Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

One microaggression I have recently observed was one that was intentional racism.  My children and I were in the local supermarket.  All of the workers in the market are black Africans. To put this statement into context, there are black Africans and white Africans. The white Africans are aware that black Africans are able to speak many languages.  However, white Africans either speak English or Afrikaans. There was some miscommunication between the cashier and the person (white African) in front of us. The white African pretended to speak another language.  However, this language was made up.  The white African spoke in a loud, aggressive and condescending tone as to embarrass the cashier. The cashier simply lowered her eyes in a subservient manner and raised her hand to call the manager. It was obvious the white African was attempting to degrade the cashier by mocking her language and showing no respect for her.

Experiencing this microaggression made me angry.  At the same time, I felt sad for the cashier.  I could not understand why someone would intentionally hurt someone else’s feelings. I could tell my children were uncomfortable as well.  

I can easily understand how the effects of microaggressions can have a lasting, detrimental effect on someone.  Practicing awareness of microaggressions has become a priority for me. Understanding the reason for my emotions of my observation made it easy to have compassion for the cashier.  Additionally, I have been in situations where I was the one not being understood so I can genuinely understand how the cashier felt.

After we left the supermarket, I was proud to hear that my children knew this behavior was wrong.  It was a proud moment when I was able to explain to them why it was wrong and how important it is to treat people with respect.

Having experienced and observed microaggressions, along with having some understanding of what they are, will assist me in being a proficient early childhood professional.