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.