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.