Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

During this week I overheard a conversation that was taking place in the hallway within a group of children. There were two little white girls (1st grade) and a little Hispanic girl named Josenia. (also 1st grade). Josenia was coming back from speech therapy and the two little white girls noticed she had a pink toy in her hand. They walked over to her and began asking her questions about the toy and where she had gotten it. Josenia was very shy acting and as she lowered her head, I heard her mumble something. The speech therapist was just a couple steps ahead and she stopped and looked back at Josenia. I could tell the speech teacher was listening in on the conversation and then I heard one of the other little girls ask her why she went with that teacher. I truly believe that these little girls were unintentional and meant no harm in anything they said, but Josenia sure looked scared.

I felt scared and nervous for Josenia as I know that she speaks some English as I have some interaction with her in the bus room, but her English is somewhat limited. I think she really was not sure what to say to them.

I can see after reading and learning about microaggressions that this is something that happens very frequently, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes intentionally.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

After speaking with a family member, and asking about him to define the terms culture and diversity this is how he described them:

Culture can be described as an identifiable group of people with common values and customs.

Diversity can be described as variations within a culture of those values and customs which are not necessary common to the culture but not sufficient enough to break from the culture.

A colleague of mine defined these terms as follows:

Culture can be described as the way people think and live.

Diversity can be defined as the differences in people and places.

I asked a friend from Iceland to also define these two terms and these are his responses:

Culture can be defined as the norms and the conditions under which a society lives.

Diversity can be defined as recognition of different cultures and different norms between more than one group of people.

I believe that each of these responses are very similar and reflect what I think and believe as the definitions of both terms. I also believe that through my educational courses I have a better understanding of these terms. I do not believe that the terms offer any omission, but I do believe that these terms have been described somewhat superficially, which is how I would have described them before studying them more thoroughly in my classes.

My Family Culture

What three items would I take with me, in the event that my country was devastated by a major catastrophe, and the emergency government had decided that the surviving citizens would be best served if they were evacuated to outher countries that were willing to take refugees,and me and my immediate family are among the survivors? I would take - My Bible, my family photos, and my passport.

I would take my Bible because as a Christian, it is where I find my strength. It is something that I can rely on to help me through troubled times.

I would also take photos of my family. I love my family and pictures would offer me some sort of comfort if they could not physically be with me.

My third and final item would be my passport. I know that when I have been out of the country in the past, that my passport is golden. It is my way back to where I am from and if the opportunity ever came to return to my country, I would hope that it would get me there.

If I was told that I could only keep one item it would be my Bible. I would just have to rely on my Lord and Savior to help me through.

This exercise really got me to thinking about what was most important. My bible and my photos are relevant to my family culture and who I am.