Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Last week I witnessed a verbal racial microaggression at on of my enrollment Home Visits for Head Start. It was a microinsult against race and also occupation and environment. We went to the house to fill out all the paperwork for the child to start school. The parent had older children who were involved in Head Start years ago. The family was Caucasian and the home language was English. The mother told us her older child did not do well and fought a lot when he was in Head Start. She said it was because they only spoke Spanish in the class and did not speak any English. She said it was horrible and they were very frustrated, because she did not want her child to speak that language. I explained that is not how we function at our Head Start and we speak and teach in English and only use Spanish when needed.

I felt defensive when this microaggression was happening. I felt defensive because of my Spanish speaking population in the class and also the teachers. I also felt very defensive and upset because I work in a high quality Head Start program and I felt the mother put down our organization and I feel very proud of the work we do. I also felt saddened that this was her perception and she had these preconceived ideas about her daughters schooling experience.

My experiences this week made me think about the small microaggressions which are made without intent. Words are very powerful and can make an impact on people which scars. Many racial microaggressions are so subtle that neither target nor perpetrator may entirely understand what is happening. This is why it is so important to choose your words wisely without implication and be conscious about different cultures history and stereotypes.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

The first person I asked is one of my coworkers at Head Start. My family services teacher is a Hispanic woman who speaks both English and Spanish. She is 50 years old. We had a discussion about her definition of culture and diversity. She said culture is your background and diversity is what makes you different from one another.

I called my step-father who is male and 65 years old. I asked his definition of diversity and culture. He said culture is features shared by certain groups of people and diversity is how people are different.

I then asked my daughter Harley who is 11 her definitions of culture and diversity. She said culture is like your skin color and and diversity is differences.

The definitions of culture were mostly looking at the topic from a broad overview. surface culture such as foods, holidays, and traditions were not mentioned.

When I read over the definitions of culture and diversity I think the different people I interviewed touched on the deep meaning of both. It made me want to educate others on the many different aspects of both topics and how they influence our lives.

My Family Culture

Imagine the following:

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

The first item I would choose to take with me holds great significance. My mother passed away from cancer two years ago. My brother took some of her ashes and had them blown into a glass orb with speckles of gold all through it. Looking at it reminds me of the ocean and all the trips we took together to beautiful places where we could swim in the warm water. I hold this very dear and would want to bring it with me.
The second item is a drawing my husband did for me before we were married and was the first present he had ever given me. He is a wonderful artist and since then has painted and given me many more of his pieces. This one is especially dear because he did the whole drawing in black colored pen and it is in Day Of The Dead style. It makes me think back to all the great times we have had and how I felt when I was given the picture.

The third item I would take with me is a small glass cube which my daughters picture was etched into when they were the ages of 2 and 4. I love it because it reminds me of them at that age and how quickly time flies. It would be a way to bring a picture with me and to always have a memory of my younger children.

If I was told I could only keep one of the items upon arrival I would feel worse than if I never took them at all. I already had in my mind I got to keep the items and have them to remind me of my past. It also would be a very difficult decision on which two items to get rid of, and I would feel horrible throwing away things which mean so much.

I have learned about what type of things are important to me as a person. The small things I would take are connected to memories and a certain time. The orb with my mother’s ashes connects me to all the memories surrounding her. Most of all it made me reflect about the important people in my life and the time with them.