Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

A microaggression that I detected this week is when I had an appointment at the dr. office. The microaggression was racial. I went up to the window to sign in and one of the assistance mumbled “they are never on time.” I do not think that she knew I heard the statement. This was unintentional to me because the assistant did not directly say it to me, even though I knew she was speaking of me because I was running late for the third time. When I felt like the target, I was upset but since we were in a professional environment and she did not make the statement directly towards me, I let it go. It made me feel bad and a target of being stereotyped due to worldviews and personal views from other groups that are different. The assistant was white and never demonstrates any good customer service skills. The assistant never speaks when I speak to her; she spreads her nose up at me when I do speak. My observation experiences this week affected my perception of the effects of stereotypes on people, made me more aware of microaggressions through personal views. I do not believe that all groups of people are the same and not every individual stereotypes certain groups. The reason that I state this is because I work in a diverse atmosphere and groups of people such as white do not disrespect or make me feel any different.  In fact the groups of people that I work with that are different from me, actually make me feel better about myself than my own culture.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

  
The first person that I spoke to was my best friend who is African American. Her definition of culture is where a group of people come from and share the same characteristics, family history and food. Her definition of diversity is a mixed group of cultures. The second person that I spoke to was my neighbor who is of mixed races defines culture as what a group of people practice, race and value. Her definition of diversity was a group of people from different backgrounds that live among each other. The last person that I spoke with was a co-worker who is Caucasian defines culture as a connection with a group of people in which they share the same beliefs, values, and traditions. My coworker defines diversity as a group of different races, cultures, genders, religions interact together in some way.   

The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course are included in all of the answers from the three people that I made contact with. All of the responses given can be considered as a definition of culture. Examples of culture is when a group of people such as my own (African American) share some or all of the characteristics, behaviors, lifestyles, beliefs, values and religion. Another example is the culture of Hispanics. Hispanics share the same gender roles, values, music, religious, holidays, eating habits and family structure that make up their culture  (Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2012).  An example of diversity is that of my classes that I currently take at Walden University, my community and my workplace. Diversity is certain ideas, beliefs, social and economic class, race, genders, lifestyles,  and values that may be similar and different between groups of people (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008).  Other people’s definition of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics by showing me how each person from a different group view culture and diversity. My thinking was also influenced how the definition can be different or similar depending on personal views and experiences from another group.

Reference

Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau. (2012). Hispanic and Latino Culture and Heritage. Retrieved from http://www.itsatrip.org/albuquerque/culture-heritage/hispanic-latino.aspx

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2008). Diversity in Early Care and Education (5th ed., pp. 8–13). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill
     

My Family Culture

If there was a catastrophe and my family had to move to a permanent place outside in a country in which the culture was different from my own, the three things that I would take is the photo album, a blanket that has been in the family for decades and necklace that has been passed down to each female that was married. I would explain to other people that each item is part of my culture and they all will remind me of our family tradition and memorable moments. If I was told that I could only keep one item of the three once I arrive in another country, I would feel really sad and that my cultural values and traditions were being ignored. The insights that I gained with this exercise is that not every culture value the same thing. I gained the knowledge of knowing that every culture is different and has different beliefs and traditions that are different from my own. I also learned that my family culture means a great deal to me and I want to always remember how close we are and no matter where I go, I want to always honor my tradition, values and beliefs. I want to state that I believe that it is important to learn cultural differences and what is a value to each, so that each cultures beliefs, family structure, religion and values are respected.