Microaggression Analysis

Microaggressions can be any commonplace comments that are intended or not to offend another person. However, one might think individuals would be aware if they inherently said something offensive. Microaggressions are even apparent in standardized testing and academia as test writers and teachers can unintentionally degrade students with a seemingly innocent statement. Standardized tests are allegedly supposed to test student’s knowledge of what they have learned or previously known. The tests also reflect the academic progress of the school to determine the quality of education that the school provides. Standardized tests seem to be an unbiased way of determining skill, but the tests do not take into consideration student’s home lives, as
The essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldúa, and article “Minority Testing Bias Persists” by Ronnie Reese illustrate how constant microaggressive comments can create self esteem issues, and, how standardized testing demines students who cant understand the question. The article “Minority Testing Bias Persists” by Ronnie Reese, gives an example of a student coming from a low-income household and not being able to relate the word “saucer” to cup because he has never been exposed to the word saucer before. Reese explains for reasons like this the test is not a valid knowledge marker. Also in the article he gives an anecdote about a student who did not choose to finish his test because it is “nothing but a white racist test given by the white people graded by the white people” (Reese). Reese finishes his article with the idea that schools cannot assume these tests represent all students’ knowledge, as “circumstances are different for each student”(“Minority Testing Bias Persists). Standard English is forced upon students, as teachers, advisors, and business professionals believe having a common language that everyone understands and knows makes the best work environment. However, as teachers and advisors try to prepare students for further education or the work force, they forget that these other languages are not invalid they just have different rules. In “How to
Microaggressions can stem from racist or sexist ideas that a young child or even a young adult can hear their parent or peer say. These stereotypes can then be consciously or unconsciously directed toward another person who in turn takes the comment offensively. Most of the time microaggressive comments are directed towards a student or a student’s language in the setting of a classroom. Classrooms and teachers encourage the use of Standard English as it makes a common ground and language that everyone can follow. However, students take this standard negatively and believe they are being targeted because their language is not seen as traditional. W.E.B. Du Bois created the idea of “double consciousness” which is described as living two identities. The theory of having two identities relates to what Anzaldúa wrote in “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” as she talks about how she portrays herself as “white” as she can in a school setting, but once she returns home she embraces her Chicano heritage. Anzaldúa speaks another language and becomes a different person in the comfort of her home that would not be considered acceptable during school hours. When students find themselves hiding their identity or hiding their language it attributes to many self esteem issues or them feeling as though they are inferior to their