Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions...

5:15 PM by Cortnee Ingram
One example of a microaggression that I detected this week was at work. I work in child care and we have a Fall Camp we run during the week that everyone is off of school for Thanksgiving. During this camp we have a lot of different kids that we do not normally look after.

One of the teachers was talking about one of the children and made a comment about how the parent did not even know how to speak English. That every time he comes to pick up he barely looks at her and she is unable to talk to him about his child. 

On one hand I can see her frustration with not being able to communicate with the parent, but I was shocked that she was frustrated that he did not speak English. I understand it is not always easy for people who only speak English to communicate with others, but the tone in her voice was upsetting.

My observation experiences this week affected my perception of the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people in that I was much more aware of how much it was happening. I was oddly surprised that so many things were happening around me that I felt I had no control over. Sometimes I was able to walk away or change the subject, but there were many things that were said that I was ashamed of. It made me sad to see and hear these things happening and I could only wonder what the other person felt like when they did happen. 

I truly felt like we all need to stop talking more and learn to smile and listen more :) in my opinion. 

Thanks,
Cortnee :)

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Perspectives on Diversity & Culture

7:56 AM by Cortnee Ingram


The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course that are included in the answers I received are two-fold. On one hand I had two friends who understood the true definition of culture and diversity, such as knowing that culture is the behaviors and beliefs of a group. On the other hand I had a friend who defined culture by a person's religion, clothing, food, etc. Two got to the heart of what culture and diversity are and the other talked more about the surface measures of culture and diversity. 

The aspects that were omitted were the deeper cultural behaviors and norms such as parenting skills, communication styles, etc. Some of the diversity aspects that were omitted included race, gender, profession, and other such identities. 

The ways in which thinking about other people's definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics is that it shed more light on how much I did not know before this course. It also showed me that a lot of people do not understand the true definitions of culture and diversity, especially in relation to children. 

Thanks,
Cortnee :)
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My Family Culture

1:58 PM by Cortnee Ingram
If a major catastrophe happened and I was forced to leave my home country and move somewhere else, only being able to take 3 small items with me, I would choose to take my wedding ring, my Bible, and a picture of my family. 

What these items mean to me with regard to my culture is the foundation of who I am. My wedding ring symbolizes the foundation of my families love for one another. My husband and I vowed to love each other forever and build our family around the values of God. 

My Bible symbolizes the foundation of my faith. It is something I could not live without because it is vital to communing with God whom I base my whole life around. My relationship with Him is the most important one and therefore needs to be fed through His Word, the Bible. 

A picture of my family is something that would help me to remember what God brought together. It would help remind me of their love and our love together. Especially if any of us were separated for any reason. 

If I was told, upon arrival, that I could only keep one personal item and had to give up the other two items I brought with me, I would feel horrible. I do not know what I would want to choose. I think my wedding ring is wonderful but I would not need it to remember how much I love my husband. The toss up is between my bible and the picture of my family. I love my family and would want a picture of us together, but my Bible would have long-lasting help for myself and others. I do not know if I can even answer that question right now.

One insight I gained about myself during this exercise is that I would have a hard time giving up my Bible for anything or anyone. Although my faith can never be taken away from me, I also understand the importance of keeping myself into the Bible so that I do not forget what faith has brought me and taught me. If I am not a solid person, can I expect to be solid for my family? I find this very interesting...

 Thanks,
Cortnee :)
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