“No one is born
hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or
his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they
can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than
its opposite.”
-Nelson Mandela
This week we learned about microaggressions, these include microassaults,
microinsults and microinvalidations. In the media segment from this week’s
course resources, Dr. Sue explains that microaggressions are defined as brief
everyday indignities, they may be verbal, behavioral or environmental and are
communicated intentionally or unintentionally. He further states that
microaggressions have an insulting message and often cause severe psychological
stress and harm because they portray views of inferiority/superiority and
inclusions/exclusions towards minority groups of people (Laureate Education,
2011). Dr. Sue explains that microaggressions often occur unintentionally and without
intended harm or malice however, there is still a consequence to the person
being subjected. These occurrences happen cumulatively, he states: “it is
constant acts of marginalization that affect one’s self-esteem and cause
individuals to feel displaced and on the rebound continuously” (Laureate
Education, 2011).
An example of microaggression that I witnessed firsthand, occurred
when I was at the mall with two of my girlfriends. As we were walking outside
there was an Aboriginal man begging for money with a sign that said “Have no
money and starving- please be kind and help”. I would not have even noticed him,
he was quietly tucked away in a corner, if it wasn’t for a group of teenagers
who intersected us. One of the girls said “How do they need money- they don’t
pay for anything?!” While another teenage girl replied “I don’t know he
probably just wants booze”. I remember wondering if the reaction would have
been the same if it were a Caucasian man sitting with a sign asking for money.
In this scenario the man was marginalized into a stereotype that Aboriginal
people are drunks and have no reason to be poor. My best friend’s daughter is
Aboriginal and I worry about the stereotypes and discrimination she will face
growing up. For a city of 100,000 people, we have one of the highest rates of
hate crimes in all of Canada. Here is a link for the CBC article if interested http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/thunder-bay-ranks-second-for-reported-hate-crimes-1.2689832
It is disheartening that a country that claims to be proud to be multicultural
can exhibit such close-minded thinking, stereotyping, discrimination and
racism. 
This week I really listened to, and observed peoples’
interactions, reactions, facial expressions, body language and discourse in
various environments while completing everyday tasks and errands. I was truly
shocked at what I saw. I witnessed many people using terms like “that’s so gay”
and “that’s retarded” in almost every area I went. I saw people walking slink
far away from and Arab man as if they were fearful. What really spoke to me
about this experience is that quite often the people making discriminatory
comments were teenagers. This language has become so common place that people don't even realize the harm they are doing and the hurt they are causing. I believe for this very reason that the education
system needs to do more to teach children about tolerance, understanding,
awareness and appreciation of different cultures and ethnicities.
References
Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in
everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
3 comments:
Hi Rhiannon,
I like the example you gave us with the homeless man and the young teenage girls. I think everyone has their own assumptions but automatically assuming that he will buy booze does imply micoaggressions.I don't think Canada is the only country that exemplifies microagressions, The United States of America is well known for that too! Great Observation!
-Talisha Ghansiam
Rhiannon, I always love to read your posts. You always give great examples of how harsh sometimes reality can be. As a nation we try to hide our imperfections, but that does not means that it will go away. That example with the homeless man and the teenagers is just an example of what is going on around the world and even worse in our backyard. As what Nelson Mandela said, the heart will feel better if we learn how to love. I also like those pictures, especially the one with the Asian lady; who say that being from a race or ethnicity you need to be good or love a subject. I am a woman and that does not mean I know how to sew, know right away why a baby cry or even how to cook a turkey. I am saying this because many people (including me) assume different things toward a group. We need to learn to set things apart and if we want to judge, just do it individually when we have the experience with that person.
Great post!
What hurts me the most is that our children will have to grow up in this world filled with prejudice and discrimination. If we haven't already, we have to start teaching our children about stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination by letting them know that there is no place for it. We must take a stand against unjust attitudes and practices. Children will learn about and be perpetrators of discrimination, stereotyping, and prejudice even though we may put in a great amount of effort teaching them about it. Our children need to know that this type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
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