Microaggressions

I work for a Child Care Quality Rating program. One of my colleagues and I were speaking about some of the child care centers we work with. I told her about a particular center that was awarded 3 Stars in the quality rating program. Her response was, "really!, they should be proud considering who they are". I then asked her, "who are they?" She said, "well you know, they are a black center in a bad area of town." I immediately responded, "No they should be proud, period".  The location of the center or the race of the people who own the center has nothing to do with the quality of the care they provide to their children and families.

She did not say this to the child care provider but she said it to me and I felt offended for them. I have seen the work they have done to improve their quality of care and that is what I am proud of them for. My colleague was implying that it was amazing that a black center in a bad area of town could be a 3 star rated center. I felt the hurt and disappointment as a result of this microaggression and it was not even projected at me. I'm just glad the child care owner did not have to hear it.

During the week, I was at a child care center and the Director was telling me about this program she was involved in with the local school system. They send out Specialists to help with "at risk" children. However the Director stated that as she obtained more information about the program she decided not to take part in it. She said that they considered all children on Child Care Assistance subsidies as "at risk". She tried to argue that there are some very intelligent children from very good homes with involved parents who are just receiving subsidies for income purposes only. This program was implying that all lower income children were "at risk".

 I was glad that the child care provider decided not to take part in the program for "at risk" children. This type of stereotyping would have harmed these children's self-image and self-esteem. As  a parent I would have felt so ashamed that my child was being considered "at risk" because I was receiving some funding for their child care. I am also glad that I stood up to my colleague about stereotyping quality rated centers.

I am sure these types of situations happen all the time but this week they seemed to jump out at me. I have learned that awareness is key. This week I was very sensitive to all the "isms" in society that cause so much hurt and harm.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I had a meeting with all my co-workers this past Thursday at the state office so this was a great opportunity to get them to help with this assignment. We work out in regions of our state so not only are we diverse because of race, we are also very diverse in our family cultures and cultures of the areas in which we live.

Two ladies I spoke with were my co-workers and the other was a neighbor. The responses from my co-workers for the definition of culture reflected that of surface culture. They referred to culture as the language, ethnicity, food, and lifestyle. My co-workers and I often talk about lifestyle differences in our state. North Louisiana appears to be another state when compared to the culture of South Louisiana. One of my friends is from New Orleans so the culture of a city is very different than that of my southern small town. My neighbor had deeper cultural answers than my friends. She is Vietnamese and she defined culture more in terms of values and beliefs. She spoke more about treatment of the elderly. Her definition was more abstract and less about the obvious. No one used religion as a defining characteristic I think because here in Louisiana most people are Catholic and  do not think of religion as culture.

My co-workers who all work with me in the field of early childhood immediately defined diversity in terms of special needs or varying abilities of children in the classroom. When I asked them to think more about diversity and asked them about our department that we work in. I asked if they thought we were a diverse group of workers. One of the responses was surprising. One of the ladies said no that we were not diverse because we all really respected and liked each other. I then began to feel like I was educating her on diversity. I think her response says a lot about diversity. Automatically people think if you are different from someone, then you must not like them. My neighbor understood more about diversity and to my surprise she said that they do not speak Vietnamese in their home. She speaks the language to her parents but does not force her children to do the same. She says she wants them to become a part of the Western world. She says the United States has been very good to she and her husband and she wants her children to respect the lifestyle they have been given.

Talking to these people made me realize how much I have learned about culture and diversity as a whole as well as my own culture. I had not noticed over the past year how much Walden had changed my perspective of culture and diversity until I spoke with these people this past week. I definitely have a different outlook on both issues.

My family culture

I cannot even image having to evacuate to another country. However if that situation would arise I would take with me my personal recipe box with cajun recipes from other family members and friends. I would also take a small box of pictures of my whole family on vacations or celebrating holidays. Lastly and most importantly I would take a rosary.

Food is always an important part of any culture and although I may not be able to get the same ingredients in another country, I could still try to duplicate our meals we shared at home. My children and the events we shared with them are a huge part of who we are as a family. When the children were growing up, we went on two to three trips a year to the beaches of Florida. For the past 16 years, we have spent Thanksgiving in the mountains of Arkansas. These are treasured memories that have played a huge role in who we have all become. A rosary would always be a reminder and symbol of our faith. A true foundational symbol of our family.

I would be devastated if I was not allowed to keep all three items. After giving this situation some thought, I realized that I could give up the recipe box because I could still cook many dishes from memory. The rosary is simply a symbol and all of my family can pray the rosary whether we have the tangible item or not. I would probably keep the small box of pictures. I feel like reliving these moments would sustain us through the difficult times reminding us that we have each other.

This assignment made me think harder than some others. I even got my adult children involved in this assignment. My second son thought of the recipes. (he would be one to think of food). I thought about the pictures immediately and my youngest (daughter) thought of the rosary. It warmed my heart to think that they could think of things that defined us as a family as well as our family culture. I learned how important our family culture is to my children and I felt proud that they could easily define the important items in that culture. As early childhood educators, we need to respect and appreciate how important some of these cultures are to the children we teach.