Microagression

I will be honest in saying I experience microagression at least once a week depending on where I am at and who is with me at the time.  I have been married to an amazing man for the last 13 years who is Cajun otherwise known as African American to everyone else.  We have three beautiful children and I would not trade my life for anything in this world.  However, microagression is alive and well in society today when looking at couple of interracial relationships.  This week I experienced two microagressions.  One was at Wendy’s when the African American cashier stated my husband sounded educated (really?  How is he suppose to sound) Huge stereotype as we all know what she was leading into…..and the second microagression happen tonight when my oldest son was wrestling and because he is dark skinned a coach from the other team said I like the way you support your son mom even if he is losing.  My reply of course was the one winning is mine.  Needless to say I got the apology and that he was very good, but it just burns me up that people just don’t ask instead of assume.  It is still sad in the 21^st century that we still judge people on the color of their skin and not the content of their character.  Prejudice and discrimination are still very prominent in today’s society, except now it is closet prejudice.  I sure do wonder what life would be like if there were more people like Martin Luther King….until then I will continue to touch lives with tolerance and promote culture and diversity. 

Perspectives on diversity and Culture

This week I spoke to three different individuals all in the early childhood field and asked them what their definition of culture and diversity was.  Here were their answers:

Culture
Beliefs…ways of life shared daily by a group of people in a specific place or time.

Diversity
The mixture of different people, races and cultures.

Culture knowledge experiences and beliefs that classifies one group of people from another

Diversity a variety of people from different races, cultures and backgrounds.

Culture: someone's beliefs and or surroundings in which they were brought up in...could have to deal with your mannerisms, your social environment or how u view society....

Diversity: means being different from the norm of things, being versatile being able to adapt to change...

All great answers and some I would even use in some type of context.  For example, culture is a belief system it is your mannerism and classification in society based on your similarities and differences, but it is also like like Janet Gonzalez-Mena stated they are unconscious rules that govern everything we do that we learn early on (Laureate, n.d.). 

A perfect example of Culture is Holidays around the World and incorporating parents or volunteers to come and speak about their culture and share and dispel information about their heritage in the way they celebrate holidays.  It is giving insight to children and exposing them to other people’s lives and beliefs.

I don’t think any aspects have been omitted in their answer on culture, except that culture is everywhere and it happens on a daily basis unconsciously but not in a specific time or place.  As for diversity I believe they emphasized more on the race and surface culture than richness of the individual that you don’t see from the inside.  Such as why they practice a certain religion or live with four generations of family verses a nuclear family.  Diversity is the language, mannerism, and being able to identify yourself based on practices taught in the home.  It is very difficult to live an existence of a diverse world when the dominant culture becomes very empowering in their lives.  Diversity is about not losing yourself outside your home.  

Overall, I think people’s perspectives on culture and diversity is just as different as we view from the surface.  They are perspectives on what we have experienced and learned from others.  There is no right or wrong in what others believe are the essential in culture and diversity as long as they are willing to grow.   I loved hearing from my friends and their aspects of diversity and culture and cannot wait to hear more!!

My Family Culture

My Family Culture

I thought this assignment was going to be easy when I first read it but then I begin think what is it that really defines family culture to me.  I would begin with contemplating the three items I must bring, as you all know as Americans everything is precious when it comes to family so choosing was very difficult.  The first item I would bring with me would be a small trunk that was made by my grandfather’s father from Germany.  The trunk was a simple of his craftsmanship that he brought over as a young man to America and raised a family of nine children on back in the depression.  It is a story inside a box of family history as you look at the assembly of how the trunk was made.  The next item I would bring is a Holy Bible which generates the family history of my ancestors and 6 generations there after….this bible is irreplaceable it is a true artifact of my life and my family history.  The last item I would bring is an old recipe on carrot cake.  It’s one of those items that are a family secret that my mom learned from her mom and I learned from her but without the actual card, it’s a lost tradition that my daughter will never know or be able to pass on her to her daughter. 

As for being told that I could only bring one item from the three I would have probably had said no can do, either they all go or I don’t go.  But then the shocked would have worn off and well I would be left with what actually represents my family culture.  I would say I would take the Holy Bible it is an irreplaceable artifact from my family’s history that details the start of my family from Germany to immigrating to the United States and the 5 generations that precede it.

 I believe culture is not always found in items, it is the memories that we hold dear to our heart in the births of new generations and celebrating the legacy of those who have come before us.  Each item I chose was a true representation of who I am.  I am the success of a man who worked hard to provide his 9 children opportunity to provide theirs.  I am the tree branch on the Bible of a legacy, and I am the secret to a cake so good, you would want to slap your momma lol!!!!

I am Michele.