Microaggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and
environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional,
which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons
based solely upon their marginalized group membership (Laureate Education,
2011). I honestly do not recall any
previous knowledge of the term ‘microaggressions’. The term basically sums up my expressiveness
of the term ‘racism’. I am thrilled to
add this term to my personal database.
When asked to recall a microaggression, a particular situation
immediately comes to mind. As some of my
cohorts know (from previous course material and discussions), I am a Christian
and my family religious affiliation is Lutheran (Missouri Synod). When I moved to the South, I did as most
Christians would do, I sought out to find a new church home with my religious
affiliation. I was unaware of the ‘separateness
of groups’ and its prevalence in the area.
Noted, there was a Lutheran Church and School merely one block away from
my apartment complex at the time (walking distance). I saw this as a sign of shear: grace, luck, blessing, and joy. In passing, I made a note of the worship
times and days. The following Sunday
morning, I decided to attend the second service of the morning worship
schedule.
When I walked into the sanctuary, I was pleased. There was a remarkable similarity to my home
church back in Lansing, MI. As I walked
down the center aisle to find a seat, I noticed all of the attention and glares
that I received from the members of the congregation. It was obvious I was a visitor. I thought that meant that the congregation
was small and perhaps family oriented; which was great for me. At the end of the service, I was greeted by
what seemed to be everyone at church.
During the fellowship, I had been asked if I were new to the city, if I
had any children, a husband… (no one asked my religious affiliation). Subsequently, I was told (very nicely) that I
had not gone down far enough and the Baptist church was just over the hill,
less than a block down. A nice older
pink (white) lady gave me the address and the name of the church and told me
that she was sure that I would be comfortable there. They had heard nice things about the pastor
and his family.
At the time, I did not know how to feel about what happened. I had not lived in the city long enough to
know that things (places) were still very ‘black and white’. I didn’t even notice that I was the only Black
(Brown) American in service that morning.
With the current knowledge that I possess today, I am aware that the
context of that situation was a form of racial microaggression. If I had known what I know now, I think it
would have been a “Catch-22” situation where I would have wondered, as Dr. Sue
described, “Did that really just happen and how do I address that?” (Laureate
Education, 2011).
In conclusion, I do believe that the lady had good intentions
and she probably never realized her harm in assuming that my race and
demographics were to elude that I belonged to the Baptist Church (with a
congregation of Brown Americans) further up the street. It could also have been a very nice, if
possible, microassault, deliberate and intended. As I have mentioned, my insight from this week’s
discussions and resources have further validated the perceptions of the effects
of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people. After that experience, I did find myself
visiting the different Baptist Church’s in the area. I remained without a church home for about
three years. Then I finally found a Lutheran
Church and congregation to call home.
References:
Laureate Education (Producer). 2011. Microaggressions
in everyday life [Video file].
I am amazed at how judgmental and hypocritical that some Christians are at times. This was one of the biggest struggles that I had as a young adult trying to make sense of who I am and who I wanted to be. I bounced from church to church for a couple years trying to find a church family that I felt I belonged to. I was amazed at how downright nasty these “Christians” were to me. I was alone in a new city and just wanted to start meeting people and connecting with a new church and I was crushed by how I was treated by several members of various churches. I did not face the same struggle you did by being different on the outside, I was actually judged because I had opinions and had no problem sharing them respectfully. Thankfully, that is all in the past and I belong to a fantastic church family now.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story. I can't believe how cruel people can be especially one's that are affiliated with the church, and furthermore I can't see how we are still separating blacks/whites when it comes to stuff like this. We're suppose to all be Christians, and me Catholic is just like judging someone else who decides to visit my church telling them they are not praying the right way therefore they can't attend my church. One thing I look for when I attend a church, is if I am accepted into their faith. No matter what my race, sex or religion affiliation is.
ReplyDeleteRoxanne