I was someone who did not pay attention to her surroundings. As English is not my first language, I did not understand others’ intentions behind their words. There is a big cultural difference between the Americans and the Vietnamese. Though I was born in America, I am fully Vietnamese. Being surrounded by microaggressions was not a big deal for me as a kid until I grew up and realized that they were racially motivated. Growing up surrounded by Vietnamese traditions and practices made it difficult for me to adjust to American culture, leading to a lack of awareness of microaggression. Microaggression is defined as: “The standard definition for microaggression is a verbal or nonverbal slight that impacts an individual who might identify as being …show more content…
My younger self stood in the middle of the classroom with a naive smile, surrounded by several peers pointing in my direction. The pointing fingers represent how I am viewed like a zoo animal—as someone exotic. According to stereotypes, I am supposed to be yellow, smart, and have broken English. Despite being pale, having an average IQ, and fluent in English—though some say I have an accent. Being placed in the middle with all fingers pointing towards me creates a sense that I am the center of attention—as if I stand out from everyone else. The feeling of being an outsider remains, even though I was born in America. There are times when I wish I was not Asian so I could fit in better. My wish is to educate young students about the existence of microaggressions because I did not know about the term until college. I just wish I had known of them sooner because I regret not doing anything about it back then. Having had the opportunity to learn about microaggressions through my course (ARTEDUC 2600) as well as real-life experiences, I have come to understand the significance of these experiences and their impact on individuals. For others who may also be facing recurring microaggressions, it is important to prioritize self-care, seek support and allies, and speak up against these inappropriate behaviors to raise awareness and promote
Microaggressions are degrading a group of people by their gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and or illnesses. Microaggressions are used by individuals subconsciously and consciously in everyday circumstances that are described in the three videos I chose to watch and write about discussing stereotyping. The actors in “Creepy Things People Say to Asian Women” argue “Don’t stereotype” (Chen, Chen). By examining posts on dating websites, the actors investigate moments of microaggressions. The actors discuss obnoxious posts that men have written stereotyping Asian women on dating websites.
Lee then gave an accurate portrayal of their beliefs and daily life. However, for the students who saw Lee as an outsider their story might not have been illustrated the way they deemed to be true. Lee states that it was “difficult for me to gain the acceptance of the low-achieving Asian Americans” (Lee, 2009, p.21). Lee is unable to fully connect with some of the Asian american students, especially the new wavers. After interviewing a new wave student she states that “it was obvious I had offended her… I learned to be more careful about how I approached new wave students” (Lee, 2009, p.45).
A review of Eric Lius', The Accidental Asian, and his search for self-discovery. Looking at how his experiences growing up relate to current and future generations of students who are trying to find where they belong in this ethnically structured society. Through Liu’s experiences, we can understand the struggle of identity and help students find their own. Finding that we do not have to have a strong connection to our heritage to have a strong identity and looking for our roots does not make us any less of the person we are now. Breaking stereotypes and understanding others is how we can help students in the future.
Nguyen’s essay focuses on how people who viewed her in a stereotypical way and treated her unfairly, shaped who she is today. The purpose of the essay is to inform readers on how racists acts and behaviors can affect children as well as adolescents in their lifetime; also how small remarks that categorize individuals into terms such as “foreigner” and “immigrant” play a role psychologically on how the individual beings to think and behave later on in their future. The essay incorporates may details that point to how other people’s use of language made the author think she was less than everyone else around her, due to being categorized as an immigrant. When the author states “I got good grades because I feared the authority of the teacher; I felt that getting in good with Mrs. Alexander would protect me, that she would protect me from the frightful rest of the world” (Nguyen, 90), this proves how being referred to different emotionally affected the way the author behaved because she had to act in a good manner in order to not attract attention to herself.
In "FOBs" vs. "Twinkies" by Grace Hsiang we see intraracial discrimination. Asian adolescents seem to divide themselves into two groups, each one extremely
While few in number, there has been an increase in studies examining the Latina/o experience of racial microaggressions. In a study conducted by Yosso, Smith, Ceja, and Solórzano (2009) Latina/o students described their experiences with racial microaggressions. Results of this study indicated that Latina/o participants experienced interpersonal microaggressions when trying to join study groups and reported experiencing racial jokes as microaggressions. Furthermore, Nadal, Mazzula, Rivera and Fujii-Doe (2014) found that Latina women appeared more likely to experience workplace and school microaggressions than Latino men and that Latina/os with less education were more likely to experience racial microaggressions than those with high levels of
The Coddling of the American Mind, by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, is an article published by the Atlantic Journal about the negative effects trigger warnings and microaggressions have on students in college. Trigger warnings are disclaimers about any potential emotional response from a class or its material. Microaggressions are words or actions that have no sinister intentions, but are taken as such. Greg Lukianoff is the president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. (47)
Everyone knows those tiny backhanded comments that sounds as if they’re supposed to be a compliment, but are actually negatively generalize a group of people. These are known to be microaggressions. In simple terms, a microaggression is a small remark or statement with discriminatory and harmful implications. Common racial microaggressions include showing surprise when an African American woman is etiquette or asking a Spanish-American person where they are from. Although these remarks may be made with friendly intentions, the outcome is the same: implicit stereotyping or othering people of color.
Despite the abundance of equality in America, prejudices still lurk beneath it. Growing up as a first-generation Asian, I encountered many obstacles socially. Though I wasn’t necessarily “bullied,” there still was an apparent barrier between me and the other kids. I simply didn’t fit in, and my appearance played a major role in it-- I just didn’t look like the others.
Erik Alvarez Professor Bogusky December 02, 2015 INTRODUCTION Hello everyone, one of my earliest memories that I have from school is from my first day of kindergarten. I remember walking into my ESL, english as a second language class, & instantly being questioned as to why I was in there. My fellow classmates assumed I was asian because of how I looked and teased me to the point of tears. In reality, I am of Guatemalan origin.
They believed it was important for all Asians to work hard, get good grades and keep themselves out of trouble. They also held a deep desire to earn respect from white Americans and “did not challenge discrimination or speak directly about inequality” (Lee, 2009, p. 40). By doing so the Asian-identified students kept to themselves and accepted the discrimination in hopes of getting ahead. The Asian American identified students were compiled of a range of ethnic groups and social classes. They were strong academically and believed they had the most in common with other Asian-American students, although they saw themselves as American.
As a result of this movement, the term “microaggression” has risen to the forefront of university campuses. These small actions or choice of words, which appear to have no
I was determined to be seen as an equal. I dedicated more time towards studying and it showed when I made A’s on exams that my peers struggled with. I was finally seen as equal as others intellectually. However, I then got comments of being an “exceptional Asian.” In response I’d ask “Why do you say that?”
It was found that microaggressions were in both the academic and social spheres of a college campus (Solorzano et. al., 2000). Microaggressions exist in both the academic and social spheres of a college campus (Solorzano et. al., 2000), affecting people of color outside and inside the classroom, showing that either their peers or
“In published “school report cards” mandates…They are Asian American but, at Cornell University, 13 of the 21 student suicide victims since 1996 have been Asian or Asian American. ” (Zhao,339) the amount of people who doesn’t know how impactful it is and causes such thoughts or attempts of suicide. This can happen a lot when they grow up because as a child theres no such thoughts but rather replace with like “I hate school”, “School is useless” or etc, as these young Asian American student feel it but don’t fully comprehend. Then “The myth hurt Asain Americans, a rapidly growing population in American schools. They mask the many problem Asian student encounter in school and society”(Zhao,339) as they conceal their problems it can lead them to having it effect them later through mental health and emotionally too.