M i c r o a g g r e s s i o n s 2 0 1 1 N Y S A I S D i r e c t o r s o f A d m i s s i o n s C o n f e r e n c e D e r r i c k G a y , E d u c a t i o n a l C o n s u l t a n t DIVERSITY Different Individuals Valuing Each other Regardless of Skin Intellect Talent or Years “By truly understanding, assessing, and then making a conscious and intentional effort to lead a school’s culture, leaders can create and sustain a culture that is healthy, constructive, and conducive to diversity and inclusivity while connecting directly to their mission and core values.” George Swope, Interim Executive Director of Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering The 7 Categories of Otherness • Gender • Religion • Race/Ethnicity • Age • Ability • Sexual Orientation • Socioeconomics ( Class) Where do we learn this stuff? Socialization: a) Personal Level b) Institutional Level c) Ideological Level Chimamanda Achichie, “Danger of the Single Story” http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html “Sometimes it's invisible, but you breathe it in whether or not you can see it. We are not at fault for the distortions we were exposed to growing up, but that doesn't exempt us from cleaning up the smog. It's our responsibility to consciously examine the stereotypes and interrupt the cycle of racism. To do this, we have to talk about race." -­‐Dr. Beverly Tatum 1 Derrick Gay LLC, [email protected] But when do we learn these ideas? Research clearly shows that children not only recognize race from a very young age, but also develop racial biases by ages three to five that do not necessarily resemble the racial attitudes of the adults in their lives. (Aboud, 2008; Hirschfield, 2008; Katz, 2003; Katz & Koftkin, 1997) Three-­‐to-­‐five year olds in a racially and ethnically diverse daycare center used racial categories to identify themselves and others, to include and exclude children from activities, and to negotiate power in the own social/play networks. Van Ausdale & Feagin (2001) Priming: Mediated Images Affect Perception Cross-­‐cultural Communication (Milton and Bennet) • Individualism vs. Collectivism • Informality vs. Formality • Competition vs. Cooperation • Egalitarianism vs. Hierarchy • Use of time vs. Passage of time • Action orientation vs. “Being” orientation Perception of Americans • Finland: "Americans always want to say your name: 'That's a nice tie, Mikko. Hi Mikko, how are you Mikko?'” • Indian: "Americans are always in a hurry. Just watch the way they walk down the street." • Kenyan: "Americans are distant. They are not really close to other people -­‐-­‐ even other Americans." • Turkey: "Once we were out in a rural area in the middle of nowhere and saw an American come to a stop sign. Though he could see in both directions for miles, and there was no traffic, he still stopped!" • Colombia: "In the United States, they think that life is only work." • Indonesia: "In the United States everything has to be talked about and analyzed. Even the littlest thing has to be 'Why, why why?'." • Ethiopia: "The American is very explicit. He wants a 'yes' or 'no'. If someone tries to speak figuratively, the American is confused." • Iran: "The first time my American professor told me 'I don't know, I will have to look it up', I was shocked. I asked myself 'Why is he teaching me?'" 2 Derrick Gay LLC, [email protected] Nonverbal Communication (Erica Hagen and Rebecca McDaniel) • 60-­‐90% of human contact is nonverbal • Physical Appearance • Eye Contact • Greetings • Social Distance and Touch • Volume of Voice • Smiles • Timing of Verbal Exchanges of Time Old Paradigm of Prejudice • Political Correctness • Culture of Nicety Microaggressions Brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial, gender, sexual orientation and religious slights and insults to the target person or group. (Sue, Capodilupo, et al.,2007) Microaggressions Who’s Targeted? Gender Women Race People of Color Religion Non-­‐Christians Age Elderly Sexual Orientation LGBTQ Social Class Economically Disadvantaged Ability People with disabilities Partial Taxonomy of Microaggressions a. Alien in One’s Own Land When Asian Americans and Latino Americans are assumed to be foreign born b. Ascription of Intelligence Assigning intelligence to a person of color or a woman based on their race or gender c. Color Blindness Statements that indicate a refusal to acknowledge race d. Second Class Citizen Occurs when a target group member receives differential treatment from the power group 3 Derrick Gay LLC, [email protected] e. Myth of Meritocracy Statements which assert that race, gender or Sexuality Do not Impact life chances f. Traditional Gender Role Prejudicing and Stereotyping A person asks a woman her age and, upon hearing she is 31, looks quickly at her ring finger Effects of Microaggressive Stress • Biological • Cognitive • Emotional • Behavioral Stereotype Threat Dr. Claude Steele, current provost of Columbia University, maintains that when a person’s social identity is attached to a negative stereotype, that person will tend to underperform in a manner consistent with the stereotype. “It’s not what you look at, it’s what you see.” Henry David Thoreau What, so What? Now What? • Possess a working definition and understanding of microaggressions. • Be aware of the metacommunication of language. • Understand self as a member of multiple group identities. • Acknowledge one’s own cultural conditioning and biases. • Be supportive, non-­‐dismissive, and willing to learn, while honestly and humbly admitting what you don’t know. • Don’t’ silence or undermine someone’s experience. • Consider the impact of your words and actions rather than the intent. “People create culture; thereafter it shapes them.” Shaping School Culture, Terrence Deal and Kent Petersen 4 Derrick Gay LLC, [email protected]