Sunday, March 28, 2021

March 28 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

 

I am writing to let you know a little bit about what we discussed during this Thursday afternoon’s student meeting about the Asian American hate incidents that have been occurring across the country.  Thank you to those who encouraged your students to join us.  We had about 25 students who joined the group and about twenty staff who came to facilitate the session.

 

I decided not to focus on the specific events that happened across the country given that some students may not have been aware of or are overwhelmed by the horrific events such as the mass shooting that occurred in Atlanta two weeks ago.  Instead, I felt it would be more appropriate to talk about the microaggression that Asian Americans and people from different marginalized groups often experience in their everyday lives.  These events are subtle and sometimes delivered with good intentions.  However, they are just as damaging to the recipients of these behaviors as physical assaults, and if these behaviors go unchecked, they can lead to more overt and violent aggression such as physical attacks.

 

At the start of the session, I showed the students the following video called Lunch Box Moments.  I believe the testimonies of the folks in the video demonstrated very well how hurtful comments disguised as jokes targeting something that is deeply connected to one’s identity (e.g., the food they eat) can cause an impact on that person’s well-being. 

 

 


 

During our meeting, the students shared that they thought the folks in the video experienced feelings related to shame, embarrassment, awkwardness, worthlessness, and fear during their Lunch Box Moments.  These are the feelings that can lead the aggressors to believe and internalize that it is acceptable to exclude or marginalize other people who are different than they are.  These are also the feelings that can lead the targets to believe they do not deserve to be treated equitably, and what they value about their own cultures and other aspects of themselves are shameful and should stay hidden.

 

When I think about our anti-racism and anti-bullying work at McCall, I do believe we do a pretty good job of getting students to understand that overtly racist, homophobic, sexist, and biased behaviors are unacceptable.  What we need to spend more time and effort on is helping everyone within the community understand microaggression and what it really is – abusive behaviors.  We have to do a better job of helping everyone to understand there is no place for microaggression in our community, and we have to teach everyone to respond appropriately when they encounter microaggression in the moment.  Given that microaggression by definition are behaviors that are subtle and are often delivered as compliments (e.g., “You are so handsome for a dark skinned boy”or “I can't believe girls can also be good at this sport”), they are not easily detectable by adults who are monitoring the interactions that are happening among students – especially when they are in large group settings.  Therefore, it is equally important we all help our students understand the importance of reporting these incidents to proper authorities if they witness them as bystanders or experience them as targets.

 

Last Tuesday’s meeting ended with someone posing the question, “If we experience microaggression, how do we confront it?”  I provided the following document called Racism Interruptions to all the students and the adults at the session as part of my response to this query.  I am attaching it here for your reference.  This document includes many types of responses people can say when they are facing overt racist verbal abuses or comments that are more subtle and take the form of compliments or part of everyday banter.  I hope you and your students will find it useful the next time you encounter your own Lunch Box Moment.

 

Thank you,

 

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School