Where do I begin with examples of micro-aggression?
We live in a city that hosts all nationalities, and so stereotyping is
inevitable and micro-aggression is a daily occurrence. Amongst friends it is
accompanied with laughter, but surely there is some offense taken.
The example that I will share occurred
on Thursday during our health and safety fair, at the nursery where I am
director. The company promoting pool safety was staffed with three people. As I
walked up to greet them, the two British men greeted me and shook my hand, but
they did not introduce me to the third man who was Indian standing in the
background. A behavioral microaggression that was so obvious and so offensive.
I introduced myself to the Indian man and they quickly reacted with his name
and an explanation that he is the one who does all the hard work for them. I
found that even more offensive, especially that I witnessed him carrying all
the equipment and blowing up all the balloons by himself. So in reality, he did
do all the physical hard work, while they promoted their safety gates, but they
did not respect his presence with even an introduction.
There are numerous examples of
friends teasing each other based on their ethnic culture including habits,
mannerisms and accents; but they are not offensive. It is important to point
that out because banter is healthy in my opinion, within limits; and it is
important to practice it on occasion so that it does not catch you off guard in
an offensive situation.
I enjoyed learning about
microaggression because it gave a name to something I witness all day, and it
made me realize that sometimes when we have good intentions, we may actually
offend someone without knowing.
Hi Zeina! I greatly enjoyed reading your post! You always mention things that open my mind even more and make me look at situations in a different light! I greatly appreciate you for that! You talked about how amongst friends microaggressions can sometimes be followed by laughter and fun, which I completely agree with. I have a friend who is missing an eye and I remember when I first met him people were calling him one eye Tim and making other jokes. I was so offended and got really upset, but he told me it was okay because they were all friends. To make a long story short he joked right along with them, but would not feel comfortable if someone he didn't know spoke to him this way. So I feel people should take care when speaking to someone they don't know very well and just talk openly about what they may find offensive and off limits.
ReplyDeleteZeina and Pamela, this weeks has been very eye-opening for me. I have learned a great deal and understand that what we say is sometimes very hurtful and damaging to another's self-esteem. I am learning a great deal in this class and looking forward to using my knew knowledge to further someone else's knowledge of diversity and culture.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteYou are so correct we have all at one point or another said something offensive about other race even our own race and we are all guilty of these ism even if they are said among friends laughing. This class is definitely teaching me so many things about the things I say and the way I look at my own culture as well as the cultures of others.