Awareness of Microaggressions

     As long as I can remember, I have always got, "are you sure you are Asian?" "You don't have an Asian name." "Are you sure you are not Mexican?" "Maria is a very common name for Mexican people." "It isn't a fake name is it cause all Asian people have their name then aka their American name." 
     
     At first, I would chuckle and laugh, but when people continue to pick at the question, it gets frustrating. Sometimes I feel like I have to make up an Asian name so they would feel better that my name is not Maria and I am not Mexican. 

     I have realized that no matter what you do, who you are, how you do things, what your name is, or your ethnicity, there will always be a racial, bias, or stereotypical remark towards you. With the new generations, many of these behaviors are learned behavior by the parents. Racial, stereotyping, bias, and discrimination cannot be controlled. Parents have control over what comes out of their child's mouth and the things they do. For example, I had a step-parent teaching his step son about calling Black individuals the "N" word and as long as his step son did it outside of school, it was okay for him to say or hurt them. The mom was unaware of what was said to her son, until I met with her in regards to his comment. 

"Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome" (Park, Rosa., 2001-2016).

Parks, Rosa. (2001-2016). Racism Quotes. Retrieved from
     http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/racism.html

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture...

My best friend is turning 34 and is half Irish. Her definition of culture is family values and beliefs, customs, music and the literature. Diversity to her means the different nationalities that makes the world a better place. We are not the same nationality, but we have an understanding of each other.

My high school friend is Hispanic. Her definition of culture is family, religion, clothing and food. Diversity to her means having respect for others who are different from their own. She was raised as a Catholic and truly believes in it. I grew up with a Catholic family, but didn't follow into the religion.

A recent friend I became close to is Filipino. His definition of culture is family, food and values. His term of diversity is the different nationality around the world that makes everyone unique. We have our differences in other topics, but respect each other as individuals.

Everyone has their definition of culture and diversity. They have their ways of celebrating and teaching their children. With the differences we have makes us unique and learn more from each other. 

My Family Culture..

Being evacuated to another country with limited belongings would be hard to do. On the other hand, if I had the choice of taking the three items with me, it would be the traditional dress my mom made me, wear an extra pant, and a hair brush. The first arrival to the destination, I am afraid and lost in thoughts because I do not know how others would feel about my culture. I would cooperate with the dominant culture until they get an understanding of my culture. If the dominant culture want nothing to do with the culture, I would keep to myself and my family.

The traditional dress my mom was made by hand and each of the colorful piece was sewn on for the decoration. (This dress and outfit is off the web, but it is similar to the one my mom sewn for me.)

This is the full traditional outfit.

The dress I would take with me

With the hard work and effort put into this dress I would not leave it behind. If for some reason my mom did not make it through the changes, I would have something that would mean more to me than a picture.

An extra pant for the road because I do not know if there would be any jobs available to work so I can buy clothes.

A hair brush is a must. I would not want my hair nappy and knotted hair.

Honestly with the insights, I have appreciated my culture and other culture more, even when I know everyone is set in their ways of living and values, but I know we all learn from each other. Working as an early childhood provider, all bias has to be set aside and open the cover like it is a new book. The funny thing was when I was a preschool teacher, all the students who were head strong and always got into trouble were the ones put in my class. Yet they never gave me the trouble they gave the other teachers.