Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Blog: Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I experienced or heard about several microaggressions and a microassault during the week. I will list them here and then I will further discuss the one that affected not only my family but a colleague, and a few of the children we serve at our school.  

1.     Listening to a parent tell my colleague and me that her family’s religion was invalidated through an experience her daughter was involved in where a caregiver slighted their religion by letting the child participate in celebrating her birthday by singing “Happy Birthday”.

2.     We do not live in a diverse community and my oldest daughter came to me and told me that she witnessed another driver go out of their way to get close to an African American walking to call him a racial slur. My daughter was so infuriated with the other driver’s hate and his willingness to be so blatant in our seemingly friendly town. This derogatory remark was a microassault on the person it was directed towards and it was completely unprovoked and disgusting. Dr. Sue states, “a microassault is an “overt, deliberate, hostile act intended to hurt the person on a conscious level” (Laureate Education, 2011).

3.     A conversation with one of our substitute teachers and other colleagues about the immigrant situation and children being separated from their families at the border went something like this:

Sub: “I don’t see why people are so upset about the children and families being separated. It happens all the time here in the U.S. and no one gets upset about that.” “Besides, that’s what they get for not coming into the U.S. the right way.” She went on to explain she was from Southern California and has experience in dealing with illegal immigrants.

I explained to her that I have family from Mexico who came to the U.S. not very long ago and became U.S. citizens. (My daughter’s great-grandparents emigrated from Mexico to make a better life for themselves and their family.)

Her not so polite reply was, “Well, like I said, I guess it’s okay if they come over the ‘right way’ and become citizens” She went on to reaffirm her position that it was okay that children and their parents are being separated at the border.

I was so blown away by her assertions and beliefs about this situation. As a mother, a person who works around children, and a human being, I do not understand how she can take such a hard stance on this subject. Since we were at work with children and other colleagues around I did not pursue the conversation further because I did not feel it was an appropriate topic to discuss within earshot of the children who were playing on the playground. I did suggest she look into the facts further, especially about seeking asylum in our country. This microaggression is an example of “expressing racially charged political opinions in class assuming that the targets of those opinions do not exist in class” (Portman, Trisa Bui, Ogaz, & Trevino, n.d., p. 3).

This experience showed me that when people think they are around like-minded or culturally similar people, they tend to speak more freely. It also reminded me that bias and prejudice are deeply embedded in people and not based on fact. “Racism is taught. Through both explicit and implicit messages, society teaches ideas, attitudes, and assumptions about race that are not true” (Margles & Margles, 2010, p. 137). I know I am not perfect and that we all carry some amount of bias. I feel realizing this about myself and my willingness to do my best to treat people fairly puts me in the right direction

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://class.waldenu.edu

Margles, S., & Margles, R. M. (2010). Inverting racism’s distortions. Our Schools/Our Selves, 19(3), 137-149.

Portman, J., Trisa Bui, T., Ogaz, J. & Trevino, J. (n.d.). Microaggressions in the classroom,  p. 1-8. University of Denver Center for Multicultural Excellence. Retrieved from: http://otl.du.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MicroAggressionsInClassroom-DUCME.pdf

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

When I asked friends and family their definitions of culture and diversity, I did not know what to expect. I figured I would get both superficial and in-depth answers and I was correct. It, in fact, ranged from “it’s what you make of it” to more thoughtful considerations.

There were some aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course in the answers given to me. One example is from a friend who is Mexican American. He came to the U.S. when he was 9 years old with his family and became citizens. He now works for the U.S. Forest Service and gave the closest definition of culture and diversity that I have studied during this course. He defined both surface culture and deep culture. He defined part of his surface culture as the things we see, the food, the clothing, the holidays of a particular culture (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). He went on to define part of his deep culture as the values, language, religion, and migration (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). He defines his childhood as spending most of his time with family instead of friends and going to the Catholic Church with his family. He knew his family culture was much different to the dominant culture here in the U.S. He noted all the different types of music that were born and bred here in the U.S. His definition of diversity was also close to what I have studied during this course with a beautiful twist. He stated diversity includes race and ethnicity but also includes, age, gender, social class, varying personalities, gender identity, and religions. He compared diversity to what he sees in nature. In nature, diverse ecosystems are healthier than monocultures so he argues that diversity is a good thing since it maximizes our potential. Beautiful.

There were also some aspects that were clearly omitted in some answers such as “It is what we make it”. Although it is what we make it, it is also what we do not. Some experiences are within our control through our choices. Other experiences we have no control over and can have a profound effect on who we become. For example, we learned from Ngo that certain discourses are so indoctrinated into the dominant culture that it has become normalized (Ngo, 2008). While we cannot control the discourse, we can control the way we react to it.

Thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity has influenced my own thinking of these topics by reinforcing my belief that I cannot become complacent about the effects of culture and diversity has on our children and ultimately society. One of my African American friends from high school told me that he has become somewhat numb to the situation (society) and learned to focus on influencing his children instead of being influenced by society. It also deepened my knowledge that there are several factors people assume of the dominant culture that does not fit in with my culture. The final thing that impacted me was my friend’s definition of culture and likening it to nature. Diversity is, in fact, beautiful and should be embraced and nourished. Gonzalez-Mena said, “Diversity is a benefit and that it is richness” (Laureate Education, 2011).

I will post excerpts of the conversations with my friends on a separate blog since some of them are lengthy. Here is the link to these conversations: https://patriciatowne.blogspot.com/2018/07/culture-and-diversity-defined.html

Trish

References

Derman-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J.O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Culture and diversity [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://class.waldenu.edu.

Ngo, B. (2008). Beyond “culture clash”: Understanding of immigrant experiences. Theory into Practice, 47(1), 4-11.

Culture and Diversity Defined

Culture and Diversity Defined

Definition of culture and diversity by O. T.:

Culture:  “I think culture is something related to family and country. It’s the community(ies) we interact with on a daily basis and throughout life. Culture includes what we eat, what/how we speak, who/how we worship, how we work, how we spend our free time, etc. I often hear people say that the US has no culture, but I completely disagree. I grew up with two cultures. My parents are from Mexico, so I grew up speaking Spanish, eating traditional meals, going to Catholic school, going to church every Sunday, and spending most of my time with family instead of friends. It was very obvious to me that my world outside of home was a completely different culture. American culture is baseball and apple pie; burgers, hot dogs, steaks, potato salad, watermelon, ice cream sundaes; cowboys and Indians; Davy Crocket, National Parks, and the great outdoors; music—home of the blues, rap, and country western; ball caps and cowboy hats; we love our sports, tailgating, cars, guns, and TV; and, although imperfectly, we promote hard work, opportunity, freedom, and justice for all.”

 Diversity:  “Diversity is variety, health, and engagement. Diversity seems to be associated with race and ethnicity, these days, but I think diversity includes more than that. It seems to be a topic that often comes up at work. Do we have a diverse workforce or do we all look alike; is it mostly white miles? So race and ethnicity are obvious factors to the diversity definition. I would say that diversity also includes male and female, a span of age groups/generations, various experience levels, veterans and new recruits, different backgrounds and locations (east/west/north/south, urban/rural, military/civilian), personalities (introverts/extroverts, jocks/intellectuals, outdoorsy/techy), economies (rich/poor), gay/straight, religious/atheist, etc.”

“I look at nature. Diverse ecosystems with a variety of species, age classes, and interactions are typically the healthiest. Monocultures and less diverse ecosystems/species populations are often more fragile or are indications of poor health resulting from some impact/disruption to their community. So I would argue that diversity is a good thing that maximizes our potential; that we are healthiest and operate at our best when we are diverse and appreciative of our differences.”

Conversation with K. T.:

 “Diversity births inclusion/growth through understanding, not exclusion and often is the strength that adds value to any situation 'when/if' given the opportunity. Culture is often viewed as foundational and usually difficult to understand because it's more likely a person's or organization's truth.”

“ ...I guess I've become somewhat numb to it because in my experiences it's never changed and once I realized that it's better to influence my arena than being influenced, I'm not as shocked but there are a lot of factors that prepared me along the way, I think.” “Youth sports is the still the most powerful vehicle where kids experience cultural diversity without even knowing they're going through the course because it just doesn't matter...it's taught consciously and sub-consciously.  ...most people are so caught up with where they are from, what rural/hood they belong to, a status of rich/poor on and on and on. It's nauseating.  ...My boys are 28/24 and it's comforting to know that they understand you don't put out fires with fire! Keep impacting your tribe because I believe that is where the true impact takes place.”

On our discussion about character: “...funny how MLK said the 'CONTENT OF MY CHARACTER' but all sides rarely if ever have started there to bridge the gap...”

He then joked with me about me running in 2020 and I replied Trump would want to see my birth certificate. (I was born in Africa). His reply, “I’m dead”.

My Family Culture

My Family Culture

"A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country's culture is completely different from your own and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture." 

It is very difficult to think about only being able to take three items that represent your family culture along with a change of clothes. After anguishing over having to leave so many wonderful things behind, I decided on the items I would bring with me. 

If I could only take three things that represented my family culture, I would take my quilt, my wedding ring, and photos on a flash drive. 

The quilt is made of squares of my childhood clothing that my grandmother made for me when I was in elementary school. Most of the clothing was from my early childhood. I slept with this quilt every night well into my teenage years. When the edges became worn, my grandmother and my mother worked together to make a border around the quilt to help preserve it. It has moved around with me everywhere I have been. 

My wedding ring is my husband's grandmother's ring. She knew before we did that I would be the one to wear it. She was the most important person in my husband's life and was an amazing, loving woman. I am honored to have her ring and would not trade it for a newer ring or replace the diamond, even though the diamond was cracked from being jostled around before making its way to me. 

The flash drive with photos would hold all of my pictures of my family. It would help me to remember all the good times I have had with my family. It would also help in telling my children stories about their family and all the fun we had growing up. 

If I was told I could only keep one personal item upon arrival, I would choose my wedding ring. Not only did the ring go through a lot but so have we as a family. This ring symbolizes everything we are as a family and what we did to make it to this point so far. 

Thinking about this scenario was really eye-opening. Narrowing it down to only three items was very difficult. I would have to give up so many things such as my phone, important documents, heirlooms from my family, artifacts from my birthplace, and many other things. It really put into perspective what refugees go through when they are uprooted from their homes and what they must go through. It also put into perspective the importance of family. I would be content with just having my family with me if I had no other choice. Things are just things. It is the memories and stories I take with me to share with my family that would help carry on our family culture.