Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week we have been focusing on noticing microaggression in our school, workplace, public places or homes. Microaggression is defined as "brief everyday indignities that are verbal, behavioral or environmental...intentional or unintentionally communicated to women, to people of color, to gay/lesbians that have an insulting message behind them that causes severe psychological distress and harm" (Laureate Education Inc., 2011).

 This assignment proved more difficult than I thought because it required focused observation skills and provoked thinking about whether or not the recipient (or myself) was being oversensitive or whether the experience was an example of microaggression. I recall an incident from a few years ago with a former student. One person made a comment "not to expect much because the expectations just aren't there" regarding the academic performance and behavioral support of a particular student who came from a single parent African American home. This person was stereotyping this child and family based on the family's race and socioeconomic status. However, this student was able to excel in the classroom both academically and behaviorally when supported by a caring teacher who partnered with the parent to help the child meet both the school's goals and the parent's goals for her child. When I observed this microaggression I thought it was a comment that was out of line and that the person making the comment had no right to do so because they did not know the person they were referring to very well and they were just relying on stereotypes to judge this family before meeting them. This made me very upset but I wasn't sure what to do about it. Now I would probably speak up and tell them they are being inappropriate and rude since they do not have all the facts. I would also encourage them to disregard stereotypes.

Until this assignment, I always assumed that comments made to me that felt insulting and seemed to be repeated over and over by friends, family and strangers were just something I needed to get over since I was probably being oversensitive. Now I see it that it could be an example of microaggression. I will know the problem may not be fully with me personally, but be based on stereotypes. It has made me aware of how much we think we know about people based on this misinformation and how we should make the effort to get to know people of diverse backgrounds better. It has also prompted me to think about what I am about to say to someone and evaluate whether or not it could be considered insulting or not.

 

References

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

 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

This week we have been asked to speak with friends, family members, acquaintances and/or colleagues and ascertain their definitions of culture and diversity. Here are the answers I recieved:

1) From a female friend who was born and raised in Portugal before moving to England and later to the United States" I would say culture is your background, not just where you were born but how you were raised in terms of your religious beliefs and lifestyle. It's very broad for me. It's how you live your life based on your beliefs. It's not specific because everyone has different cultures and backgrounds. For me diversity is not necessarily about someone's color, its more about their culture, background and beliefs. Someone who is different from who you are and doesn't have the same views as you do. It's broader than the standard definition in terms of religion or color.  We have to take into account ethnicity, where you grew up and your family's beliefs."

2) From a female friend who moved to the United States as a young teenager from Italy in the late 1970s- "Culture is the customs or beliefs that make your nationality different and special. Diversity is different ethnicities of people coming together in peace no matter what their differences are."

3) A combined statement made by a married Jewish couple (she is in her 50s, he is in his 60s) that are dear family friends- "Culture is the combination of ethnicity, religion and nationality that you grow up in and the traditions that come with those things. It also has to do with the time period you grow up in and where you grow up.  Culture can change if you move from one place to another, say even from a  rural area to the city and vice versa. Culture is the things that bring people together as a group. Diversity means that everyone has differences due to culture and ethnicity. It means people accepting each other for  their differences in race, religion, skin color, sexual orientation, political positions, and so on. Diversity can be present within a culture. For example, even with Judaism there are subsets of culture, all with different beliefs and ways of life. Diversity is the things that make people different.

4) From my sister in law who moved to the U.S. from Argentina when she was about 11 years old- "Culture to me is like Raul and I are from Argentina so we have a different type of culture than what's over here. For example we don't celebrate Thanksgiving the way you do. The country you come from has certain things that are unique to that country. To me that's culture. Diversity is all kinds of people coming together."

Based on these responses, I can say that based on what we have learned in this course so far most people define culture based on aspects of race, ethnicity, religion and nationality. Everyone described culture (using slightly different wording) as the ways you live your life based on your beliefs. Two people identified the location of where your grow up and now reside as having influences on culture. Only one person identified culture being based on your sexual orientation or political affiliation/position. One person also identified the time period in which you grow up as having influence on your values and beliefs. I was surprised that no one identified gender roles, language or expectations adults have for children as being a part of culture.

The one area that has influenced my own thinking about these topics based on the definitions provided by my family and friends is the definition that introduces the time period and location you grow up in as having an influence on your culture. Now that I think about it, I realize how true it is. Someone growing up during the Great Depression would have very different values and beliefs than someone growing up in a period where wealth was abundant and jobs were plentiful. Situations like this truly influence your values and beliefs. For example, I know people in my parent's age group that worked for the same employer for forty or even fifty years before retiring. Today, while you still have some people who are that loyal to one employer, many have the belief that if an employer isn't catering to them, it's time to leave and find somewhere better. Another idea that was brought up by the same person talked about how there is diversity even within a culture. Looking at my own family, I see examples of that every day. There are marked differences in values and beliefs between my sister and I, despite being raised in the same household, by the same parents, and generally at the same time (we are almost 3 years apart). For example, we have conflicting views on religion, politics, education, child rearing, and even etiquette! I could go on, but I think you get the picture. This is an example of diversity within a family culture. I particularly liked the definition of diversity as people coming together despite their differences. I hope humans can learn to respect each other's differences and learn to work together to share the planet we call home.

A scenario to ponder

This week our professor at Walden University has given us an interesting yet challenging scenario to ponder and respond to. Here it is:

Imagine the following:

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.

 

My response:

The three items I would choose to take with me are our family bible, our family photo album and my heirloom soup pot. I would take the family bible because our faith is an important part of our family culture. I would take our family photo album because it holds our family history and helps us remember our ancestors and the sacrifices they made to get our family to where we are now. I would take the pot because it has been passed down through several family generations and no matter where the family was or how little they had, they were always able to make something out of basically nothing to survive. A hot meal simmering on the stove has always been a symbol of home. It is an item to remember that perseverance is the key to get out of any situation. As we learned from Keat, Strickland and Marinak (2009), photographs and other artifacts can serve as a communication tool that helps convey to others the people, places and things that are important to us and helps us explain to others our lives. from Keat, Strickland and Marinak (2009) further explain that these items can also help to correct misunderstandings that may occur when people apply stereotypes to the reality of others. Therefore, if I were to be informed that I would have to give up any of these items I would be incredibly angered, disappointed, and frustrated to say the least. I would feel this way because people hold on to things that are dearest to them to help them get through difficult situations. Unfortunately, when we have to flee our homes and settle elsewhere, especially in a foreign country, we hold on to our culture as much as possible to maintain our sanity. When we cannot do this and have to assimilate into the mainstream culture immediately, we lose a part of ourselves. We lose a part of our identity (Laureate Education Inc., 2011), which can also lead to negative emotions that there is something wrong with us because our former way of life is unacceptable all of a sudden. As a result, we will always feel that part of us is missing, and that we are not whole. Loss of language, religion, or other way of life would leave us quite disoriented.

I am interested to read about what items my colleagues would choose this week and why, because I know from reading our class discussion postings last week and this week and from reading our introductions in the student lounge that we all define ourselves a little bit differently. Each colleague seems to have a different culture, even if we share the same race or ethnicity. We have differences in the way we live, simply because of the family culture where we were raised. These differences are not bad, they just express the many different ways to be human. Here is a quote I found in our reading this week that I have been thinking about ever since I read it: "Every day, in every action, we express our particular group culture and our individual relationship to our culture." (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010, p. 55)

 

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).

Keat, J. B., Strickland, M. J., & Marinak, B. A. (2009). Child voice: How immigrant children enlightened their teachers with a camera. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(1), 13--21.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Family cultures: Dynamic interactions [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu