Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I can remember a time when I was the recipient of a microaggression. The comment made to me was “that was really very generous; you are not stingy with money at all”. The comment was made when we were collecting money for a group gift for a coworker that was leaving our school. I guess I must have given more than she thought I would have being Jewish.  I was a little shocked to hear her say that. She never made any stereotypical remarks before this incident. The hidden message to me was that Jews are all cheap.

The experience made me feel very uncomfortable and hurt. I felt that I was being stereotyped based on my religion as I have heard these type of comments before.  People do not necessarily mean to intentionally stereotype.  They are not trying to hurt feelings but these comments are very upsetting. This experience is not even close to how it must feel to be the victim of prejudice or discrimination but I did get a glimpse into the negative feelings about yourself when you are lumped into a category and stereotyped because of any one of a number of your social identities.

After learning about microagressions this week, I learned that we must be aware of what we say and how we say it. I am really now thinking differently about prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination. Little comments and slights are cumulative in nature and cause harm and damage to the recipient. We should not make anyone feel offended by our words or actions. There can be unintentional hidden messages behind every seemingly benign comment and compliment. As early childhood educators working everyday with children and families, it is our responsibility to ensure that we do not marginalize anyone.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I chose to interview four people on culture and diversity.

Culture is what you define yourself as. It is what naturally resonates with you. Diversity is the presence or representation of numerous and unique subjects or people. Diversity is group that defines itself in a certain way. Jonathan-age 22

Culture is something you are born with and what your parents are developing in you. It includes your language, beliefs, clothing, food and different components of what is taught to you by your family. Diversity is different groups of people who have their own religious beliefs and own identities. Marilyn-age 68

Culture is the way your local society reacts to different things- your neighborhood way of doing things. Diversity is different ethnic groups with different opinions. Michael-age 52

Culture is the way people function in everyday life. The way they dress and the food they eat. Diversity is various types of groups in one area. Hannah age 16

There were many aspects of culture and diversity that I have studiedin this course that are included in the answers I received.

Jonathan said that culture is how you define yourself and what resonates with you. The example comes to mind is our social identity. Our social identity is a part of our individual culture and it is very much how you define yourself and what resonates and is important to you. Diversity as being a group that defines itself in a certain way would be people that affiliate with a certain religion. People that speak the same language, people that live in the same country, state or town.

Marilyn mentions culture as what your parents are developing in you. This relates to what we have learned about culture coming from the relationships and connections with the people in your life. We learned that language, clothing and food are taught by your family. This entails your surface culture. I also like that she said your beliefs. This is looking at deep culture. She stated that different groups of people that share common religious beliefs and identities. This is definitely a part of what makes people diverse.

Michael talks about a neighborhood way of doing things and how groups of people react to things. This may relate to a culture of a community of people as they may be a part of a dominant culture. Diversity is stated as different ethnic groups and having different ethnic groups in one area. This means that a particular place is diverse. It could mean a neighborhood, a school setting, a work environment.

Hannah said that culture is the way people function in their everyday life. It is the way people function is culture. The way they dress and the food they eat. This is a part of surface culture. She states that diversity is various types of groups in one area. This is a part of diversity in a given area.

What was omitted?

This was an interesting exercise. What was omitted was looking at diversity on an individual basis. The four people that I interviewed looked at diversity in terms of groups of people. No one looked at diversity on an individual basis as each one of us is a unique person. No one talked about diversity in terms of family culture. Everyone looked at ethnicity. No one was able to look at the make-up of a family as being unique and diverse.

What have I learned?

I have learned that my understanding of culture and diversity has broadened. I was so interested in what everyone had to say on the topics. I find that I now have a whole new area of interest. The topics of culture and diversity are so much more interesting to me now. There is so much more to culture and diversity than people actually think about. It goes so much deeper than ethnicity, language and religion.

My Family Culture

If I had evacuate to a different country and I had to choose only three small items to take that represented my family culture, I would choose a family photo album, my Shabbat candle sticks and my mom’s box of index card recipes.

The photo album contains pictures that I have put together of my immediate family and pictures of both of my parents families. I would explain that each picture contains wonderful memories and wonderful stories that I have been told about generations of people in my family that I have never even met. I have had wonderful relationships with so many of these people and those that were part of my family culture. All of these people contribute to my story and my culture.

My Shabbat candlesticks are very important to me as they represent my Jewish religion. In my family culture we celebrate our Sabbath every Friday night. We may not light candles and go to temple every week but lighting candles on Shabbat will keep me in touch with my religion which is very much a part of my family culture.

The recipes have been handed down from my great grandmother. The recipes contain dishes that were prepared on all of the different Jewish holidays. There are also wonderful recipes that I just remember eating as a kid. My great grandmother made them, my grandmother and my mom. My mom just moved to Florida from NY and now we prepare these same dishes together. These recipes are very important to me as they are a link to my relatives and very much a part of my family culture.

I would feel very sad if I had to give up one of these items as they are all so important to me and each one has equal value in my eyes.  Each of these items contains memories and links to my family history, my family culture and my family uniqueness.

From doing this exercise, the insights that I gained about myself and my family culture is that I can see now that my religion is important to me. By taking with me the photos, the candlesticks and the recipes, I see what is really important and what I wish to preserve about my family, my culture and my diversity. I am also now beginning to feel what it must be like for a family that comes to a different country. It must be so scary and difficult to leave behind so much and try to start all over again trying to hold on to your home culture while assimilating into the new culture in order to survive.