Microagressions and Their Impact
Microaggressions have the ability
to be the most harmful. I am sure we
have all been in situations that resulted in someone taking an undeliberate “jab”
towards our gender, race, culture, or ethnicity. Some of the ladies at work were talking about
hair extensions, and hair weave. The group
of ladies consisted of two Caucasian women and myself. During the conversation one of my coworkers
turns to me and ask “why do you guys wear so much hair weave, and have such crazy
hairstyles?” The question caught me
completely off guard considering that I have never worn weave before in my
life. However because I am African
American I would just automatically know.
To me they were saying that all black women wear hair weaves. In addition because I am Black I should know
the answer to their question. They are
leaving out the fact that many races wear hair weaves these days. I felt very alienated, confused, insulted,
and shocked.
This week’s assignments has made me
realize how a comment can really make someone feel inferior or signaled out. The assignments have made me want to be very
aware of any microagressions that I may have been guilty of in the past. I am a part of a marginalized group and learning
about and how to be more aware of microagressions has made me more sensitive
and empathetic to other marginalized group.
Learning about microagressions is very import to the field of early
childhood education. As educational
professionals we have to be very careful not to use microagressions towards our
students. Our job is to make each child
feel like they belong, they are relevant, and sense of security.
Sherry,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the way the comment was worded that the intention was to say that because you are African American then you would know the answer to her question. Even though I am not African American I can understand why you felt the way that you did because it was in deed a microagression. I would like to ask the question was worded differently would you feel the same or still felt it as a microagression? Such as if the question was "do you know why people wear weave and make such crazy hairstyles out of the weave?" To me, I think if it was worded that way and not "you guys" and included "people" to reference all people and not one culture then it would be an honest question and not microagression. This is a great example of how just a few words can be so harmful and how we need to be aware of our choice of words.
Sherry I absolutely understand how you feel. I am an African American female and If that were me I know I would have an attitude due to the comment. It's sad that the Caucasian woman may not even realize how hurtful her words were. Thank you for sharing.
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