Welcome to the class blog! The John Jay - Vera Fellows Program is a collaborative effort between John Jay College and the spin-off agencies of the Vera Institute of Justice, combining an internship and participation in a seminar taught by faculty from John Jay's Interdisciplinary Studies Program. (To see a video about the John Jay - Vera Fellows Program, click here.) Part of the seminar experience is weekly participation in the class blog, which keeps the conversation going from week to week and will be a place for you to share your thoughts and concerns about the materials discussed in seminar as well as the internship experience. The opinions expressed on this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of the Vera Institute of Justice or its spin-off organizations. While the blog is open to the public and anyone, theoretically, can comment, only class members and invited guests will be able to post. You can also look for us on our student and alumni page on Facebook.
Each student has been assigned one week to write the "post." Please post within 24 hours after class. Every week, each student must comment on the post (feel free to comment more than once). Please comment by Monday afternoon to allow time for further questions and responses and so that we can read all the entries before class.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Hey everyone

The concept of Micro-aggressions is still a relatively new one in academia and like with many other research topics more data in regards to possible contexts of privilege and intersectionality needs to be collected.

To continue this discussion I'd to  post some questions to think about:
What are some connections between privilege, intersectionality, and micro-aggressions? Are there solid connections? Is it something vague? What are examples? Do micro-aggressions affect the aggressor? If yes, how? If not, why not? Lastly, what is the danger in being too hyper-aware or too vigilant of micro-aggressions?

I hope you all enjoyed the class and the discussion. Thank you everyone for your participation!!!
Have a great break!
Posted by at

16 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
April 5, 2015 at 12:30 PM
Unknown said...

Monica, it is very unfortunate that I’ve missed your class. It must be really interesting considering the concept that it brings. For me, the idea of intersectionality is something new and refers to the question that I was asking during one of the classes. How do we determine the level of privilege/disadvantage? Does it mean that women of color have even lesser access to opportunities and higher chance to be subjected to micro-aggressions?
Intersectionality has a very strong connection with privilege by explaining what are the privileges and how different people have different access to them. This different access is in our eco-system. Who are we? Who are the people around us? How does it affect us? After completing the readings, I thought that intersectionality should not only look at gender and ethnic background. It should be further expanded through social status, sexual orientation, and health status. Many of us experience micro-aggressions not only because they are women or people of color, or both but also because we are simply different from the society that we live in. For example, some white males may be oppressed and discriminated because their parents are not rich enough or because they are mentally or physically disadvantaged.
In general, the theory of intersectionality explains much more than the gender and ethnic disparities; however, it does not explain the role of context and geographical location. I think that Latino girl in Midtown, Manhattan and Latino girl in Los Angeles, California experience different kinds of micro-aggression and discrimination (if any).
The concept of micro-aggressions is a bit vague as well. What constitutes microaggression? For some people, excluding a person from communication may be considered as an act of microaggression. However, person does not necessarily excludes person from verbal communication due to characteristics that we might think of. The rationale behind that might be totally personal. A. may exclude B. from communication because of the only word that B. has said wrong. It would be nothing about the race, gender, or social status, that lead A. exclude B. from communication.
Some people refer bullying to micro-aggressions as well. In that case, micro-aggression is subtle, often automatic, stereotypical, and insensitive behavior or comments or assumptions about a person’s identity, background, ethnicity, or disability. It might be presented politely or negatively. How do we know for sure that our intentions is what the other person sees?
Therefore, I believe that this connection takes place and it is obvious. However, the question is how to take a look on it more globally (not from one person’s lens/ not from the point of view of people from the same community). Individual differences are also important. That is the hardest part of psychology. We are all crazy different.

April 5, 2015 at 12:35 PM
Danyeli Rodriguez said...

I would like to make a comment about what Marina said about intersectionality and geography. My senior thesis is actually on the branch of intersectionality that includes geography along with other social categories, such as gender, race, and social status. Geography, I can say, is one of the most underdeveloped branches of intersectionality and which feminist are beginning to write about now in the last decade. It points out that, as Marina said, lived experiences vary depending on where the person resides-- or where the person's microsystem develops.

The danger in being too hyper-aware is that sometimes people's intention are not "microaggressing" but rather to honestly give a compliment in the way they know how-- even if this way has been influenced by structures and institutions, such as the family, school, or even work place. Maybe what would normally not be insulting can become insulting to us if we take it as aggression as opposed as a "compliment." I think the key to avoid getting microaggressed and to stop microaggressing is open dialogue about what is not okay and what is. People are all different and therefore can feel insulted by different things, while for others a certain comment may be perfectly okay. The only way to stop being afraid of saying the wrong thing or being afraid of "making a big deal" out of microaggressions is to speak out when we're uncomfortable or to ask when we are unsure about what will make others uncomfortable.

April 5, 2015 at 6:59 PM
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
April 5, 2015 at 10:53 PM
Unknown said...

As Danyeli brought up in class, we are all priviliged in different ways. However, I believe those with the most privilege (think white, upper class men) use their privilege to belittle others. Here is where I believe microaggression and intersectionality came to be. Those with privilege use their privilege to demonstrate that they are the ones with the power, not the "other." Intersectionality is a way for privileged individuals and groups to "pile on" racial and gender specific insults and slights, leading to negative outcomes for the receivers of these varying microaggressions. While the paradigm may not be this simple, I believe it portrays the connections between these three terms.

For your question about hyper-awareness of microaggressions, I would have to concur with Danyeli's point about creating an open dialogue. WIthout such a dialogue, we become stuck in a cycle of aggressing and being aggressed. Without communication, the aggressed may become angry (and rightly so) or discouraged and the aggressor may be silenced or emboldened to continue the aggression. However, if a discourse were to be created between the two entities, where one individual could communicate how a certain statement made them feel, we might be able to put an end to this seemingly endless cycle.

April 5, 2015 at 10:59 PM
Unknown said...

I guess the problem with micro-aggression is that the base or the foundations of the relationship between groups were already messed up from the very beginning. If we are to go back in time, we will find out that one group has always been the most privileged and has used that privileged to abuse others that are not similar to its kind. In this post I will focus on the question of, “what is the danger in being too hyper-aware or too vigilant of micro-aggressions?”

The danger of being too hyper-aware or too vigilant of micro-aggressions is that, it affects the way that we interact as members of society. Micro-aggression becomes the answer to any negative interactions between the privileged and the unprivileged. An example that we all spoke about in class, was when a privileged person compliments an unprivileged person for a big accomplishment, such as graduating from college. One way that we could overcome micro-aggression is by attaining equal privileges in society. Equality in privileges among members of the same community will not necessarily eradicate micro-aggression, but it will at least help maintain a balance between the aggressor and the aggressed.
Another problem with micro-aggression is the response that we adopt in instances where an unprivileged is victimized. For example, aggressors enjoy special privileges that protect them after they have committed acts of micro-aggression. If we were all protected by society, our response to micro-aggressions would have had an impact on future aggressors.

April 6, 2015 at 9:44 PM
Unknown said...

I'm sad I wasn't able to attend your class Monica! The topics your bring to our attention are very interesting and important. Needless to say, the more socially and racially diverse our ecosystems are, the more culturally competent we need to be. But this has to begin with an awareness and appreciation for other cultures and how distinct they are from us. I feel it is much easier to be tolerant in a place like NYC than in a small town on the outskirts of West Virginia, for instance, and that can be attributed to exposure.

Another point I'd like to raise is the issue of male privilege in the context of the "10 hours walking in NYC as a woman" video, as I feel your class is ideal for having a discussion on that. Some might say that the woman faced a great deal of micro aggression as she was literally doing nothing to provoke any attention to her. On the other hand, others might question what the fuss is especially since she is not being harmed or threatened in any way. What can we make of this? Of course, there is also the fact that she (a white woman) chose (?) to walk down areas populated by non-whites, thereby giving viewers the impression that such crass behavior can only be expected from Blacks and Hispanics...

April 7, 2015 at 6:16 AM
bekah giacomantonio said...

to echo the notions of danyeli and lauren, the many perils surrounding micro-aggression and privilege and the intersectionality inherent in both is that there can only be healing in growth with open dialogue in safe spaces. I need to be able to mess up and be corrected with respect just as much as I need to be able to step up and engage with a person who has offended or otherwise hurt me with respect.

the question I'm interested in presenting is this: what do we do with the anger we feel about micro-agressors and aggression's? how do we channel that? where does it go? where should it go?

undoubtedly there is much at stake when we openly face folks who use words that offend us, or perpetuate abuses that hurt us with respect to efforts to open dialogue about why their behaviors are unacceptable. It is a vulnerable place to be in when you've revealed to someone that you are uncomfortable in the laugh at you or mock you or, worst of all, continue their oppressive behavior like you've said nothing at all.

If dialogue, honesty, and respect are the answers to the questions monica has posed (which they may not be), how do we get there?

April 7, 2015 at 1:01 PM
Unknown said...

I think the idea of a safe zone is an important one, but then how do we begin to do that? What would that look like? Is everyone invited? Is there a danger in these becoming overrated?

What does "respecting each other" and the boundaries that drawn?
How do we not silence or shame people in correcting them and letting them know how we(meaning a person with under-privilege)?

April 13, 2015 at 8:41 AM
Unknown said...

In some cases, "silence" can be that safe zone that people often need. Sometimes, it is just better to keep things private instead of letting it go. Again, it is so personal. For some people, being respected is to be heard. Other people want to be in the light of everybody's attention to feel respected. How do we approach social justice problems with different types of individuals?



April 13, 2015 at 5:14 PM
Unknown said...

I actually disagree in part with Lauren. I don't think micro-aggressions have to stem from intentionally degrading and belittling others. I think that micro-aggression do happen in that manner, probably often, but I don't think its exclusively malicious. I think micro-aggressions and privilege are related but awareness. People in privilege have the privilege to be unaware of 1) their own privilege, 2) their own biases, and 3) the experiences of people unlike them selves. So micro-aggression in my opinion is caused by ignorance that results from privilege. It may or may not be malicious, but it is not the intentions that are important; it is the latent values that are being expressed. Awareness of these prejudices and biases are the only way to change them.

April 13, 2015 at 10:01 PM
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
April 13, 2015 at 10:08 PM
Unknown said...

Absolutely I agree there are those who make micro-aggressive statements with total intent of malice. However, as Bekah pointed out in class, should we fear the perception of malice in our statements (i.e. we may sound malicious but not mean to be so. You can say it comes from our privilege of not having to know), so much that we are silenced because we fear micro-aggressing? I think a balance needs to be struck between awareness of one's privilege and the injustices experienced by others. However, I don't think we should be so afraid of being an "aggressor" that it keeps us from being advocates for the aggressed.

April 13, 2015 at 10:09 PM
Unknown said...

I think Sydney hit the nail on the head when she said that people with privilege "have the privilege to be unaware". Instantly, I'm reminded of McIntosh's list where one of her items states that white people are have the privilege of having their race over-represented be in the media or in higher positions in the workplace. Therefore, a wall of sorts is erected, where they might not understand the need to really learn or see beyond what they see on a daily basis, i.e. really take the time to expose themselves to other cultures beyond their often one-dimensional, distorted representations in the media. So comments might be made "innocently" out of sheer ignorance, that is a product of that privilege. I really think this starts young. Attitudes formed early on in life crystallize as we mature, and it only becomes tougher to alter set mindsets as the years go by.

So in terms of solutions, I propose that elementary and high schools be that space that would really allow for exposure to other cultures and lifestyles, a space to teach tolerance and acceptance for others different from you. Of course, this solution only looks to tackling future, and not existing, microaggression.

April 14, 2015 at 1:27 AM
Alisse Waterston said...

I LOVE THAT YOU ARE IN DIALOGUE WITH ONE ANOTHER, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT WE WANTED THE BLOG TO BE!! YAY!!

April 15, 2015 at 10:57 AM
Unknown said...

ME TOO ME TOO!!!! This is exactly what the blog is for. Yay Verons!!!!

April 16, 2015 at 12:44 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)