Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I recently experienced a microaggression from one of my student’s parents.  I am the lead teacher of a Pre-K class in an early childhood setting.  I do not have an assistant so before I arrive, my students are combined with the 3 year old class.  Two weeks ago, I was gathering my students one morning to go over to our classroom when one of my newer students arrived with his father.  I welcomed them to the classroom and politely informed them that we were getting ready to go over to our class.  I did not really get a response from the father but I didn’t think anything of it because I have only seen him two or three times.  Later that morning, another teacher stopped me in the hallway and told me that this child’s father had talked to her and had a lengthy conversation about his son’s language development and some concerns he had.  A few days later, I came in a little early just as the father was coming in and I tried to talk to him about the concerns he had about his son.  He blew me off and said he was late for work.  I found out a few days later from the teacher he had talked to previously that he did not want to discuss his child with a white woman and if it were up to him, his son wouldn’t be in my class.  When I heard this, I immediately felt very defensive and hurt.  I know my credentials and I know that I am a good teacher.  My race should have nothing to do with my ability to teach a child of another race, gender, or nationality.  I know what is developmentally appropriate and I try to go above and beyond when I am in my classroom.

My experience showed me that there is still a lot of prejudice in the world today.  Prejudice isn’t just white against black, as I have often thought it to be.  Anyone can be the victim of prejudice, even when it is least expected.  Now that I am aware of this parent’s view of me, I have decided to make sure that my actions are professional and show respect toward him, even though his actions to me are not the same.  It only takes one person to turn prejudice around but that one person can also validate a person’s prejudice as well.

Perspectives on diversity and culture

The first person I interviewed, Jennifer, was a friend from church.  When I asked her what her definition of culture was, she responded with the following: “Culture is how we are raised.  People are from different cultures; there again no one culture is right or wrong but they are different.  I just had a conversation today with my Ethiopian friend who was telling me of some cultural differences where he is from.  I think we are sheltered culturally.  There are so many different cultures out there but we tend to only stick to our culture that is right here around us.”  She went on to discuss diversity by saying “diversity to me means differences.  We live in a very diverse world.  I am open minded to diversity as to where some people are not.  Race does not matter to me....intellectual differences do not matter to me....political views.....economic status...etc....differences to me are what make the world a more exciting place to live.”

Next, I interviewed a friend of a friend named Manuel.  Manuel said “my definition of culture would have to be how a person values their own families beliefs as well as their own.  Diversity would have to be would be having respect for culture and also being in complete acceptance of cultures and beliefs.”

Finally, I talked to my best friend Stephanie.  She defined culture as “A community or group of people who have the same ideas and values and morals; beliefs.  Diversity is the differences from one culture to another.”

Looking over these answers, it seems like everyone had the same kind of answer to both of the questions.  Culture is how we were raised- our beliefs, values, morals, etc.  while diversity is the differences between cultures.  Over the past two weeks, we have been talking about specific areas regarding culture and diversity, not just the definitions.  While it is important to comprehend these definitions, it is important to understand these terms from a personal perspective and relate them to our own lives, as Jennifer did.

Asking people for their definition of the terms culture and diversity only scrapes the surface.  This week we were asked to relate specific aspects of culture and diversity from real life situations.  By doing this, we were able to get these terms off of the paper and into our heart.

Through this assignment, I realized that other people, even people who are culturally different from myself, all have the same basic understanding of what culture and diversity is.  Some people are more open minded about culture and diversity while others are rather close minded.  Jennifer challenged me to take a deeper look at myself and how open I am to diversity.  I have always been open to diversity as far as race and economic status, but am I really that open minded when it comes to age or abilities.  Thankfully, I believe that I am pretty open minded on all aspects of diversity but I could always use some work, especially when it comes to people who do not necessarily do things the way that I do them.  I get frustrated because their way is different and I have realized that this difference may be because of a cultural difference.  I need to be more open minded and patient!

My family culture

This week’s assignment was to imagine that there was a major catastrophe which resulted in my immediate family and I needing to evacuate to another country.  In this scenario, I was allowed to take one chance of clothes and 3 small items that I hold dear and that represent my family culture. 

The first item I would take with me would be my photo albums containing pictures of my children, our extended family, and friends.  This would be important to me because I would be able to look back on the pictures and remember the people in the pictures and the places the pictures were taken.  I would also take my grandmother’s Bible.  She had this Bible as long as I can remember.  She spent several hours every night in her bathroom reading from this Bible and praying to God.  She also recorded births, weddings, and deaths of our family members in it.  When she passed away 2 years ago, it was given to me by my aunt and uncle.  Her Bible was a part of her and I would not only want it to read and continue to grow in my walk with God but also because it makes me feel like I still have a piece of her with me.  The last thing I would take would be an American flag because it is a symbol of who I am and the freedom I grew up with.  The American flag is like my comfort blanket.  Although I would have to leave my country, I will still have a piece of my country with me.

If something happened and I was only able to bring one of the three things I brought with me, I would have to bring my grandmother’s Bible.  As much as I like the sentimental aspect of the pictures and the patriotic symbol of the flag, I do not think I could do without my grandmother’s Bible.  Her Bible is my heritage and I would do everything I could to keep that and even pass it down to my children and my children’s children.

As a result of this exercise, I realized that my family culture is made up of a combination of a love of God and others.  While family and closeness is important to my family, we also understand that God is the center of it all and without Him, we are nothing.  I am thankful for my grandmother and the strong role she still has in my family even though she is no longer here with us.

The most influential people in my life: my Nana and my Paw-Paw