Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

My family and I are traveling this week from Chicago to Georgia. We spent several days in Cave City Kentucky so that we could explore Mammoth Cave. This was really a perfect time to study the idea of microaggression because I found myself immersed in a culture quite different from my own, and realized for the first time that I do tend to unconsciously think of myself as superior. Noticing certain thoughts and ideas within me based on the idea of microaggression has quickly led me to be a more tolerant and respectful person.

Staying in the same campground where my family was staying were several families who live in the mountains of Kentucky. The physical appearance of these people is different from what I am accustomed to, which made me instantly judgmental. I did not know them, know anything about them or about where they are from, but I immediately belittled them in my mind. Fortunately, I took what I was reading, and made an effort to be more open minded. Then, however, a man from that group approached my five year old son and asked him his name. I was immediately defensive and ready to pull my child away when I remembered my decision to hold my judgment. The man had seen my son jumping into the pool, and saturated showing him different ways to jump. They played together happily, and innocently for quite some time. I then noticed a huge cultural difference between me and the people I was coming into contact with in Kentucky. I tend to talk to adults first and children remain secondary to that because of the assumption that someone who approaches a child is a kidnapper or a pedophile. In the area of Cave City Kentucky, people approached, played with, and enjoyed the company of children without ever talking to the adults at all. They even give the children candy and quarters (which could probably land them in jail in Chicago). I came to realize that this simple, innocent enjoyment of children is a better way to be than the protective distance from children that I am accustomed to (without even realizing it).

The point is that by holding judgment and pausing before reacting to the cultural differences I was experiencing, I was able to learn something about another group of people. In addition, I found that my feelings of superiority were false and I much preferred their approach to children and to strangers. I felt humbled by this experience and I came to realize that in order to grow as a human being it is important to release all feelings of self centeredness and look to other cultures for possible improvements in my own attitudes and actions.