Practicing Awareness of
Microaggressions
Although
I did not recognize any microaggressions this week, but I do have a personal
experience with microaggression that I shared in my diversity profile that I would
like to share with all of you. This was when I first moved to Georgia, and I experienced
racism by a neighbor. This neighbor was not settle in any way displaying his
dislike toward me and my family. One day he purposely blocked the door way to
us entering our front door with a group of his friends and pretending not to
see us as we drove up, and got out of our car. When we walked up I had to ask
them to excuse us so we could get by. When we got in my son and I look at each
other as to say did that actually just happen. However, in dealing with this situation I chose to
leave it along understanding that sometimes when you leave things along they
have a way of correcting themselves. In doing so, and continually showing
respect for my neighbor things really begin to turn around. Although he did not
come right out an apologize for his pass behavior, he showed his apologies
through doing things for us, such as coming out one day when we had a flat
tire, he told me and my son he would fix it because I was a woman and did not
need to be fixing a tire. Then on another occasion he and a group of his
friends were blocking my entrance to my front door. However, this time when he
seen us driving up we could see him directing his friends to move from in front
of our door.
In looking
back on my observational experiences this week I learned that people can be
unaware of the things they do and say to others. On the other hand, I believe some
people just want to show they are more superior, and have more power by belittling
others. I also learned that discriminating, and stereotyping can be shown
through a person race, their gender, their size, their abilities or
disabilities, just to name a few. Therefore after learning what I learned this
week about the different microaggressions, I now realize I have to be more alert,
and mindful of the things I say and do around people in order not to offend
anyone.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. I like the way you handle your circumstances instead of slashing out at your neighbor and his friends you showed them kindness even when they didn't do the same thing to you. You are right we as people can be sometime unaware of our stereotyping behaviors can be very disrespectful and hurtful to other because we are unwilling to accept each others differences.
ReplyDeleteEdith, I am so glad that things turned around for you and your neighbor - things could have felt hostile and that wouldn't make for a comfortable living situation. I also think the world is so unsure these days and everyone would rather not look next to themselves because if they don't acknowledge then they don't have to get involved... We recently bought a house and moved to a new neighborhood and just met some of our neighbors after living here for several months. Had they not walked over, I am not sure that we would have been introduced!
ReplyDeleteEdith,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your personal experience. The way you handled the situation was a great learning example for your son. Even in this day and age, we have to be mindful of how we react to microaggressive behavior against us. By taking the high road, your son learned that we don't always have to respond to bad or inappropriate behavior.