Awareness of Microaggressions

This week I learned about microaggressions, I actually have experienced microaggression, but I just never knew what it was called. According to Derald Wing Sue (2011), the speaker of the media segment, “Microaggressions are brief everyday indignities that are verbal, behavioral or environmental, that they may be intentional or unintentionally communicated to women, to people of color, to gay/lesbians that have an insulting message behind them that often time causes severe psychological distress and harm” (Laureate Education, 2011).

I want to share my experience of microaggression, I shared this experience in my weekly reflective journal assignment, but since you all can't read it, I will share it with you all.

I have experienced microaggression, and for me it happened with my white friends or even co-workers. Once I was riding back from lunch with a co-worker who I felt close to. We were talking about some of the child care centers we worked with, and some of the teachers we really needed to mentor. During the conversation, my co-worker looked at me and said, “Cierra, sometimes I forget that you are black because you don’t act black.” I remember being upset, but not wanting to say something because I was afraid that I would be labeled as the “angry black woman.” I looked over at my co-worker who was smiling at me, and I could tell that she didn’t mean any harm, but I still felt hurt, anger and dishonored. 

I think what makes microaggression so interesting is that it is not done on purpose, most of the people who say it, is not aware that they might offend the person they are saying the comment to. I have to admit that I have done it before. I think the reason I did it is because I wanted to relate to the person. I know it is werid, but for some reason I thought that is how I let the person know that I know they are different and I made note of that. It's crazy, I know, and I won't be doing it ever again.

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


 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

The term culture means so many things to different people, and this week's blog assignment proved that. This week I spoke to my mom, boyfriend and bestfriend, and ask them some questions about culture.

I asked all three people what are their thoughts about diversity and culture.

My Mom:

Culture is everything, I think it has to do with how people live. In theory everyone wants to be diverse, but it's actually hard because everyone wants to be accepted.

Boyfriend:

Well look at our relationship, laugh out loud. We are so different from each other. I mean I was raised in Dallas, and you were raised in Austin, and that contributes to who we are as people. I like diversity and I like learning from people who are different from me. I love that we are from different races and cultures, I learn so much from you everyday.

Bestfriend:

I think culture is important, but I really don't know what my culture is. I get culture confused with identity. My mom and I was just talking about the importance of dating someone who is from the same yolk as you. When you date someone like you, it makes the relationship easier.

I learned a lot from the answers I received and thought a lot about what they all said. My mom's definition of culture is how I view culture. I also believe that culture is everything and it is how people live.

Everyone's opinion of culture is different, but my bestfriend had a point about dating someone who is from the same yolk as you. Don't get me wrong, I love my boyfriend, but I am happy that we share the same "deep" culture such as religion.

Culture is an interesting topic to learn about, because it is everyone, and it is more exciting to hear how other people view it.

My Family Culture

I love the scenarios when you have to decide 3 things to take with you. It's like you have to categorize your life. So after much thought I think I have my answers to the questions below.

1. Three items you would take to represent your family culture in case of a major catastrophe.
I wish this was simple, but it isn't, but I would take:

1. My chest of family photos

2. My cell phone

3. My chest full of letters from family member

So these three items represent something special to me. The chest full of family photos has all my photos of my family in there. There are pictures of my grandparents when they were young, and all my family. What I think is so interesting is that people don't take pictures for family albums anymore, but really now for Facebook and social media. The chest with all my photos gives me memories and remind me of where I came from.

My cell phone is my favorite thing, and it holds pictures, text, music and other things that represent my family. I have videos of gatherings we have had, and pictures that will never be deleted.

Since I was about 7 years old, I have been saving letters. I remember writing letters to my friends in between classes. I also remember there was a time in my life when my mother couldn't afford a home phone, so I communicated with family members via letters in the mail. My grandma and I wrote letters all the time, nearly every week, and she would share stories with me, and I would learn a little something about my family. 

If someone told me that I could only keep one item, it would have to be the phone. The videos on it are special, and one is of my grandma on her 85th birthday. 

What I learned about this exercise is that I don't items per say that represent my family culture but I do have memories. When I was doing this exercise I was looking around my house to find items that represented my family, but all I could find was pictures. I thought that was very interesting!