Week 4: Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

It is a life-changing experience to learn about microaggressions and the impact they have on diverse individuals. My neighbor Teddy, who is only 14 years old, recently had an argument with his uncle about some gloves that went missing in the house. As I am standing on my porch, I witnessed the uncle making a very nasty remark saying “GO LIVE WITH YOUR MOM….YOU FAGGOT.” This is an example of sexual microaggression that was intentionally directed at Teddy.  I was shocked that he would say something like this to his own nephew or anyone else. I wanted to believe that he was just angry and thought his nephew  had somehow stolen the pair of gloves. A few days later, Teddy was still upset and embarrassed as he spoke to me about the details of this experience.  He knew that I witnessed this incident because I was standing on my front porch.  He also wanted to know what I was thinking and I told him that I wasn’t judging him in any way. He has secretly explained to me that he has an interest in boys his age, but didn’t plan to ever reveal this to his family. It is a bit disturbing to see someone hurt because of another person’s prejudices. This experience has taught me that microaggressions are committed more often than I realize. I’ve also gained an insight to be accepting, supportive and understanding of the individual differences that people have!