Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Throughout the week there has only been one occurrence of a microaggression that I clearly remember detecting.  At my job a new person was hired and when he told us that he was from Utah someone said to him, "Oh you must be Mormon."  He said that he actually wasn't a Mormon, but just because he is from Utah people always assume that about him.  I don't think he was offended by what the person had asked him, but he definitely seemed somewhat annoyed at the fact that people were supposedly asking him that question regularly.  There were other times throughout the week that I remember thinking what people said could be seen as a microaggression and there were even a couple times when I thought something and realized it would have been a microaggression.  They are much more common than I understood and I think it is because most people don't realize that they are discriminating against or stereotyping people.  I have learned to be much more aware of what I say to others and will probably continue to hear microaggressions being used around me now that I have the knowledge about them.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

The first person I asked told me that he defines culture as the habits of people around you and that diversity is the differences that exist between people.  The second definition I got was that culture is the rituals, belief systems, and philosophies that are common to a particular group of people and diversity is the elements that differ within a group.  The last definition I received was that culture is the unique identity traits, traditions, and beliefs of religions, races and civilizations and that diversity is differences in those three things within one larger group of people.

I felt it was very interesting that although each of these people come from different cultures, they all had similar answers.  The definitions that were given closely align to what we have studied about culture.  The amazing thing about defining culture is that it is difficult to have a wrong answer because culture embodies so many different things.  I was surprised that no one mentioned the typical "surface culture" traits that a lot of people first think of when they think of the word culture.  That shows that they understand that culture is deeper than things like clothing, food, and music.  I have been influenced by these definitions and continue to have a deeper understanding of the fact that everyone's culture is special and meaningful in their own way.  Culture allows us to learn about other people and can connect us to people who are different than us.

My Family Culture

I would be so nervous moving to a completely different country with a different culture, especially if I could only bring three items with me.  The three items that are special to me that I would bring are a Book of Mormon, family cook book, and my wedding album.  The Book of Mormon is important to me and represents a large part of my culture.  Not only do the scriptures represent my religion, but my religion is also a main reason I live the way I do.  It is precious to me and I want to be able to continue to read the scriptures and be able to teach my own children about God and the scriptures, especially if my religion was not in the country I moved to.  Bringing a family cookbook would be very important to me because food is a huge part of my culture.  Most recipes we use have been handed down and are special to me.  Nearly every time we get together as a family there is food involved and not being able to cook food that I am used to would be very upsetting.  My wedding album has all of my most precious pictures from the greatest day of my life.  It has pictures of my family and it reminds me of the joy that I experienced that day.  My marriage is a huge part of who I am and I would want to always have those pictures and memories with me. If I already had to come to this new place with just three items and then was told I could only keep one I would be devastated. Each one has a lot of meaning to me and I don't know what I would decide to leave behind.  It is hard to say what is the most important thing that represents my culture, especially when someone's culture incorporates so many things. My culture is something very special to me because it makes me the person I am.  I can't imagine having to leave everything behind and have to live without my culture.