Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week we have been discussing microaggressions and learning how to become aware so there are no unintentional wound or scars created. After thinking back over this week, I can recall where microagression occurred this past weekend with my husband.

I was sitting at the park watching my daughter play with her friends. Several people from the neighborhood are sitting and discussing different things. My husband pulls up in his truck, playing music of his choice, all dressed and prepared to go fishing. Right behind him is his best friend Mike who is caucasian. Eric and Mike walks over to me and Eric tells me that he is going to spend the day fishing with Mike. He tells me if I need anything to call him or simply drive to the lake. They planned to hang out fishing overnight. I tell him okay and that my daughter and I will drop by to check on them or bring them things that they've left like always.

As my husband and Mike walk away, one of the my neighbors says, "Why does your husband hang with him. All they like like to do is white boy stuff. Your husband is getting turned out". I was very confused by the term white boy stuff. I never saw fishing as being of a particular race.

This made me feel outraged. Here are two people that enjoy doing things that they both like together and they are being criticized for that. Some people will never grow up. I become upset when people associate music to a particular race, when they associate hobbies to a particular race and etc.

I have learned from the readings that this is something that will probably never change. People at times do not intend to hurt you but they haven't taken the time to realize what they say may affect you as a human.

My plan is to educate all people that I associate around me. I printed the conversation from the resources and plan to discuss this with my Lead Teachers today during our Leads meeting. Teachers need to know how important this is.  When working with children and people, we do not want any person to feel like they are being a target. We know that it happens, even with the ones that you feel comfortable around.

This was such a great topic.

~Perspectives on Diversity and Culture~

 Durning the week, I contacted two friends and a family member. One friend is originally from Ghana, another is from Virginia and my family member (sister in law ) is from Cape Verde Island. After speaking with each of them, I learned several things. 

Friend from Ghana~ She defined culture as being everything that she and her family does on a daily basis. She went on and conversed about the food they eat, the clothes the wear and their religion. When I asked her to define diversity, she said that in her opinion, diversity was simple a collection of people's race, background, and ethnicity. 

Friend from Virginia ~ She defined culture as being a persons background. She identified culture and being a multitude of things that one is used to doing either with family and or friends. When I asked her to explain diversity, she said that it was hard for her to put into words but she feels as though diversity means the people and all their differences.

Friend from Cape Verde Island~ My sister in law first thought I was trying to be funny. She said that I should know what her culture was about because she explained it to us all of the time. I then asked her to share with me her definition of culture. She went on to say that culture is a dance, a song, and a way of living. Culture to her is a way of doing things which are passed down through generations. She said that diversity is everything that each person brings to society. Its ones very on identity and uniqueness.

All of the aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this class was identified by each of my friends. I can recall an individual on the media segment referencing culture to a looking glass. She said that culture is everything that we say and do. 

The main points in regards to diversity and culture were covered. After listening to others speak about culture and diversity, I was happy to consider myself their friends. Although I was not influenced by the things that were mentioned, I was proud to know that we all think along the same lines. We all respect each other and the people of the world. We know that the world is such a good place because we all add to the uniqueness. 

~My Family Culture~

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.

As I look back and contemplate over a few things that are important to me and my family, I quickly realize that I hold a lot of things about my culture and my family in my heart. However, I do have a cross that my grandmother made for me that I treasure. Once I began driving at the age of 16, she told me to always keep the cross with me. She explained that the cross will resemble Christ and that I should walk a Christian walk. My grandmother passes away December 2008. The cross is hanging in my car on the review mirror. This will definitely be the first item.

The second item would be a scrapbook that I created a few months ago. This scrapbook is titled, "All About Me". I have pictures of almost all of my family members and poems that I wrote during different times of my life. This will constantly remind me of my family and all of the good times that we shared.

The third item would be a necklace that my husband had made for us after he returned from Iraq. The necklace has a picture of my daughter, my husband, and I. This was the very first picture that we took as a family of three. Our baby was 6 months old and it was the very first time that he had ever seen or touched her.

If I arrived and was told that I could only carry one item along, I would insert the necklace and the cross in my scrapbook. I almost feel as though there is no way possible that I could intentionally leave two of the items behind. I mentioned earlier that I hold a lot of thing in my heart. However, being able to see and hold things rekindle the flames and makes life a little easier to hold on.

I have learned that family and family culture is a way of living. In my opinion, without my family and the things that we share, I have nothing. This has made it easier for me to ensure that all of the children that I serve always hold their family and their family culture with them.