Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

My landlord came to pick up my rent check a couple of weeks ago. I notice she had a new hair cut. It was low on the sides and longer at the top. I really liked the new style on her and gave her compliment. She said thanks but followed with "I have to be careful with this cut because I do not want people the think I'm a "wigger"." The term "wigger" is used by white people who think other white people are trying to be a "nigger." I was in such shock about her comment it was dead silence for a moment then aha told me goodbye and left. I personality believe that since we have a very close relationship she honestly forgot that I was black or felt comfortable using that word around me. Although, I was a little bothered by this, I did not let it get to me. Sadly to say being Afroamerican, I come across this type of behavior all the time. Life is too short to stress or get upset my other's ignorance. I always say to myself, they did't know any better and move on with my life. 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

        •       Jennifer

• Jennifer defines culture as the way people live.  Jennifer believes that culture reaches beyond ethnicity and race, but extends to an individual’s way of life.  Jennifer is culturally different from me because she is a Caucasian female. 

• Jennifer defines diversity as the inclusion of different cultures in an environment.  Diversity is ensuring there is representation of different cultures in that particular environment.  Her definition of diversity is most impacted by equality in representation. 

• Jaleel

• Jaleel defined culture as how you live, your way of life.  Culture, to Jaleel, has to do more with family and what your family taught you as you were growing up . Jaleel is different from me because he is an Asian male.  

• Jaleel looks at diversity as making sure there are different people in every group.  Jaleel looked at diversity as a necessity for understanding culture.  

• Brandon

• Brandon defined culture in relation to his sexuality.  Brandon is homosexual and relates to that culture in activities and lifestyle.  Brandon is different from me because he is a homosexual male.

• Brandon defined diversity by the inclusion of all members of the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer) community.  Brandon related most of his diversity comments to the most recent inclusion of Caitlyn Jenner and the recent acceptance of Transgender individuals.

Jennifer’s answers were very direct and backup what we have been reading this week. Culture is a way of life and diversity is a mixture of cultures in one environment. Jaleel’s description of culture and diversity comes from a non traditional perspective. Like me, they work together in a family business and value family over everything. James’ views on culture and diversity derive from his recent years. Several years ago he “came out” and while everyone in his family was excepting, he reals more comfortable hanging and relating to people who are like him. Conversations with the people I interviewed altered my opinion about culture and diversity greatly.  In our discussion, my impression about culture changed based mostly on Jaleel’s opinion.  Culture, in my opinion, was mostly

based in how you currently live.  Jaleel helped influence my perception in considering my family's upbringing and what was taught as I grew up.  In relation to diversity, I looked at Brandon as being responsible for the biggest change in perception. Diversity, before this exercise, looked mostly a race and gender. Conversations with Brandon helped me look to sexual orientation and gender reassignment.  I have always been accepting of all individuals, my opinion about the acceptance of individuals with different sexual orientations has broadened. I also attribute popular cultures and entertainment in assisting with this change in my perception. 

My Family Culture

Imagine the following:

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.

• A description of the three items you would choose and how you would explain to others what each of these items means to you

First, I would take my family's photo album. As a family, we often gather at my grandmother's house and look back at old pictures while we laughed and talked about the good ole' days. These photos helped me discover who I am and how I fit into this big world we live in. Second, I  would bring my jewelry box. This box holds my earrings and necklaces given to me throughout the years as well as pieces that belonged to the women in my family who have passed away. These items are treasures to me and hopefully one day I will be able to pass them to my two daughters. Last, I would take a flashlight. Whenever there was a storm or power outage, we would gather around the flashlight and tell stories. This is important to me because those stories must live on as they represent my family in so many ways!

• Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you

I would be torn between choosing the family's photo album and jewelry box. I might even have a small tantrum! I would explain to whoever is at the gate that they can have my flashlight but I must keep my other items. Our family has already lost everything and I should be able to keep these two things as they are an important part of my life.   

• Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise,

I think that often times we are not aware of how important something is to us until it is gone or we have to let it go.   I am giving my mother a 66th birthday party in a couple of weeks. Part of the process was to go through this album and pull out pictures for a slideshow that I am creating. Let me go back for a bit. Two years ago, a week before thanksgiving, I lost my only surviving grandparent. Since then, I have not had the strength nor the courage to look through the album. Well today I did! I laughed and cried. It brought back so many good memories I hold with my family and realized how much I missed doing this. Although my grandmother was not physically here to do this with me; she will forever live in my heart!