Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Describe at least one example of a microaggression which you detected this week or remember from another time. In what context did the microaggression....

7 years ago I was shopping in a Vietnamese owned beauty supply store. From the time that I walked through the door until the time I approached the register to pay for my items I was followed and watched around the store. I felt insulted and disrespected that they would feel the need to follow me around the store, as if I were a thief. I am assuming I was followed because the storeowners felt as though African American people are shoplifters.  I was stereotyped, followed and watched based on the storeowners’ preconceived biases and stereotypes of African Americans. I felt insulted and very humiliated from the entire experience and I hope that since then, the storeowner has gained a more positive outlook of African American people and has learned to be more intimate with different cultural groups in order to overcome biases and stereotyping.

In what ways did your observation experiences this week affect your perception of the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people...

During that experience seven years ago, I learned that racism, stereotypes and acts of prejudice behavior are learned behaviors that have been passed down to individuals from society and family. Most of the time the perpetrator is using forms of unintentional microaggressions to offend or insult minority or marginalized groups of people. Often times unintentional microaggressions causes psychological issues within the person in which they are being acted upon, it can be verbal or behavior acts. I personally felt insulted during my experience. I just could not believe that the store owner would feel like I would steal due to my outward appearance. I wondered had she had a personal experience where someone African American shop lifted or was this just her personal way of thinking or a bias she had simply learned and felt comfortable believing. Either way, I was disgusted and hurt.