Awareness of Microaggressions

This past week was Parent Teacher Conferences at school. In my classroom, I have four assistants who are very active with my students and also with material creation.  I was waiting for a 3 o'clock conference with one of my students parents, who was Hispanic. She was over an hour late arriving to the conference.  When I was waiting one of my assistants, who is also Hispanic, said "those latinos run on a different clock then everyone else." I think she was referring to the fact that the parent was from Mexico, while she was from Spain. I mentioned to her that I knew she was coming from DC and the traffic was probably bad coming up from the south.  When the parent arrived she did mention that it took her an hour what would normally take her 25 minutes.  It was interesting to me that she felt comfortable making this racial microaggression because she was of a similar background, but then differentiated that it was "those latinos" that are always late. My other assistants also laughed in agreement, which I found interesting as well.  Looking back, I wish I said more regarding how that could be considered insulting but because I was of a different racial background I felt almost like it was inappropriate to comment because I would be an "outsider" commenting on "their ways".  

After watching Dr. Sue's video it was very interesting to me how often and common microaggressions are. It also became evident that because they are not conscious they can be extremely hurtful. After studying this topic this week, I feel it has made me more aware of how these prejudices exist in society and can impact others around you. Even if it is made by someone of a similar culture, the fact that a group of people is being labeled or identified by any one particular trait (positive or negative) is a gross overstatement that can do a lot of damage to any individual social identity.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I asked three people in my life their definitions of culture and diversity, below are their responses.

• Sue is a friend of mine from college. She is of Asian decent and is a 8th grade math teacher. She responded: 
• Culture: is a way of life that you grow up learning based on your backdrops, location and those around you
• Diversity: is the meshing of different cultures.

• Meg is a friend of mine from grade school. She is Caucasian and is a speech and language pathologist. She responded:
• Culture: customs, beliefs, language and traditions passed down through generations that reflect heritage
• Diversity: differences in culture that make people unique and establish us as individuals. 
• Larry is a friend of mine from college. He is of African-American decent is a computer programmer. He responded:
• Culture: the behavioral or characteristic nature of how a group acts
• Diversity: made up of different or a variety of elements/backgrounds/items etc. 

All of the answers above included some characteristics of what we have learned is the definition of culture and diversity.  For example, Sue included that culture includes how you were raised, Meg included that it is passed down through generations and that it also includes beliefs, language and traditions and Larry included that it has a group component.  They all included that diversity has something to do with differences (whether it be of cultures or backgrounds). In the different definitions of cultures, they mainly focused on the surface culture. Meg did touch a bit on deep culture including language and beliefs in her definition.  However, they didn't include things like showing emotion, gender roles, health care, values or even the role of children as a part of the definition of culture. Meg also touched on the fact that diversity is not just a difference or a meshing of differences but it is also what makes people unique and establishes us as individuals. 

After looking at my friends definitions of diversity and culture it demonstrated to me how different each individual's views, perceptions and beliefs are.  In fact, it was a perfect example to me of culture and diversity.  It also intrigued me to want to start more conversations regarding these topics with my friends not just my colleagues to be able to get a better understanding of how everyone's personal beliefs can impact their views of others.

My Family Culture

If a major disaster forced me and my family to move to another country with a different culture and I was only allowed to take three items with me that reminded me of my family culture I would bring: a photo album, a teddy bear and a cookbook.
 I would want to bring a photo album to visually represent my upbringing and to have pictures of all of the people that were part of my family that may no longer be with me.

 I am adopted and the only item I have, besides my name, from before my adoption was a teddy bear that I have kept very near and dear to my heart since then.  He was a childhood friend when needed and even though I am an adult now, he still reminds me of the tough but also the good times of my childhood.

I would also bring a cookbook, well actually it is a notebook with various recipes passed down from my grandmother to my mother to me. My grandmother passed away when I was 10 but one memory I hold on to was her amazing baking.  Because it is one of the only artifacts I have from my grandmother it is very important to me. 

If I had to keep only one of the three items I would keep the teddy bear.  He is the only object that has been a consistent part of my life for all of the life stages and truly represents a part of who I am. 

When doing this exercise it made me remember when I left the USA to study abroad and I had to limit what I packed with me to just 3 suitcases.  Obviously I needed clothes but I also wanted to make sure I had some reminders of other things that were important to me including pictures and other reminders of home.  Even though I wasn't staying forever I was reminded often of things that I was used to that we had in America that they did not have in Ireland. My parents sent me a few a care packages, mostly filled with food items that they did not have, but it just reminded me of my American culture.