Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Examples of Microaggressions: 

1.    My sister was telling me about one of her patients from work and their family. She shared that a women walked onto their floor (pediatric unit in a hospital) and the nursing staff gave her a visitor badge instead of a family badge. The reason behind this was because the mother of her patient was already on the floor and the nursing staff did not think another mother would be coming as a “mom” for this patient. This woman is transgender therefore, this patient has two Moms. The nurse that gave this women a visitor’s pass was unaware and unconsciously insulted this woman by assuming she was not the mother of the patient as well. This is an example of microinvalidation as Dr. Sue explains this to be invalidating one’s feelings and experiences (Laureate Education, 2011). When I heard this story, I felt sad for the mom as she was upset that she was not looked at as the mother of this patient. This story also made me feel uncomfortable because this situation could be awkward as the nurses were unaware, and clearly did not have all the information about this family.

2.     Reflecting back to the past football season, I remembered the time when several NFL teams had players kneel during the National Anthem. I believe this is an example of a microinsult because these players were taking away from the meaning of the National Anthem while trying to protest for matters unrelated to the National Anthem. When I saw this happening, I felt sad and frustrated because I feel these players were disrespecting our country and the men and women who fought to get us to where we are today. These players actions were intentional; however, I feel these players may not have considered how these actions could impact many individuals within our society.

Reflecting on these observations has allowed me to understand that discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes occur every day in several locations. It can be challenging at times to be aware of a time where you may have stereotyped an individual as you did it unconsciously. Thinking about and looking specifically for examples relating to these topics has helped me to understand that individuals can truly be impacted even when it was unintentional.  This task has allowed me understand how important it is to be aware of what you say and cognizant of other individual’s cultures and viewpoints. In my first example, had the nurses known this family had a transgender mom they would not have been presented with the opportunity to offend her. This confirms how important it is to truly get to know your patients, students and their families, as well as peers.

References

Laurate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.walden.edu

Missy-

Diversity means that which is diverse or different. When applied to groups of people you want an organization to be diverse because this allows for many thoughts, ideas, experiences, beliefs which can strengthen or enhance the group as a whole.

Culture has to do with how a group of people may be identified or grouped.  This is done through their common traditions, customs, religious beliefs, laws/gov, holidays, games etc.

Mike-

My culture is a Marylander. I enjoy being a part of and watching the Orioles, Ravens games, crabs in the summer and drinking Natty Boh . But it’s also I guess being American and taking pride in the flag and red, white and blue as well as the Star-Spangled Banner with freedom also being very important to me.

Diversity- I’m a white male and over 21; I’ve been dealt a good hand. But maybe that in itself is something diverse.

Laura-

In America. Culture are the traditions we brought from our country of our ancestors (sounds cliche) but a lot of my cousins still celebrate the Russian church holidays with rituals & traditional food. It is great first & second generation here but it usually gets watered down by the third generation... which in my opinion, increases diversity in this country.

Diversity, understanding and perspective increases and improves as “immigrants” intermarry and live together. I definitely think it’s what keeps America (relatively) peaceful. We bring our beneficial traditions that fit in with American life.

Refection:

After reviewing the responses I received from my peers, I was able to reflect on their definitions and compare their definitions to what I have been learning. As I look at the definitions for diversity, two out of three of the responses focused on elements of individuals being different, contributing their own ideas to society. These examples represent what I have been learning in my courses at Walden. Diversity includes differences amongst individuals where that is cultural differences, language, educational, religious, etc.  Looking at the definitions I received, it appears that my peers have a better understanding of what it means to be diverse compared to all that goes into culture.

Reflecting on the definitions I received relating to culture, most of the answers reflect surface level culture which are things easy to see such as foods, holidays, and attire (Derman- Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 56).  However, I was impressed with the last definition I received from Laura as she addressed ancestors and her cousins and spoke about the holidays celebrated by their family. These ideas do reach into deep culture; focusing on more significant things that impact one’s culture. The other definitions are missing details which cover deep culture. An example of what deep culture entails includes, values, gender roles, health care and ideas about education. In addition to this, the none of the definitions mention an individual’s “cultural identity” or “social identity” which influence and identify different aspects about an individual which makes them more diverse. This information is important to understand to ensure you are not make generalization about an individual and their culture; having an understanding of these definitions allows for a less stereotypical society (Derman- Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 56).  

Reflecting on these definitions has allowed me to understand that “deep” culture is not a typical understanding an everyday person would have. The definition with more detail that I received from Laura is my peer that has a different background from me and is from Russia. I had the thought that perhaps individuals who are more culturally diverse have a deeper understanding of culture and diversity because they have possibly experienced more hardship in terms of relating to the dominant culture. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn about diversity and culture and what it truly means so I can better understand different individuals within society. Without this opportunity to learn about what culture and diversity truly means and how culture truly impacts one’s life, I would not fully understand the experiences of some individuals and the impact culture has on their life.

References

Derman- Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti- bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

My Family Culture

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

The three items I would choose include, pictures and childhood videos, a blanket knitted by my grandmother and my grandmothers cookbook. The family pictures and videos include photographs of my parents, siblings, and extended family which portray memories throughout my life. The videos are important to me because I think it is special watching the videos and these videos document major life events. The photographs and videos would help me remember my home and culture. The blanket knitted by my grandmother was given to me when I was a little girl and I took it everywhere with me. This item represents my grandmother and what she meant to me. Finally, I would take my grandmothers cookbook which has her favorite recipes in it.  These are recipes we made together while she was still alive and would remind me of my culture and provide comfort.

            Upon arrival if I had to give up two items and only keep one I would be devastated to give up any of these items because it was challenging enough to limit it to just three items. Losing your entire home and starting over is extremely stressful and these items provide me with comfort. I am not sure how I would make the decision of which items to eliminate and I would truly struggle giving up the items.

            I now realize as some families leave their homes due to catastrophic events they are faced with these challenges. I gained an understanding of how much my culture means to me and how challenging it would be to move somewhere unfamiliar without many of the items that make me, me. This exercise allowed me to appreciate my culture and be grateful for the life I currently have.