Dear Editor,
Re: “Microaggressions lead to health issues: Doctor,” Mental Wellness, Feb. 24
If I start chatting with someone, say at the lab, in a coffee shop, a salon, I usually ask “Where did you grow up?” This leads to discussion about different cultures, their family, was it difficult to settle here.
I usually throw in “We came from England – everyone is from somewhere!” After all, Canada is a cultural mosaic. I find that people like to talk about themselves and we have an enjoyable discussion.
Now, according to a UBC researcher, I have been using “microaggression”, which tends to cause “serious health problems, sleep problems as well as high levels of inflammation.” What?
As “researchers” tend to do, I believe this one has formed a theory and then set out to prove it. However there is no proof in this article. No immigrants are quoted as having this problem of “microaggression,” making them “feel as though they are a perpetual foreigner, that they don’t belong.” Not one. Where was the “research” done?
Janet Cowley
RICHMOND
