INCLUSION PRACTICUM: MINIMIZING THE
RISKS OF
EXCLUSION
INTERRUPTING MICROAGGRESSIONS: CHEAT SHEET
- Sit down next to or stand beside the offender when confronting them
- "Where is that coming from?"
- Go in pairs
- "Why do you think..."
- Give the offender a 'dirty look'
- Cough
- "What you said was hurtful to me."
- "I don't think that's funny."
- "Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?"
- Pull the offender aside
Saying or doing anything is better than saying or doing nothing!
SHARPENING YOUR ANTENNAE TO INCREASE SELF-AWARENESS AND RECOGNIZE MICROAGGRESSIONS
- Do your research!
- It's not the responsibility of the non-dominant group to tell you what to do.
- Be patient with yourself. This is hard.
- When you make a mistake, own it, forgive yourself, and move forward.
- Recognize that dominant-group membership is not something to be guilty or ashamed about. Use your privilege to act as an ally!
Jackson Katz- Violence Against Women: It's a Men's Issue
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson Addresses the Racial Tension in American Society
DIVERSITY - The unique differences between individuals in a group. (A person who holds a non-dominant identity is not "diverse".)
DOMINANT CULTURE - Process and communication that are so comfortable for groups with power that they don't have to be discussed. It's a system that preserves the current power balance.
PRIVILEGE - Access to resources, by virtue of being a member of a dominant identity. Privilege is unearned, can make dominant culture invisible, and means that engaging with oppression is a choice.
MICROAGGRESSIONS - Subtle, everyday behaviors that unconsciously or unintentionally denigrate a non-dominant identity (individual or group).
-ISM - Institutional power + prejudice = -isms. In practice, -isms maintain systems of oppression.
ALLYSHIP - When individuals who hold privilege interrupt instances of oppression by supporting and advocating for a non-dominant group. Does not exist without action.