Welcoming Families From Around the World

My family’s country of origin is Spain and Germany. My grandfather mother was born in Frankfurt Germany and my Grandfather’s father was born in Madrid Spain. I have never visited these countries nor have I performed much research about life in Europe. Five ways that I can prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards my family’s cultural roots is to listen to how they speak, look at how present themselves, and watch for signs of communication patterns. One way to do this is to take notes and document their unique ways of communicating. “. We need to document, respect, and learn about people from all over the world, particularly those who are dramatically different from us” (Boutte, G 2008). Love would be another word I would use to describe how I could prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards my family’s culture. Love is used to describe feelings of respect, acknowledgement, dignity and worth. “In educational settings, love connotes that all humans deserve the right to dignity, freedom, and equal opportunities” (Boutte, G. 2008). By showing a foreign family love and respect, I can offer them attention to their needs, and help them feel comfortable during their transition to a new country. By listening to them even if I don’t understand fully what they are saying, I can ensure that I am giving them my full attention. Lastly, by collaborating with a new family, I am learning from them as well and I am gaining insight as to their unique cultures. References Boutte, G. (2008). Beyond the illusion of diversity: How early childhood teachers can promote social justice. Social Studies, 99(4), 165--173.

The Personal side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The personal side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression In my childhood memories, I remember a specific incident of when I was in High School. I think it was 9th grade. My best friend at the time and who I still know today, was a tall blonde girl named Lori. She was often made fun of and called names. Many times she would tell me how irritated she was that the Black Girls would call her Big Bird. One day she had enough of the discrimination and she got into a fight on campus with two black girls. They were all suspended and Lori was kicked out of school. I guess her attendance and the fight was too much to spare her place in our High School so she was sent to a continuation High School. The specific bias of name calling and the prejudice of being white, made the Black girls make fun of and ridicule my friend. Equity was diminished because my friend was in no position to feel a value of self-respect or high confidence. The girls left her watching her back, scared, and angry towards black people. This incident created me to feel hatred towards the girls who were bullying my friend. I could not even look at these girls. Also, I really wanted to get revenge on those girls. The girls eventually left my friend alone after the fight because they probably didn’t expect her to stand up for herself and fight back. The incident, although of the past, would have to become one of the girls giving compliments and becoming friends with Lori. The girls would have to have been totally different in their character and demeanor. Maybe, some anger management classes and positive reinforcing of their behavior would help in situations such as with fighting and discrimination.

Practicing Awareness of Microagressions

Blog:Week 4 Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions As a personal experience, I had a landlord in which I rented out the front of her house with my boyfriend, my two daughters, my brother, and my father-in-law. Our landlord was Vietnamese. She lived upstairs and rented out rooms upstairs with her to her fellow Asian friends and family. After four months, she would not work with us on helping us to make a gated section for our four dogs, and asked $950 a month without a storage space, no parking spots, and broken tile. She would continuosly come downstairs to ask us for more money for utilities then she told us we should move out because she didn’t like the way my family lives their life. She told me that she could rent out her rooms separately to Asians and they are cheap and don’t use too much utilities. This experience is one of racial microagressions and of microassault. The above scenario although true, made me the target of discrimination and stereotyping with my family. My feelings were of devastation and anger because it made me look like my character was not only judged, but insulted. How can someone assume someone else’s life instead of just getting to know them better? At first, I did not look at this scenario as a microassault until I took this course. Now I am aware that the example proved to me that there are microassualts in our everyday lives. With knowledge about microaggressions, it helps to make one aware of the detrimental effects it places on someone’s self-esteem.