Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

From reading of articles and watching the media segment this week, I have learned about the meaning of microaggression. Honestly, this was the first time I even seen the word, apparently my Microsoft word as well doesn't even recognize it as one word but as two words micro aggression.

This week, I reflected over my past, present and future only to recognize that these really are everyday indignities that have the intent of being a compliment with no ill-intent. I witness them everyday and often they are towards me.

Just yesterday, I was out with my co-workers, and I complimented each on their style of dressing, "oh cute top", "oh nice shoes". My co-worker said to me, oh that color looks great on you, you know because you have dark skin. Now that I am aware of this term, I do not think my co-worker's intention was to raise an issue about my color, she thought she was making a compliment in return to the compliment I extended to here.

This weeks observations have changed my perception on the different types of discrimination, racial profiling and stereotyping. I have become more observant to everyday conversations around me, as i reflect on these everyday situation I am cognizant of the damaging effects that this can cause. Although microaggrssions occur often with no ill-intent, we must be aware of our own personal biases.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

An effective method to deepen my grasp of any topic is to listen to and then reflect on the ideas of others. This week, I was given the opportunity to  use this method and ask other people what they think about diversity and culture.

When i reached out to my co-worker Josh who resided in New York, to my mother who resides in Texas and to my manager who resides in Japan, the responses I received were similar to those being currently discussed in this course. The discussion on diversity, the responses on the different aspects of diversity included:

• Multiculturalism relating to communities containing multiple cultures
• Cultural diversity as it refers to having different cultures respecting each other's differences
• Political ideas

Overall they support the idea that diversity is valuable and it covers ethnicity, gender, religion, as well as other identifiable differences in lifestyles and background.

Their definitions of culture also resonated throughout some of the discussions we have in the course, including:

• shared belief, customs, arts
• a particular was of thinking, behaving, or working
• the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place

The overall consensus being that culture is a system of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people.

Additional aspects of diversity excluded were social identities pertaining to vocations and avocations and stigmatized identities (Deaux, 2001). When I mentioned these other aspects of diversity, they eventually agreed that those were also aspects to diversity. The discussion on culture proved very exciting when I spoke on cultural discontinuity, both my mother and my co-worker shared their experiences, my manager understood the concept but wasn't readily able to identify any experiences. 

This discussion lead me to understand the importance of understanding the role of culture and diversity. The individuals included in the discussion shared their experiences and I was able to understand why their points of view differ from mine on certain aspects. It was a great learning experience,not my manager is asking that I share each week what I have learnt and I am very happy to share my learning experience with her.

References

Deaux, K. (2001). Social identity. Encyclopedia of women and gender, 1–2, 1–9. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/

My Family Culture

                   A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of my country and as a surviving citizen I am evacuated to another country. Thankfully my immediate family is among the survivors of this catastrophic event. The only information I know is that my host country's culture is completely different from my own and I may have to stay there permanently. I am only allowed to take 3 small items with me, the three items that I hold dear are my family photos, my bible and my passport.
                  My family pictures are dear to me and hold a special place in my heart, although my immediate family would be with me it means not all my family would be there. It would give me a time to reflect on the happier and special moments captured on film throughout my lifetime. My photos are especially meaningful to me because I have lost family members and this allows me to remember them. 
                My Bible is very dear to me because of my faith, having that experience living in another culture that does not share the same religious beliefs as your own, you have three choices- to draw closer to what you believe in, find a new religion or loose your way. I value my faith and one of the physical items in my faith is the bible, so my bible would be my second option.
              Undoubtedly, because of this mass exodus we would be required to have some form of identification to enter into another country unless there was a special provision made between the governments. Even then I would still like to have some form of identification and my passport while it is a government issued id it always reminds me of the various places I have traveled to around the world.
             Admittedly, if I were told that upon arrival I can only keep one of these personal items, I would be able to part with my family photos and my passport. Firstly, my immediate family is there with me so once we are together that is the only thing that matters to me, family being together and we are safe and out of harms way second I would have arrived into the country so my passport would have effectively served its purpose.
             An insight I have gained from this experience is how difficult it is to choose just three important items to you, the truth is there are persons who have gone through this exact experience while some had some warning and were able to take items there were others unable to salvage anything after a catastrophe.