Through this observation, it made me check myself because I have to admit that I thought the Middle Eastern woman was from India too because of her attire and the fact she speaks another language when she is on the phone. Also it made me think about how both women must have felt. The feelings of shock, anger, frustration, and embarrassment because I that's how I felt when I was listening. We as a society, have to do better to minimize these microaggressions.
Friday, March 29, 2013
microaggressions
This week I heard some microaggressions and noticed
most of them were microinsults. The one
that sticks out to me is when I was picking up my daughter from preschool. All the parents were outside, like always,
waiting outside the door. I overheard a
Hispanic woman talking to another a woman who is Middle Eastern. They always talk so I assume they are
friends. I overheard the Hispanic woman
asking her Middle Eastern friend for recipes that have curry in them. Then I heard the Middle Eastern woman respond
with, "What makes you think I like curry?" Then the Hispanic woman said,
"Well...because you Indian."
Then the Middle Eastern woman said, "I'm not Indian." I was embarrassed for the Hispanic woman and
felt bad for the Middle Eastern woman. I
kept to myself and pretended I didn't hear anything.
Through this observation, it made me check myself because I have to admit that I thought the Middle Eastern woman was from India too because of her attire and the fact she speaks another language when she is on the phone. Also it made me think about how both women must have felt. The feelings of shock, anger, frustration, and embarrassment because I that's how I felt when I was listening. We as a society, have to do better to minimize these microaggressions.
Through this observation, it made me check myself because I have to admit that I thought the Middle Eastern woman was from India too because of her attire and the fact she speaks another language when she is on the phone. Also it made me think about how both women must have felt. The feelings of shock, anger, frustration, and embarrassment because I that's how I felt when I was listening. We as a society, have to do better to minimize these microaggressions.
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HI Dawn, that is a very common misinformation. Living in Hawaii we get a lot of that too. People still ask if we live in grass huts believe it or not. Just goes to show the importance of ensuring accurate exchange of information rather that stereotypes or misinformation or assumptions. In the case of what you have shared the Hispanic parent may have been mistaken but now at least she will know what is right and perhaps they will actually be able to develop a true friendship from that conversation rather than quite the opposite, we can hope. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI need to pay better attention, I didn't pick up on any situations like this in the past week. You live in such a multicultural area, you are so lucky! The area I live in in Florida is very black and white, quite literally. We do have a small Hispanic population, but that is as diverse as it gets. I wish my students were exposed to a more diverse cultural perspective.
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