culture to believe about young men. The thing that was more alarming to me when I heard the story was that many others felt the same way as he did (Laureate Education, 2010). In the article “Test Yourself for Hidden Bias” ( n.d. ), our willingness to examine our own possible biases is an important step in understanding the roots of stereotypes and prejudices in our society. I think we have to be more vigilant about changing how we perceive others in our society based on what has happened in the past. Reference: Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life [video]. Perspectives on Diversity and Equity. Baltimore, MD: Walden University. Teaching Tolerance. (n.d.). Test yourself for hidden bias. Retrieved May 25, 2011, from http://www.tolerance.org/activity/test-yourself-hidden-bias.

PERSPECTIVES ON DIVERSITY AND CULTURE

It is always fascinating to learn how people perceive the world around them. The assignment this week included finding out how three people in my network of family, friends, or colleagues feel about diversity and culture in our society. The three people I chose are my husband (age 44), an African American male, a family friend (age 25), a Caucasian female educator, and an acquaintance (age 48), a female teacher’s assistant from Ecuador. Kenneth, my husband, gave the following definition of culture…”culture is your beliefs, your religion, your upbringing and all that your parents has taught you combined with the way that you present yourself in your community. Diversity is the differences between groups of people who live together. Some groups are treated better than other groups…they have power because they join together in certain situations. These groups receive certain privileges that other groups do not because they are thought less of in society “(personal communication, 2012). Amy, my friend, said,”your culture is your way of life. It defines who you are and what you believe in. It is how you relate to others in society. Diversity is making sure that you are aware of the differences between people so that everyone feels valued when living together” (personal communication, 2012). Sylvia, an acquaintance from Ecuador, said, “culture is your family and traditions. It’s the stuff that families do with each other. It is your heritage. America is much different than Ecuador…we do lots of family things together. Your weather is different…we only have two seasons in Ecuador. We have summer and winter. We have much delicious fruit and no humidity. Diversity is difference. Some of the children in this class have a hard time understanding me…I’m trying to learn the language. They do give me lots of hugs…they are so sweet. In Ecuador there is more school work…children work very hard to learn about English too” (personal communication, 2012) Each of the three interviews reinforced what I have learned about culture. Kenneth, Amy, and Sylvia all share the belief that culture portrays a valuable part of a person’s life. It encompasses what you believe in and what you have been taught through your family, your experiences, and your environment. Kenneth and Sylvia both agree that diversity mainly consists of the difference that is reflected in each individual. While I agree with both of them, my perspective is more closely related to Amy’s view that diversity is making sure that you are aware of those differences in order to successfully guide your own thoughts and views. Sylvia looks at diversity on a much larger scale. Many things that guide her perspective on diversity are things that I have never really thought that much about…the difference in the weather and the difference in an everyday occurrence like the amount of homework that children complete. This activity helps to reinforce my belief that culture and diversity are a vital part of every society and it defines who we are as a people.

MY FAMILY CULTURE

If my family and I were told that we had to leave our country and move to a different country that had a totally different culture, this would most certainly be very hard. If we could only take three items that would be even more difficult since there are so many things in our home that represent our culture. However, I'm sure that we would agree that the following things would defintely have to go along with us...our Bible, a small family album, and a USA pendant. The Bible represents our strong faith in Jesus Christ and the Christainity that we practice each day. It is a daily guide that tells us how we should live our lives in order to be healthy and prosperous. The family album is a remainder of the family that has taught us values and what we strive to instill in our own children and grandchildren. It is a collection of memories from two families united as one. The USA pendant that was given to me by one of my students many years ago. It represents the country that we had a chance to live in that provides us with rights and privileges that others may not have because of the country that they live in. It also represents the love that a child feels for someone who has inspired them in life. If we were sent to a different country where the culture was different and once we got there we were told that we could only keep one of the three above items we would be heartbroken to say the least. The one item that we would keep would be our Bible. We have always been taught through our faith that you must be steadfast and hold on to your believe in Christ even when the way seems dark and all others around you fail. The Bible would enable us to continue reading and studying God's word which is the one thing that shall truly never fail. Our family memories we would have to hold in our hearts along with our love for the USA. This assignment really made me think about what is truly important in my life. There were so many things I would want to take with me that remind me of all that I have experienced and been taught. It also made me thing about people who have had to come to America against their will or because their homes have been destroyed.