Jews Talk Racial Justice - Ep 41: When You Overhear Microaggressions, Pt 2: Responding to a Question
QUICK EPISODE OVERVIEW
One of our listeners posed an interesting question in response to a previous episode (39/Season 2, Episode 19: When You Overhear Microaggressions) asking, “What are good ways to respond when you hear racist microaggressions in general, not directed at anyone in particular or maybe the target is not around in that moment. I encounter this at work and don’t know how to respond.” April and Tracie share their own experiences and discuss strategies on how to respond.
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
April and Tracie share a viewer question regarding how to respond to microaggressions if/when a member of the targeted group is not present. Have you been in this kind of situation before? What happened? Tracie describes how she “froze” in that moment, how did you react?
Tracie and April share examples of responses you can give, especially when faced with racial microaggressions. Some examples include asking “why is that funny/I don’t get it”. Tracie recommends practicing saying your response out loud. What would your response be? Practice saying it out loud. How does it feel?
Tracie mentions a time when a Yiddish ethnic slur was used. Do you know the word she is referring to/have you heard or been the target of it before? It is important that we are aware of the painful words within our community, so have you researched what those are for many different marginalized groups?
April reminds us that any kind of response in going against the White Supremacist order, and that there may be consequences yet be still must interrupt the cycle, but we still need to calibrate how to best respond in any given moment. What are the ways you calibrate how you respond? Are there places you have more room to push back than you think or give yourself credit for?
April reminds us that racial justice is a long game. Have you thought about it in this way? How does thinking about justice as a long term process open up space to give yourself compassion when you don’t live up to your ideals?
April knows she will live to see incredible strides towards racial justice. Do you share her conviction? What would progress look like to you? Imagine it, what does it feel like and look like?
Tracie describes a pattern she had observed of hers, interrupting colleagues of color, that she worked to interrupt and change within herself. What are patterns that you engage in? Patterns around race and even around other identities.
April introduces the model of Light and Heat methods of acting for social change, and she uses Light more. You can learn more in the show notes. Which do you use? Do you use a combination?
INSIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE
“What I did was actually try to prepare myself for when it happened again is practice saying out loud, ‘You know what, that’s not funny,’ so that if it was a joke, that I actually had on the tip of my tongue - ‘That’s not funny.’”
“A core part of racial justice work is about the long game. It’s about continually working on a daily, weekly, and monthly and annual basis to get better at what we’re doing and to be kind with ourselves as we come upon new situations and if we don’t fully know what to do in that moment, but make a very mindful note of it and get more information.”
“My personal approach is to come with calm and with clarity, demonstrate clarity to them that I understand their inherent goodness, that that’s not up for debate, but that I noticed this impact that they’re having that I think they not be aware of.”
COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?
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