Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I was very alert this week as I worked hard to detect examples of microaggression.  I purposely walked isles of stores in hopes to hear or see examples.  My favorite example came as I was standing in line to check out, behind a woman who I presumed to be African American, another lane opened up and the gentleman said to me, “Ma’am, I can help you on the next lane.”  I turned to the woman in front of me and told her she could go first, as she was there before I was.  The gentleman looked very surprised that I had told the woman to go first.  His facial expression was almost a look of disgust.  I immediately recognized the woman’s body language and facial expression in response to the gentleman’s demeanor. 

 

This is an example of a white person being given preferential treatment over a person of color.  The message I perceived was that the African American woman was of a lesser that I was, so I should have been helped first.  I found myself feeling very uncomfortable in this situation.  I didn’t know whether to say something or if my courtesy of allowing her to go first was enough.  She smiled at me and told me thank you, but again I could sense her feeling of the microaggression that was occurring.

The observations that I made this week have certainly opened up my eyes to how often microaggressions occur.  Countless times they occur without one’s knowledge.  The readings and media this week have contributed to my awareness of how others are affected and to be very careful in the words we chose during conversations.  Discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes can be very harmful and have long lasting effects on one’s self-esteem.  Overall this week has been very educational for me.