During
the course of this week, I have learned quiet a lot about
microaggressions. Microaggressions are brief everyday verbal, behavioural or
environmental indignities that are communicated intentionally or
unintentionally and which contain insulting messages often causing
psychological stress and harm to an individual (Laureate Education Inc.,
2011).
One
example of microagression which really stood out to me was one which I witnessed
yesterday. While walking down the block
to my cousin’s house, an elderly white woman was walking down the opposite side
of the road with a young black man walking towards her. As the young black man approached her, she
clutched her bag. After he had passed
her, she released her hold on the bag. This
to me was an example of microinsult. She
was sending the message that he was going to steal from her and that he was a criminal
which did not belong in society. Having
witnessed this, I was dumbfounded and rather saddened. It had me wondering whether she would have
behaved in that same manner, if I was the one walking towards her as I am brown
in complexion.
Having
read the articles for this week, and having witnessed microaggressions had me
to do some reflection. It had me to realize
that as individuals we need to be aware of ourselves as cultural beings, as
well as being aware of our biases, stereotypes, prejudices and assumptions
which influence our perceptions and behaviours.
Before we speak or act we need to think about what we are going to say
and how we behave. More specifically, as
early childhood educators we need to be cognizant of this as children usually
model/mimic what we say and do. As Margles
and Margles (2010) rightly put it, children are not born racist but rather are
taught racism.
References
Laureate
Education Inc. (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions
in everyday life [Video File].
Retrieved fromhttps://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_5416679_1%26url%3D
Margles, S., & Margles, R. M.
(2010). Inverting racism's distortions. Our Schools/Our Selves, 19(3),
137 - 149.
I have also been a victim of this treatment. In more than one occasion, white women clutch their bags at the sight of me or the group of friends that I may be around. You are right. It is sad.
ReplyDeleteZephirina clutching of the bag is something I see quite often and that is really sad. The assumption is all black folks are that way when we know that is not the case. Sad to say that is the world we live in.
ReplyDeleteThe things that we see are interesting when it is always hard to know the circumstances and left up to our interpretations. Perhaps it had nothing to do with color, but may have been simply that he was a man and that made her uncomfortable. Perhaps she wasn't worried about him stealing but was clutching the bag as a way of self calming and gaining personal control to get past a circumstance.
ReplyDeleteI do acknowledge and have seen this situation more than once where someone of a certain race does not trust another person simply because of their race, or their gender, their religion, the way they dress, their age, or other outward appearances. Many times I see this with people who have chosen to get tattoos or body piercings. Some times people will look at them differently, judge them, and distrust them. Even to the point of choosing which check out line to go to in the store, believing that a person who looks a certain way will not treat you as well as someone else. Part of life is about judging people, such as when I have to make a judgement about who the best person to hire is when there are many good candidates, and another part of life is not judging others when we should not. Will we ever get past this?
I can't believe that situation. Unfortunately, my grandmother is similar and I don't know why. I don't know if they grew up in an era when people were not as tolerant or what. Either way it's sad to see or hear that these situations still happen.
ReplyDeleteHi Zephirina,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post today! Even the appearance and the way certain people dress can cause us to stereotype each other.