Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I think that it's important to mention that microaggression occur in many relationships we have within our lives. One aggression that I was on the receiving end occurred when another mother (and a long-time friend of mine) made a comment regarding her son's soccer team and then made a subsequent comment about the league that my son plays in. Her comment conveyed a message, that because she lives outside the city of Philadelphia, Pa (and I live in more rural area of state), that her son was in a better and more competitive league. She did not know that we are all a part of a similar league and shared the same experience. (Which I was quick and a little too defensively inform her of). It took me awhile to shake the statements she made because it brought up other statements she has made in the past which were also unintentionally hurtful and were made in a comparative way regarding the areas in which we live. So when Dr. Sue, made the comment this week during the video about how cumulative microaggressions could be, I definitely could relate to that statement.

Learning more about microaggressions and the different contexts in which they occur has made me more observant during the conversations that I am a part of, as well as, the conversations which are occurring around me. It has also made me think about the stereotypes and biases I have, and has made me much from sensitive to them. Especially, when engaged in dialogues with my own children.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture-Week 3

For this assignment I interviewed three people and asked them to share their definition of culture and diversity. I first interviewed a colleague and she shared that to her 'culture' is what a person believes in and what rules they follow. She also shared that it is greatly influenced by where they are from, what ethnicity they are and what gender they are. To her, 'diversity' is a term used to acknowledge the differences that each of us exhibit. She made a point to say that she views 'diversity' as a strength and something that should be acknowledged and explored.

The second person I interviewed was my husband. I chose to ask him these questions, because often times we don't see eye to eye regarding cultural diversity and I thought maybe this would help me to understand his perspective better. My husband shared that to him 'culture' is the way people live, the hobbies they have, their styles of shelter, and what kind of food they eat. (To my surprise he did not mention anything about their country of origin, race or ethnicity). He defined 'diversity' as very simply, just being different.

The third person I interviewed was my 11 year old daughter. I often say that she is an old soul in a young person's body and I was genuinely interested in her interpretation of the terms. My daughter shared that to her 'culture' is the history of a specific person. She defined 'diversity' as a very special trait and there is nothing else like it. I love that she cherishes being different and celebrates the differences she sees in others.

Within the answers I received, some of the aspects to culture and diversity which we have covered in this course were mentioned and others were not. An example of an aspect that has been covered in this course is that the meaning of culture can be very broad and encompass many aspects of our lives. I loved the simplicity of my daughter's answers, but I can see that there is more that I can teach her about her own culture so that she knows how to articulate the broad spectrum of what the term can mean.

Aspects which have been discussed, but were omitted, within the definitions that I received included understanding the concept of surface culture and deep culture. For both my husband and my daughter, they seemed to stick to culture on the surface level, whereas, my colleague began to look further into deep culture, with her reference to a person's set of beliefs.

I found it interesting to ask different people about their definitions of culture because it helps me see things from their perspective. It also has highlighted how what I have learned within this course has broadened my own understanding of culture and diversity.

Imagine......

What if…..

There was a major catastrophe which made me have to leave the country, and I could only take 3 items with me I would take our important documents (ex. birth certificates, marriage certificates, photo id and social security cards), a zip drive which contains our family photos, and favorite memories and something to use as protection.

Each of these items are important to me. If I would have to move to a foreign country I would want to make sure I had the appropriate documents attached to our identities to prove we are family are to be kept together. I would take our family photos in the hopes of preserving memories for my children. I would also take some form of protection (not a gun) but something that is small and could be used if needed for the purpose of maintaining our safety. Upon arrival if I were told we could only keep one of these things, I would most likely keep our important documents, because my priority would be to keep my family together.

Thinking about the things that are truly important in a time of crisis can certainly put things into perspective. Materialistic things don't matter. To me family is the most important and keeping everyone together would be my primary focus. "Things" come and go, but family is forever.