Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Considering that microaggressions are represented in everyday indignities and are often intended as compliments with no malice or ill intent (Sue, Microaggressions in Everyday Life, n. d.), I witness them often.  Having spent a great deal of time with Billie over the last 15 years, my best friend from El Salvador is often the victim of microaggressions.  Because part of his identity is that of a college educated working professional, he receives many backhanded compliments that represent microinsults and microinvalidations. 

Upon meeting new people in social settings and describing college or work experiences, I have heard people say to him, “Oh I haven’t met a lot of Mexicans like you, good for you, man!”  For of all, he is not Mexican.  That aside, this implies that as someone with brown skin and Spanish speaking ability is unlikely to have the intellectual ability to attain a college degree and find a career within the competitive job market in Chicago.  This is an example of a microinsult.  
While the intention through many of these microinsults is to compliment Billie, I have also heard people invalidate his experiential realities (Sue, Microaggressions in Everyday Life, n. d.).  Although Billie and his family had to step over dead bodies and puddles of blood as a civil war ravaged his home community in El Salvador, there are people who believe that because he has accomplished so much, life must have paved an easy path for him.  “Oh man, you’re so lucky you got to get out of there, things were so much easier for you here,” I’ve heard someone comment to him.  This implies that leaving his home country was the family’s first choice and that they were lucky to leave their home.  If any members of the family were to be asked about that sentiment, the response would indicate different feelings about the situation.  Additionally, this discounts the challenges that immigrant families face when moving to another country.  Just because he has found success does not mean that he has had an easy path.  Reflecting on these situations this week has has heightened my awareness of the damage everyday indignities can cause.  Although these microaggressions often occur with no malice or ill intent, we must be more aware of our own biases and how we let those biases affect our words and behaviors.    

References

Microaggressions in Everyday Life  [Course Media]. (n. d.) [With Sue]. Retrieved from

https://class.waldenu.edu/

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Through reaching out to close friends and family this week and asking about their perceptions of culture and diversity, I heard many of the aspects presented in this course.  Among the responses shared as definitions of diversity included the following aspects:

• Differing political ideas
• Linguistic distinctions (including grammatical structure and vocabulary)
• Variances in personal relationship choices

My friends and family agreed that when any combination of the above converge in one place or are shared within a community, diversity exists within that community or location.  

When I asked family members and friends about culture, their responses also included many of the aspects discussed in this course, namely:

• Shared beliefs and perspectives held by a particular group of people
• Shared language held by a particular group of people
• Shared lifestyle and customs between a particular group of people

My friends and family believe that these "particular groups of people" range from groups within a particular community, to those practicing a particular religion, to those from particular ethnic backgrounds.     

Additional aspects of diversity omitted from these responses according to Deaux (2001) included vocations, avocations, and stigmatized identities, however when mentioned to those I discussed diversity and culture with, they agreed that these aspects were certainly representative of diversity. Similarly, discussion of power culture and family culture were omitted, however several of my friends certainly saw the influence of the power culture on their own family culture once the topic was introduced to the conversation. 

Although we have focused primarily on culture and diversity within the scope of early childhood, my conversations with friends and family this week indicated that culture and diversity impact the lives of all of us, and continue to influences decisions throughout our lives.  As early childhood professionals, I believe this knowledge will help us be more culturally aware and welcoming of diversity.  Both of these qualities are likely to help us build stronger relationships with children and effective partnerships with families, which are both essential to effective and equitable early childhood programming (Souto-Manning, 2010).   

References

Deaux, K. (2001). Social identity. Encyclopedia of women and gender, 1–2, 1–9. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/

Souto-Manning, M. (2010). Challenges to consider, strengths to build on. Young Children, 65(2), 82-88. Retrieved from https://my.campuscruiser.com/

   

My Family Culture

A catastrophe that destroys everything I know would be absolutely devastating.  If I were fortunate enough to be among the survivors of this catastrophe, I would see new opportunities in being able to relocate to a new country willing to take on refugees, however many challenges would ensure.  Living in an entirely new culture completely different from my own would be frightening, nerve-racking, yet intellectually stimulating.
Although the situation would be shocking and distressing, I would want to make the most of it. Realizing that living in an entirely new country is much different than being a tourist and simply visiting there, it would be time to start learning about an entirely new set of norms.  That being said, I would be careful not to take anything with me that would offend or upset the people in my new home country, however, I would not want to completely forget the family culture that I would leave behind.  If I could take three items with me, they would be:

• A family photo album full of pictures and memories from my family experiences from the time of my birth to present time
• An afghan blanket my grandmother made for me when I was younger. It would serve as a memory of my family's giving spirit (and it would be responsible for keeping me warm!)
• A family cookbook full of recipes that remind me of home

I would be distraught to learn that upon arrival, I could only keep one item.  While I would be in a situation where I had lost so much already, this would be an additional shock.  Giving up any two of the three would force me to give up either physical representation of family memories, a meaningful and practical gift, or the comfort that comes along with home cooking.
As a person new to a country, I would feel the responsibility to adapt my behavior to the cultural norms of the country that has accepted me in as a refugee.  In respecting the culture of others, I am saddened to think that I would lose some of my own family culture.
This activity serves as a reminder of how many families who have origins in other countries may feel upon their move to the United States.  They may be forced into situations in which family members feel the pressure to assimilate into the power culture, and in doing so, some of their own family culture may be lost.