Microaggressions on a Daily Basis

     When my children came from Arizona to a small mid-western town in Illinois, they experienced microassault or racial slurs for the first time. One day they came home from junior high and gave me one more reason they wanted to move back to Arizona. They told me they couldn't believe that the kids at school were using derogatory names for Hispanics and possibly Black people. They went on to name their friends in Arizona who were being called names. After this story, I was a little nervous about what would be passed on to my younger children. Now we live in Peoria, Illinois which is very different from the small town we used to live in. 

     At first I didn't think that I would have many incidents to reflect on this week, but as I read the assignments, I realized that there were many incidents involving microaggression that I could think of. I didn't have time to mention all of them in this week's reflection.

Perspectives on Culture and Diversity

This week, I asked three people to define culture and diversity.

One young man just finishing his first year of college defined them this way:

culture - the way of life humans created for themselves.  Norms that humans follow.  The way they are expected to live their lives. The way to live their lives to fit in.

diversity - having different thoughts, opinions, and ways of life than then norm. Being different but still part of the culture, just kind of different.

This young man is diverse because he has a father who is an atheist but grew up Mormon and a mother who is Catholic.


One friend of mine who could represent upper socioeconomic class culture, a culture different from mine, defined them this way:

culture - The predominant or most common habits , beliefs, and perceptions of a particular group of people as regards to their: food, clothing, shelter, colloquialisms,  travel, religion, music, entertainment, humor, health, education, family, sex, and, authority.  

Diversity: Having a range of types. 

This friend is also diverse because her mother and at least two siblings had schizophrenia when she was growing up and she takes medicine for schizophrenia now. 




My oldest daughter had this to say about culture and diversity:

Culture has to do with the way a society thinks, and, works, and functions. Some might define it in a more specific way based on their own culture.

Diversity - generally has to do with cultural differences. I think differently than you because I grew up in a different time and in a different culture. I also might think differently because I am a woman and not a man. Some examples of diverse cultures in America are American culture - a very broad culture, Catholic culture, secular culture. One type of diversity is religious culture. Another type of diversity is gender diversity. Another type of diversity involves where a person grew up. 



A wide range of types of diversity were included in the answers I received. For example, my daughter mentioned religious, gender, and ethnic diversity. My upper-class friend mentioned a diversity of religions, beliefs, types of humor, and types of families. Many of these types were included in what I have studied in this course. Humor has not been mentioned in this course, and I think this a great addition to the many types of diversity there are.

Nobody mentioned parenting style. This was a very important omission. It is very important to be aware of different parenting styles in the early childhood field.

Thinking about other people's definitions of culture and diversity has influenced me to realize that parenting style is an outgrowth of the deeply held beliefs of parents, and parenting style also influences the beliefs of children. For example, my parents mainly led their children through their examples. This has led me to believe that I should convince others or lead others through self-sacrifice and through my example.

My Family Culture

When I thought about three items I would bring to a new country with a different culture, I didn’t feel like there was anything so essential that I had to bring. I have never been very sentimental about things. My daughter is currently working on a heritage project in her technology class. She asked me if I had something that has been handed down from generation to generation. I laughed because we have nothing like that except our Catholic faith. We have very few if any pictures or decorations in our home. My husband doesn’t like to put holes in the wall, and I not very concerned with visual things. I would bring a Bible so I could share the story of our faith. I would bring a computer, so I could be connected to the world and learn more. I hope they have internet there! I would bring a guitar because they might have a different type of music, and I would like to be able to share music with this culture. My daughters all love to sing, so I bet I could figure out how to play what they were singing.

            If I were told I could only keep one item, I would be disappointed that I couldn’t keep the computer. I wonder if they would have libraries with computers. If they didn’t have internet, however, I might enjoy going back to the simple things in life. I hope they let me keep my Bible at least!

            The main insight I had with this assignment is that the assignment might be more irrelevant to the culture of me, my children, and siblings than it would be to someone who had items that they hold dear and represent their family culture. The other insight is that I would be fearful that I would be persecuted for my beliefs, would lose some rights because I am a woman, and would lose my connection with the rest of the world. I also noticed that I might not mind so much being separated from technology because I crave a simpler life.

Hello everyone in EDUC 6164 - 1

Hi Classmates,

     I am looking forward to learning from everyone this term!

Liz