Racial Microaggressions In Everyday Life

Recently I went on a trip on a with my family, and we took a train early in the  morning. There were only a few passengers,and the attendant told us to sit anywhere, so we choose seats near the front of the train and across the aisle from one another.

At the last minute, three White men entered the train and took seats in front of us. Just before takeoff, the flight attendant, who is White, asked if we would mind moving to the back of the train to better accommodate everyone . We grudgingly complied but felt singled out as passengers of color in being told to "move to the back of the bus." When we expressed these feelings to the attendant, she indignantly denied the charge, became defensive, stated that her intent was to ensure the trains safety, and wanted to give us some privacy.

Since we had entered the train first, I asked why she did not ask the White men to move instead of us. She became indignant, stated that we had misunderstood her intentions, claimed she did not see "color," suggested that we were being "oversensitive," and refused to talk about the matter any further.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Cultural perspectives impact the way children participate in education.  The table below describes different expectations about "normal" school behavior for students from individualist and collectivist cultures.

Individualist and Collectivist Cultural Perspectives on Education

Individualist Perspective	Collectivist Perspective
Students work independently; helping others may be cheating.	Students work with peers and provide assistance when needed.
Students engage in discussion and argument to learn to think critically.	Students are quiet and respectful in class in order to learn more efficiently.
Property belongs to individuals, and others must ask to borrow it.	Property is communal.
Teacher manages the school environment indirectly and encourages student self - control.	Teacher is the primary authority, but peers guide each other's behavior.
Parents are integral to child's academic progress and participate actively.	Parents yield to teacher's expertise to provide academic instruction and guidance.

Source: Adapted from Individualist and Collectivist Perspectives on Education, from the Diversity Kit (2002) Providence, R.I.: The Education Alliance.

The influence of culture on beliefs about education, the value of education, and participation styles cannot be overestimated. With Asian students, for example, tend to be quiet in class, and making eye contact with teachers is considered inappropriate for many of these children. In contrast, most European American children are taught to value active classroom discussion and to look teachers directly in the eye to show respect, while their teachers view students' participation as a sign of engagement and competence.

Another contrast involves the role of Hispanic parents in education. Parents from some Hispanic cultures tend to regard teachers as experts and will often defer educational decision making to them. In contrast, European American parents are often more actively involved in their children's classrooms, are visible in the classrooms, or volunteer and assist teachers .These cultural differences in value and belief may cause educators to make inaccurate judgments regarding the value that non–European American families place on education. While it is important to keep in mind that different cultural groups tend to follow particular language and interaction styles, there is tremendous variability within cultural groups. 

My Family Culture

I honestly don’t know of many things I will take, seeing that my family is already with me. If the question was stated differently I would haves stated my family. Seeing that will be already with me, I’ve chose three things that mean the most to me.

I’m the type of person that really doesn’t value material things. As long as my family and my health are intact, I’m a happy camper. So for starters I would like to take all the money in my account. Money is universal, so I don’t think that would be a problem. Money is the only thing that I would have a problem with if they said I could not bring it. My logic is that if I had money my family will be efficient.

My second item would be my cell phone. My cell phone contains my life. In my cell phone I have my contacts, and pictures. If I want to contact anyone, I would   need their information to contact them.

Lastly I would bring a necklace that my mom got for me. I absolutely love the necklace, and for personal reasons it mean a lot to me.