Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Here is a media presentation by the bestselling author Derald Wing Sue explaining what microaggression is, how it manifests itself, how it impacts people, and what can be done to address it.


Recalling a personal experience of verbal microaggresion, that occurred just last week that left me feeling quite uncomfortable, something of an insult:

 

 
True, teachers all over are not paid as high as the other professions, but I believe sitting at home and doing nothing will not get me even the little that I get. More than the money, the teaching job brings a sense of achievement which cannot be compared to any other profession. I felt her superiority complex as a qualified MBA, able to get much higher remuneration than a low paying job of a nursery teacher, belittle me, leaving me in a ‘catch -22’, not knowing how to react, whether to ignore it and suffer the consequence or to raise the issue. “Microaggressions is cumulative in nature where one act adds to another” ((Laureate Education, 2011). Similar statements by her in the past, added to this, made me difficult to cope with this issue, leaving me spiritually sapped.
 

Human mind is so quick to categorize people based on the stereotypes or misinformation that are perpetuated in the society. Society needs to begin to look at the moral, spiritual connectedness with each and everyone. We need to ensure accurate exchange of information in our interactions to overcome bias and develop interconnectedness. Let us together join in the journey to become a fair, just and humane society. 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

“Everything we do is related to culture”, Louise Derman-Sparks.

“Culture is a set of unconscious rules that govern everything we do, that we learn early on.” Janet Gonzalez-Mena.

These profound statements by internationally respected authors encompass the whole meaning of culture.   However, let us find out how other people different in their race, culture, age, and profession view culture and diversity. For this purpose I interviewed three different people:  

Katie is a white skinned British teacher teaching 3 to 4 years old at the same nursery as I teach in. She is married to a black skinned African man and have 3 children. She is a catholic and he is a protestant which made her an ideal candidate to define culture and diversity. Her response was

Culture is what makes a person - their history, their customs, where they come from, their traditions, and their morals, what they believe in.

Diversity is what makes you different from everyone else, makes you an individual.

Livia is a 13 year old, 8^th grade Indian, attending the Indian School in United Arab Emirates. Her school has a mix of students from different parts of India and therefore the school celebrates festivals of different Indian cultures. Her response was:

Culture is the traditions and customs, or the habits what a person, a country, or a place follows. For example, I follow my religious cultural tradition of not wearing ornaments when people around me do so.

Diversity is the differences in the culture and tradition that we see around.

Jenny is an Indian house wife brought up in India but now residing in United Arab Emirates. She is a supportive wife of an engineer working in a multinational company who through her hospitality projects her culture, and a mother of 3 girls who is always ensuring that her girls are standing firm in their culture and tradition and not deviate from it.

Culture is everything - our way of living, our surrounding, our religion, our race, our ethnicity all determine our personality, who we are.

Diversity – Differences are everywhere. Within one place itself there are differences in religion, in the ways of religious practices, differences in language and style of language. Each of these differences makes our unique identity.  As the saying goes ‘Unity in diversity’ is what is needed to get along with the differences.

From these interviews it was evident that each of their life’s experience influenced their definition of culture and diversity. In fact, it is our unique experience with family culture and group culture that defines who we are, our personal life and our professional life. Looking at Katie’s response, the diversity to which she has been exposed gives her a broader perspective on culture and diversity. Livia’s exposure to her school’s value of culture in celebrating the different cultural festivals limits her conception of culture to what is seen on the surface as in holidays, festivals and traditions. Her example of wearing ornaments indicates her cultural socialization which defines the way she lives. Jenny’s perspectives too were broad as in including our way of living which is based on her cultural socialization.

However, we have been learning that culture is deeper that what we see on the surface (Derman-Sparks, & Edwards, 2010). Our personality traits whether we are competitive or empathetic, or our role behaviors such as do we chose to be leaders or care giver, our gestures, the way we talk, the tone we use,  our parenting styles, our outlook on others culture all indicate our cultural influence.

Learning about culture and diversity, as well as reflecting on others viewpoints it is clear that our cultural socialization shapes our way of life, our perspectives, and our beliefs, how we judge others, determines how we feel about our membership and determines whether we want to continue, modify or reject our cultural values and traditions.

Reference

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

My Family Culture

Every day, in every action, we express our particular group culture and our individual relationship to our culture. It is our way of being in the world. Our thoughts, our gestures, our actions and reactions, the very way we perceive, reflect our unique experiences with our group culture and our family culture. It’s just that most of the time people don’t notice their culture unless they find themselves in the midst of another culture. For example, in a hypothetical situation where I would have to leave my country with three items that is precious to me, I would take my Bible, my passport and my academic credentials. All of which reflect who I am.

 My social identity of that of a born again Christian, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ and relying on His word for His guidance and leading, would prompt me to take my Bible with me. In an unknown place, in the midst of confusion and chaos, surrounded by uncertainties not knowing what lies ahead, my bible which is a ‘lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path’ (Psalm 119:105), would provide me with the assurance, support and strength that I would need at that critical time. My passport would be the only proof of who I am. Especially as a refugee in a foreign land I would need my passport to prove my identity since it records my name, my date of birth, and my nationality. In order to be able to make a good living, I would need my academic credentials with me which would prove my academic qualification and entails me to a rightful position in the job front.

Though these three items reflect my social identity, Bible of that of a Christian, passport of that an Indian and my academic credentials of an early childhood educator, if asked to give up any two of these and keep the third item, I would select my academic credentials. Bible I would always be able to buy a new one and moreover the basic foundation has already been laid which cannot perish or fade away. Passport would not be of further need if my country is totally devastated and I would be able to establish my refugee status in the new country of residence. Whereas my academic credentials are something I would never be able to replace. From the age of 3 one toils to gain these credentials and therefore losing them would be an irreplaceable loss.

 In everything they do, families communicate their culture’s values, beliefs, rules and expectations to their children. It is my family’s values, beliefs, rules and expectations that is reflected in me when I chose the three items I did. When I finally narrowed the items to my academic credentials, it was my family values of being able to provide for myself and not stretch out my hand before others being reflected. Through this exercise it was clear that our cultural identity also influences how we live our other social identities.