Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week we were asked to describe one example of a microaggression that we detected this week. After learning the meaning of the term I was hoping that I didn't actually encounter any this week and that I'd have use a past experience but after reflecting on my week, I do have something current to share. 

Background Information

This year I have had the pleasure of having two wonder assistants in my classroom. One woman is African American and the other is Korean. Mrs. Buchanan was born in Korea and has lived here for many years. She was placed in my room because the previous teacher she worked with no longer wanted her in her classroom because she felt that "she didn't speak English very well". 
 
During the last school year I listened to my co-worker make negative remarks about her because she felt that Mrs. Buchanan was incompetent because she claimed that  no one could understand what she said. I had never worked with her but she had always been very nice to me when we interacted with each other. My co-worker's comments really made me feel uncomfortable. At one point I remember saying, "If she would talk about Ms. Buchanan that way, I wonder what she would say about me"?? 

This Week..

On Thursday while taking my students to lunch, I was asked by one of the cafeteria aids if Mrs. Buchanan can speak English. I asked the person, "Why would you ask me that question"? She explained that one of the children sat at the wrong table and she told Mrs. Buchanan to keep the children at the table so they didn't have to move. She said that Mrs. Buchanan didn't answer her and told the children to move back to their table. She seemed taken back that she didn't respond and even seemed bothered. After my studies this week I knew that I was experiencing a microagrression. I think if I had not read about this during the week the situation would have made me feel uncomfortable. I think I was better prepared to handle the situation this week because of my new knowledge about microaggressions. I told the aid that Mrs. Buchanan does speak in English and that maybe she didn't feel that she had to answer her questions because she was responsible for managing the children while they were in the cafeteria.

Initially I didn't walk over to the cafeteria with Mrs. Buchanan and the kids but she shared with me that cafeteria workers who served the food had been very rude to her. At one point I had to let them know that I would speak to my principal if their behavior continued. I have become aware of the way that Mrs. Buchanan has been treated and I don't allow people to make negative comments about her when they talk to me. Even without learning about microaggressions I think that allowing people to engage in this behavior only validates their behavior. If we don't make people aware of what they're saying and that it makes us feel uncomfortable, they will continue to behave inappropriately.