Practicing Awareness of
Microaggressions
Unfortunately, when you
are the only minority at your place of employment where the majority are white American,
it seems as though you are constantly faced with daily microaggression
attitudes. The “catch-22” when on the
receiving end of such comments, you either voice your dislike of certain
comments, and risks retaliation for speaking out, or you could be silent, while
internally these everyday microaggression behaviors take a toll on you
mentally, emotional as well as physically.
In order to eliminate
biases, a person must first understand biases in order to overcome it, Bias and prejudice in my opinion is a learned
behavior/attitude, often something someone has said or a person may have heard
and although may have not been always the person’s original opinion but has
adopted the biases/prejudice.
Hi Sandra, that is a "catch-22"! Sometimes it is hard to be silent when you are faced with daily micro aggression attitudes daily, but you also have to be careful how you respond to certain comments because everyone can't handle what they dish out or as you said, they may understand biases so that may not even know what they are saying or that it is offensive. Great Post!
ReplyDeleteSandra,
ReplyDeleteI face these challenges everyday in my work environment, I am very outspoken so I have cause new issues to arise since I boldly express myself whenever I feel I am being treated unfair. The result has been a tense work environment but my coworkers are cautious in my face of their attitudes and behavior.
Sandra I think this biggest issue is that we do not understand bias or the fact that we are being bias. A lot of times we are listening to what others around us are saying and what we heard through social media. I always say we need to put ourselves in the shoes of others to see how it feels. This will hopefully changes the outlook of many individuals.
ReplyDeleteI completly agree with you. Just being a female leader in a dominant male work place can be a hard environment to work in and attempt to be treated equally. Many people face microagression on a daily basis and don't know how to identify it.
ReplyDelete