Welcoming Families From Around the World

I am working in a child care center, and I am so excited that I will soon have a family from Egypt to join my group. In order to ensure that I  am culturally responsive and welcoming to the child and her family, I must make some preparations.  

After researching the culture of the Egypt origin I have decided to do the following:

1).  I will get a better understanding of the main religion in the country of Egypt.  90% of Egypt's population is Muslim.  I will also learn about Coptic Christian which makes up the other 9% of the population.

2).  I will study about the Egyptian cuisine and work with my kitchen manager to incorporate some familiar foods into the menu for this family. 

3).  I will learn some useful, basic Arabic words to assist with communicating effectively with this family.

4). I will learn about their public holidays such as Victory Day, Eid El-Adha (sacrifice feast), Eid El-Fitr (breakfast feast), and the list goes on.

5).  Overall, research until I have somewhat of a well rounded understanding of the Egyptian culture.  

I hope all of these preparations will benefit the family by making them feel comfortable relocating to a whole new world that they have never been exposed to.  I also hope that these preparations will give me a better understanding of individuals from a country outside of my own.  I can also educate my teachers to make them more comfortable with the new family and their culture. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

One memory that I have in my mind involving prejudice and bias would be when President Obama won the Presidential Election in November.  I remember posting how happy I was that our President was elected once again, and how this was indeed another historical moment in time.  What I stated was indeed a fact.  President Obama being the first African American president was definitely history.  I was actually posting on my Facebook status and one of my former co-workers decided that she needed to voice her opinion about MY post on MY page.  This particular individual proceeded to state that you can not give a black person power because they are not used to power and would not know what to do with it.  I, of course am African American, and she is Caucasian.  I could not believe that she had the audacity to say those words, but more than that, post it on my page as a comment.  She stated that she likes some black people, but we as blacks should not have money and power.  Needless to say, she was ripped inside out by others that read her comment.  I chose not to entertain her ignorance, and deleted her as a friend.  I was very surprised to learn that she felt this way and it really helped me put some things into perspective.  You never really know a person, that's for sure!

This individual made it very clear that there was no equity when it came to people of color having the same level of wealth and power as Caucasians.  Well, this was her sick opinion.  I was embarrassed for this woman, and also embarrassed that I ever learned of her true feelings about African Americans.  She sent me a message later apologizing for how she voiced her opinion, but not "what" she said.  She said this is how she really feels and she couldn't apologize for that.  I never responded because I had no idea what to say to her. I was baffled!  It was very clear that there was no changing for this person, she is who she is!

Awareness of Microaggressions

      I have always had experiences with microaggressions throughout my lifetime, but never knew what that it had a title.  I just always felt that I was being made fun of or discriminated against.  I had not ever heard of the word microaggression until taking this course.  An example of microaggression that I remember vividly was a comment that was made by a co-worker of mine.  I recall a co-worker that was a Caucasian woman saying to me, “I hate my big ole’ butt. I have a butt like a black girl, like yours!”  I’m thinking to myself…”Ummm, I’m black.”  I do not feel she meant the statement in an offensive way, but it was offensive.  I said to her, “All races are blessed to have nice backsides, depending on the individual, not the color of their skin.”  I have always been very confident in myself and with my physical appearance.  I was indeed very shocked for my co-worker to make the comment that she made.  Once she read my facial expression, she said that she was not trying to be disrespectful.  I just continued to look at her and shake my head.  I have heard other individuals speak on women having "butts like black women".  I am still trying to understand the logic behind it all.  It is so unfair to be so stereotypical.  The crazy part is....  I have also heard black women say it about women of other races.  I have seen women of all races that have very nice physical physiques.  

            I do feel as if you do not have to be a minority to experience racial microaggression.  There are some racist minorities also that are prejudice against Caucasians.  Honestly, I feel sometimes that my own race is worst critic.  As sad as it sounds, it’s true from my own personal experiences.  Even today, there are parents that come to tour my school, both African American and Caucasian families, that will walk past me and go straight to my office manager.  We have a door bell and I usually answer the door.  Before I can even say, “How can I help you, they walk past me to ask my Caucasian office manager if she is the director or is her director here?  She will then point them back to my direction where I am still standing in the foyer with a smile on my face.  The comment is always that I look so young, but I know that is not the case.  I am about to be thirty nine years old next month and no one looks “that young!”