When working with Alex, I made sure to be respectful of her views, culture, and problem. Making sure to listen to her, validate her feelings, being authentic in my words, and using critical thinking to help come up with a solution that she wants and needs.
According to the FBI, hate crimes have risen among the African American youth since 2016 (English, Lambert, Tynes, Bowleg, Zea, & Howard, 2020). With African American youth being harassed research shows depression, anxiety, and trauma have increased (English, Lambert, Tynes, Bowleg, Zea, & Howard, 2020). Physical health is also affected. It can start at birth, the child’s mother can suffer from higher stress levels, inadequate health care, and resources causing lower birth weights which can lead to more disease risks (Davies, 2021). Chronic diseases can than lead to more mental health risks. Which can lead to increased drug and alcohol use. The impacts of the racial microaggressions on minority youth groups, unfortunately, have not been researched or written about enough. Microaggressions and ethnic racism happens online and in person; it can include making comments about hair, skin color, language, accent, misconceptions of a certain race (English, Lambert, Tynes, Bowleg, Zea, & Howard, 2020). Viral videos and news stories nightly about police killing unarmed citizens, immigrants in cages, and families separated at the boarder are a few of the traumatic exposures that minority children see constantly (Tynes, Willis, Stewart, & Hamilton, 2019).
When using racial stereotypes like the coach did in the video, letting Alex know she should look at basketball instead of cheer (Walden, 2021), the risk of inaccuracy on a group of individuals is high, and wrong (Zastrow, Kirst-Ashman, & Hessenauer, 2019). It will be incredibly important and necessary to make sure I am using culture humility when working with Alex. This will include ethnic sensitivity practice, which means I have to understand and be aware of the depth that oppressions has on minority groups (Zastrow, Kirst-Ashman, & Hessenauer, 2019). Helping build up Alex by empowering her, showing her positive values and images to counter the negative messages she is getting, and building the strengths of her beliefs and accomplishments (Zastrow, Kirst-Ashman, & Hessenauer, 2019). Alex, is dealing with the trauma of watching police shoot unarmed black men in her neighborhood, feeling out of place in a mostly white school, and the racist micro aggression from the cheerleading coach (Walden, 2021). Helping her process the trauma she has witnessed, experienced, and felt will be the goal in working with her.
- Compare your approach for working with the student to theirs.
- Explain how the larger social environment (e.g., systemic racism, acts of racial violence and discrimination that get national attention) contributes to the experience of everyday microaggressions.