Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

For this week's assignment, we were instructed to describe an example of a microaggression we have detected this week or remember from another time. One example of microaggressions -microinsults and microvalidations- that happened to me I can remember was when a woman from another race was in the store looking at the African American hair products and asked me, "What do ya'll put on your hair to make it stiff, do ya'll use wax?" At first, I got offensive, but I replied, "I don't use wax on my hair." I knew no offense was consciously intended because she was a hairstylist, but I was put in the "Catch 22" position.

As a person of color, I felt insulted because most whites usually consider African Americans to have "nappy" hair. Even though I knew she unintentionally meant harm, it made me feel discriminated because of my race and made me wonder what was her hidden message in the question. I am aware of microaggressions because of my race, but I have chosen to be an overcomer of them because I know who I am, and what I am striving to become in life.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

In this course, "Perspectives on Diversity and Equity", I have been studying that there are many different perspectives, views, and beliefs about culture and diversity.

For this assignment, we were asked to find out from three different people their definitions of culture and diversity. The three people I asked defined culture as our heritage, or beliefs, why we do things; the way you were raised, your morals and rituals; and who you are, what your were brought up in. Culture can be referred to how particular groups of people live. It is the way we live our everyday lives, which include the language we speak, the religion or spirituality we practice (or do not), and the clothing, housing, food, and rituals/holidays with which we feel most comfortable (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 55).

They defined diversity as different cultures living together and around each other in the same community; the inclusion of different people which sets us apart from other cultures; and how we are all different, but come together. To sum up their definitions of diversity, diversity is recognizing and appreciating the variety of characterisitcs that make each individual culture unique in their own way, but learning to live together in a community or group.

My thinking about this topic has been influenced by seeing how other people define culture and diversity. As an educator, I have to be willing to talk openly about the different cultures in order to help foster a positive sense of self in our children and their families, which can make a difference about diversity in our community. Also, I can help children realize that eventhough we are differnt in our cultures and traditions, but we can learn to value each other differences and learn to live together and benefit from one another.

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).

My Family Culture

If I could only take 3 small items with me that I hold dear and that represents my family when evacuating to another country, I will take my Bible, family portrait, and my MP3 player. I will take my Bible, because my mother always tell me to trust in the Lord and He will see me through my trials. My family portrait, because I can look back on the time the portrait was taken and remember the good times the family spent together. Also, I will take my MP3 player, because I often listen to music to smooth my soul and songs have a tendency to carry an inspirational message.

If I were told that I could only keep one personal item upon arrival to the unknown country, I would be devastated, but I would choose to keep my Bible, because I know it will give me strength to survive in this country.

As a result of this exercise, I can now relate to how the children from another culture feel when they are dominant by our culture. When I put myself  in the position of being evacuated to another country, I felt a sense of fear, loss, confusion about not knowing what to do. The insight I have learned is that we always need to be willing to accept different cultures and families, because we never know when we will be put in a similar situation when we will want to be accepted by our different culture.