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