Practicing Awarness of Microaggressions

The microaggression I detected this week involved three of my bosses I will call Nancy, Carrie, and Blair and five year old I will call Andy.  I entered Nancy and Carrie’s office to ask about the location of an upcoming meeting because the staff was asking me where the meeting would be held.  Andy was experiencing some behavior outburst; he was releasing some steam by kicking a pack of wipes back and forth across the office with Nancy.  I watched this interaction for about a minute before entering.  When I opened the door entered the office Andy looked at me stopped kicking the wipes and hid himself under Carrie’s desk.  Nancy looked at me and said he is scared of black people; I responded with “oh really”.  She then goes on to say “it is not just you; he responded the same way when two other individuals entered the office”.  The two ladies she named are Latino and I am light brown skinned African-American.  Nancy laughed and pick up a black permanent maker and pretended to color her face.

 I did not think her intention was meant with any malice however, I have worked closely with them for three years and I have seen and heard various instances of microaggressions from other staff members.  My thought about Andy hiding under the desk when I entered was maybe he was reacting from previous experience of being a classroom with me and my choice not to react to his behavior. 

None the less, I have learned not to be offended or threatened by comments made by this group of women because I worked with them for thirty years and I have also seen them go out of their way to help staff when the need arises.  I am not saying this to excuse their behavior.  But in a sense to me I know what to expect and being offended by what they say is what I want to focus on.  Nancy made the statement; I heard it and I have moved on.