Example:
After viewing the video on microagressions and cross-cultural practice, it has further widened my awareness of how harmful small, seemingly non-offending comments or actions can be to people of color. Key takeaways from the video include: the internal battle that minorities face when a microagression occurs can have serious impacts to mental and physical health, even compliments can be microagressions without the perpetrator knowing it, and the statistic of 50% of people of color dropping out of therapy after the first contact because the client did not feel as if their white therapist understood them. The implications for cross cultural practice is the reality that as social workers/clinicians, especially white/other privledged groups, need to be aware of everything we say and make sure that there are no hidden messages or implications. For example, the common CBT technique of thought replacing or cognitive restructuring can be a microagression if the client is citing an example of when they experienced racism. The therapist may not percieve it that way, and may pathologize the client and try to have the client see the racist incident from a different perspective. This can make the client feel invalidated and misunderstood, which is why being knowledgeable and educated on cross cultural practice is so important. Overall, this video was very helpful to me, especially as a white person, as it reminded me to be extra mindful of how words/actions may actually be promoting racism without me even being aware of it.
Please review the posted tape and write down its implications for cross-cultural practice in terms of the social worker’s culturally driven counter-transference, client’s transference, and therapeutic alliance. Think about how you can manage your culturally driven transference and improve your engagement and work with a diverse client population. There will be no synchronous class this week.
00:00:00DR. DERALD WING SUE Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to our lecture series on, Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice. Today’s topic really deals with the issue, what we called racial microaggressions, a relatively new concept that has been unexplored in terms of discussing it’s practical implications to people of color as well as research into the field. What I would like to, ah, quickly mention is that, well, I am speaking to racial microaggressions in essence there are gender and sexual orientation of microaggressions that are delivered in the environment of people of color, of women and gay-lesbians as well. So while we talk about racial microaggressions, there are many commonalities in principles in terms of the manifestation and impact that it has on the recipients. Before we get started, what I would like to do is talk about six basic assumptions for us to entertain as we begin to talk about how racial microaggressions affect the life experience of people of color and may manifest itself in the counseling, clinical encounter that will cause impasses or enraptures in the therapeutic process. The first assumption-
00:02:00Basic Assumptions 1. We have been socialized into a society in which there exists individual, institutional and societal biases associated with race, gender and sexual orientation. 2. None of us are immune from inheriting the biases of our ancestors, institutions and society. 3. It is not “old-fashioned” bigotry that is most harmful to marginalized groups, but the contemporary forms known as modern symbolic, aversive, and microaggressions.
00:02:00DR. DERALD WING SUE – That I make is that we have been all socialized into a society in which there exists individual, institutional, and societal biases, ah, associated with race. This is an inevitable conclusion when you begin to study the history and the content of the, of United States. Secondarily, social psychological research suggest that none of us are immune from inheriting the racial biases of our ancestors, our institutions, and this society. For me to believe, for example, as I’ve mention constantly that I have been born and raised in the United States and somehow been immune to inheriting this racial biases is really, in some sense, difficult to fathom. Thirdly, it is not “old-fashioned” racism that is most harmful to people of color but the contemporary forms that my, one of my colleagues jack the video explores and what he caused aversive racism, others refer to it is, as modern racism. I refer to it. along with the number of other colleagues. As racial microaggressions, the everyday slides snobs, uhm, ah, disrespect and insults that people of color are subjective to. The fourth major assumption that all of us need to consider as we begin to talk, uhm, ah, and move on this quest to understand, uhm, microaggressions-
00:03:40Basic Assumptions 4. The characteristics of these forms are their invisible, unintentional and subtle nature; usually outside the level of conscious awareness. 5. Microaggressions create psychological dilemmas for the perpetrator and recipient because it represents a clash of racial, gender, and sexual orientation realities. 6. Microaggressions create a hostile and invalidating climate for people of color, saps their spiritual and psychic energies, and their cumulative nature can result in depression, frustration, anger, rage, loss of self-esteem, anxiety, etc.
00:03:40DR. DERALD WING SUE – Is that these forms of racism or racial microaggressions are generally unintentional, invisible, and subtle in nature. They are usually outside the conscious awareness of the perpetrator or person who engages in racial microaggressions. A fifth assumption that often times, ah, occurs is that racial microaggressions creates psychological dil, ah, dilemmas for both the perpetrator and the recipient because they represent a clash of racial realities. And the sixth assumption that we will operate from is that racial microaggressions create a hostile and invalidating climate for people of color that saps their spiritual and psychic energies, and their cumulative nature can result in many psychiatric or psychological, ah, symptoms such as depression, frustration, anger, rage, loss of self-esteem and anxiety. Now, what are racial microaggressions? Let’s talk about that in terms of a, ah, description. Racial microaggressions-
00:05:00RACIAL MICOGGRESSIONS Racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral or environmetal indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults and potentially have a harmful or unpleasant psychological impact on the target person or group.
00:05:00DR. DERALD WING SUE – Are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral or environmental indignities that can be intentional, but most of the time, they are intentional and they communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults, and they potentially have a harmful, unpleasant psychological impact on target persons or groups. Now racial microaggressions are not simply verbal and behavioral in nature. This definition that I gave indicates that they can be environmental as well. Let me give you an example, several, uhm, in fact, it was in last year, I was asked to go in, uhm, ah, go to Harvard University as part of the training team to work with Harvard in terms of talking about how to make Harvard a more welcoming and inclusive, ah, environment. During that session, I met with all the deans of the college and was introduced to the group as someone who had done great work, uhm, ah, in terms of understanding multiculturalism. As I sat there during the in, ah, invita-, uhm, the introduction, I looked around the entire room and notice that every single face of the dean were white. Nothing wrong in terms of being white, but it’s struck me that every single dean was white and they were primarily men, who were in that particular room. So, when the, uhm, ah, moderator turned to me after the introduction and stated that, uhm, I, I wonder if you could, ah, start off by telling us some of the, uhm, ah, studies and finding that you’d had on multiculturalism. Well, I said that, “Well, let me, first of all, make an observation. As I stand here in front of all of you, I notice that every single face before me is that of a white person,” and I could the they were shuffling around in some degree of discomfort, and I said that, uhm, do you know since this is a, ah, part of a program, aimed that making Harvard a more welcoming and inclusive environment for, ah, students, faculty, and staff of color, do you realize what it says to me as a person of color? As I stand here before you and see the sea of white faces, there was a hidden message being communicated to me, it is saying to me that you will not be comfortable here. That you are not welcome here. If you stay here, there is only so far, you can rise in the hierarchy of Harvard University. Whether intentional or not, that is the hidden message that is given to me as a person of color. And a result, we will, ah, soon talk about this. Environmentally, this represents a microaggression that has clear implications for me as person of color. Now, microaggressions or racial microaggressions are subtle, stunning, and often automatic exchanges, which I described as being put-downs. In the World of business, women know what I’m talking about. They use a term that they called microinequities, and that is, they describe a pattern of being overlooked, under respected, and devalued because of their gender. And this, indeed, is something that they res, uhm, ah, referred to in the, uhm, World of, of work. Now, these exchanges are so pervasive, automatic, and constant in our daily interactions and conversations that they are often times dismissed or glossed over as being innocent and innocuous. Uhm, they are nevertheless, and I hope to indicate that through our, ah, research and study and today’s presentation, they are detrimental to persons of color because they impair performance in the work place, in the classroom, and in a multito, ah, multitude of other settings by sapping this, what I called the espiritu(ph) and psychological, uhm, ah, energies of, of the recipients, and they result often times in creating inequities or disparities in terms of a, a, of, uhm, ah, education and, ah, work an so forth. Now, let me give you an example, uhm, racial microagressions when they occur, places the person of color in an unenviable, uhm, ah, situation. Now, the easiest way for me to describe to you a microaggression was an incident that had occurred to me several years ago. Ah, an African-American colleague and I were attending a major diversity conference at Boston College and we flew out early in the morning from LaGuardia Airport in our, uhm, ah, attempt to make the conference in Boston, in order to really listen to our, ah, graduate students and support them since they were presenting on the program, uhm, that particular morning. Well, as I said, it was very early in the morning, uhm, and my colleague and I, an African-American woman, ah, approached the small plane that we, these were, you know, I always describe I don’t like this these planes because they’re small planes with single rows of seat on one side and limited, ah, number of, of seats on another side and they’re small and I always worry that they’re not going to make it off the ground or, or, uhm, turbulence will cause it great problems. But we, as we approach the gateway, uhm, into the plane, ah, it was obvious that there were very few passengers. Well, the White flight attendant and I identified her as being white because it has significance in what we’re going to be, ah, illustrating today, greeted us at the, uhm, ah, doorway and said to both of us, “Uhm, the plane is completely open, feel free to sit anywhere that you want.” Well, my colleague and I, you know, wanted, you know, get, get, I think most people like to sit on the front of the plane, so we went back about two or three rows and sat down and carried on this conversation between the two us. Now, other passengers came in, not very many, and they distributed themselves generally at the front, ah, of the plane. As the flight attendant was getting ready to close the hatch of the, uhm, ah, of the plane, three White men in business suits, uhm, ah, hurried on board. And I heard the flight attendant say to them very much the same thing. “Gentlemen, the flight is completely open. Have a seat anywhere that you want.” So they chose to sit about two rows ahead of my colleague, uhm, ah, and I. Now, uhm, as we, as the plane, uhm, ah, door was, was shut and I could tell that the flight attendant was scanning the entire plane, uhm, she came up to, ah, between, ah, my colleague and I. We were seated on opposite sides of the, uhm, uhm, the aisle, so we could talk to one another and lean forward and said to both us, “I wonder if I could ask the both of you to move to the back of the plane so that we can balance the load.” Well a, apart from being irritated at the thought of having to get up after we, uhm, I have made myself, uhm, ah, comfortable, my colleague and I made eye contact immediately, uhm, and I could tell what she was thinking and she probably knew what I was thinking. The thought that entered both of our minds was that, ” Were we being asked to move because we were passengers of color?” Now, this is a major dilemma, uhm, that occurs when we begin to talk about racial microaggressions. Well, it was so early in the morning, I didn’t wanna hassle with it so I turned to my colleague and I said that, uhm, ah, she com, was complaining why did she asked us? Is it because we are passengers of color? And I said to her, uhm, ah, lets, it’s too early, Madonna. Let us go to the back of the plane so that we, you know, just can continue talking. My colleague was less forgiving. And as we got up to move back, she continued to complain, ah, and to voice these, these thoughts aloud. And I could feel, as we were walking back, that I was getting myself very agitated and angry, uhm, because what she was saying to me resignated with my experiential reality. And so, we sat at the back of the plane and she kept saying that, Derald, it, you know, I really wonder what she didn’t asked those white men, they came in last and, you know, she was making lot of sense to men, uhm, ah, to me and that, this, at this point, the flight attendant began to, uhm, move back to the back of the plane by shutting the overhead compartments or making sure that they were, uhm, ah, firmly, ah, latched. And as she got next to us, I couldn’t contain my agitation any longer. And perhaps it was not the best thing for me to do but I stated to her, ah, in really, a very tense voice that I was trying to control my anger and, uhm, ah, ah, agitation. “Do you realize that you asked two passengers of color to moved to the back of the bus?” Now, perhaps, I should have said plane rather than bus, but it had symbolic meaning to me and she was greatly disturbed, I could tell that she was horrified and she stood back, stepped back and said to me, “I, well, I have never,” and I said, ” You have never what?” And she says, “I have never been accused of that,” and I said, “What?” And she said, “You know what, ah, I’m talking about,” and I said, ” Yes, I do.” And I tried to, at this point, become very rational in talking to her, uhm, to convince her that this has happened to me more than once, and she was denying that this incident had anything to do with our race. In fact I, I honestly believe that she felt that she was doing it for the good of everyone. In fact, the reason she gave me was that I wanted move you two back so could have privacy to carry on with your conversation, I wanted to moved you, ah, ask you to move back because, uhm, ah, it ha, we had to balance the plane load. It was unsafe to have everyone at one section of the plane. And of course, I kept countering by saying, “But we were the first passengers, why didn’t you ask the three White men to move? Why did choose us?” This kept going on and on until I realized that it was no-win argument. There was no way that I could convince her that in my perception, it had everything to do with race, and in her perception, it had nothing to do with race. In fact, she had legitimate reason that may actually be true. See, this is the, uhm, ah, nature of microaggressions in terms of the clash of world views and the differences that people, uhm, ah, perceive happening. At this point, I’m expecting my colleague, uhm, to come to my, ah, ah, aid by validating my perceptions but what does she do? Absolutely nothing. Ah, my colleague instead seats there and laughs aloud. Uhm, yeah, I mean, not quite at least, she’s laughing aloud as this dialogue is occurring and all the passengers are turning and looking, uhm, ah, at what is going on. And another thing I know what is going on, all the passengers are imputing to me that I’m paranoid and I’m oversensitive and isn’t this typical with people of color raising up a fuss and we will turn to that issue very shortly But at this point, I’ve ended the conversation because she said, ” I will not discuss this any further,” and I said, “That’s fine, but I hope you think about it.” So she, she went to the front, ah, of the plane. At this point, I’m very angry because I’m stewing and I, a, emotional turmoil and feelings, uhm, and I turned to my colleague and I said why didn’t you, after all, she was the one that agitated me and got me, uhm, involved. “Why didn’t you come to my aid?” And she said, “Derald, I wanna say something to you. You were doing such a fine job and it just feels good not to be the angry hostile Black woman who always raises this issue.” And when she said that, it drove home the fact of how many of us as people of color when we, we raise these issues of race that we’re discredited. In fact, our, our responses are oftentimes pathologized as indicative on something wrong with us. In her case, being a Black woman, she has heard oftentimes that Blacks get angry easily, they’re over sensitive, and this is typically, uhm, ah, what happened so I understood what she was saying. The only thing that she comforted me with was an advice. She said that when the flight attendant pushes that food tray back, don’t eat or drink anything off a bit and, you know, we laughed at this. Uhm, and there’s another observation I made that was very fascinating. And that observation was that the flight attendant usually on these small planes ‘coz I’ve flown them from LaGuardia, to Boston, or to D.C. before, uhm, usually start the, ah, the, the snack or the breakfast service way in the front of the plane as they push the cart back. She, however, did something far different. She pushed the cart, made it noticeably obvious to everyone that she was pushing the cart all the way back, uhm, ah, to serve both of us first. And luckily, she did that because I felt more comfortable having a cup of coffee that I needed that morning. But in essence, it was almost like she was saying to us, see, I am not a racist or a bigot. Ah, and as a result, that in itself was an, ah, attempt to disconfirm what was going on, ah, with me. Now, let us talk about this situation. Throughout that trip, uhm, in the flight itself, well, I pretended or feigned being, uhm, relaxed and, and talking to my colleague. Inside, I was in turmoil. I was stewing. Ah, I was stewing over what I should have done and said, uhm, and, and the no-win Catch-22 position that I found myself in. And this raises, ah, these raise the issues that I feel many mental health professionals in order to understand the world view and psychologically, what goes on with people of color is the day in and day out slights, indignities that we are forced to ember, uhm, ah, to bear and at the same time, these are dismissed as, uhm, ah, having no, ah, evil malicious intent to them. Well, I think consciously, that may be so. But let’s talk about the dilemmas. Dilemma one, is that this incident and when racial microaggressions or gender microaggressions or sexual orientation microaggressions occur, there is what I call-
00:22:15RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DILEMMAS Dilemma One: Clash of racial realities.
00:22:15DR. DERALD WING SUE – A clash of racial realities. That’s dilemma number one. As a person of color, I am thinking, did the person engage in a microaggression or did I simply misinterpret her actions? Uhm, the racial realities something that as you begin to, uhm, ah, read the book on Counseling the Culturally Diverse, it is clear that the racial reality of people of color are different from the racial reality of White Americans. For example, uhm, ah, in one of the chapters, we open with a description of the Hurricane, ah, Katrina incident. And I think all of you know that when you saw Hurricane Katrina, saw the residents that were trapped in, uhm, uhm, ah, in New Orleans that the sea of faces of those that were suffering were primarily Black Americans. That was clear to us. And many people of color saw this as evidence of the fact of racism and classicism operating that, uhm, in, in some sense, unfairly operated on the Black citizens of, of New Orleans. However, President Bush and almost all of the leaders said that race had nothing to do with it. In fact, in an ABC poll, when asked the question, “Would the government have responded more quickly if it was White of, ah, ah, White Americans on sea of faces that you saw? Uhm, only 16 percent of White Americans said, “Yes, they would responded more quickly.” However, when they, uhm, when Black Americans were asked, they, over 60 percent said, definitely, the response would have been much quicker. Now, this represents major difference in the world view of the situation. So the question we pose that people of color grapple with all of the time and less so, with ah, respect to our White, uhm, counterparts whose reality is the true reality? That is a one of the, because here we have two forces operating. One of them is that the group that holds the power, as I’ve said in some of the other, ah, tapes that, ah, we produced, the group that holds the power is the group that is able to impose their racial reality upon the entire nation. And, and in this case, it is White Americans who hold that power about what is actually, uhm, ah, going on. Ironically, if you look at the studies, social psychological studies on this question of who is most likely to understand racism and oppression, it is not the people who hold the power. The people who are most likely to have the most realistic view of what is going on are those that are most disempowered. And some of you, uhm, ah, confine this, uhm, ah, studies in our textbook on Counseling the Culturally Diverse. But indeed, it goes back to the very same fact that if you hold power over another individual, your survival doesn’t depend on understanding what’s going on with them. Women, gays, people of color have to understand the mind of White Americans. how institutions operate in order for us to survive. And as a result, we are very tuned in to what we consider to be realistic events that are going up, ah, on, ah, in this dilemma here. The second racial, uhm-
00:26:25RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DILEMMAS Dilemma Two: The Invisibility of Unintentional Expressions of Bias.
00:26:25DR. DERALD WING SUE – Or psychological dilemma is the invisibility of unintentional expressions of bias. Racial microaggressions in general, ah, occur in individuals who experience themselves as good decent people. I have no doubt, the flight attendant is a, experiences herself and on the hole is a good decent individual. And in her rational conscious mind, she was engaging in actions that dealt with the safety of the plane. The perpetrator of racial microaggressions usually are sincere in the belief that they acted without racial bias.
00:27:10DR. DERALD WING SUE Now, herein lays a major dilemma. How is it, how can we prove that a racial microaggression has occurred and how do we make the person who, ah, engaged in it aware of it? How do I communicate to the White flight attendant that perhaps there are unconscious biases that you’re operating from when this individual is so, ah, well defended in terms of this. So the, it’s invisible to the flight attendant and most people who engage in racial microaggressions see, ah, ah, don’t see that this is, uhm, going on. You know, oftentimes, as an Asian-American in this society, I am complimented for speaking good English. Now, uhm, the person who makes that statement on a conscious level is complimenting me. Why shouldn’t I be grateful? Would in any way I get upset? Well, at some levels, I do get upset because a message that is hidden, uhm, a, a micro, uhm, ah, aggression that occurs is a statement that you are an alien in your own land. This is not something that the perpetrator is aware of in terms of, of conscious intent and unconscious world view, uhm, that may be going on. A third, uhm, psychological dilemma that many of us need to be aware of, if we begin to work with people of color, ah, in-
00:28:55RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DILEMMAS Dilemma Three: Perceived Minimal Harm of Racial Microaggressions.
00:28:55DR. DERALD WING SUE – Understanding their life experience is the perception by perpetrators that even if a microaggression occurred, that there is minimal harm of the, uhm, ah, associated with a microaggression. When I confront people with their micro-aggressive, uhm, ah, behaviors, the perpetrator usually believes that I’m overreacting. You know, that, in my, the case of my, uhm, ah, colleague, typical angry Black woman, why are you overreacting? Uhm, you’re being oversensitive and petty. More often the, and this is something people of color constantly tell us in our research that when they bring an issue up, the re, ah, the perpetrators, those who engage in racial, uhm, microaggressions generally considered their, their complaints petty and insignificant. Usually, as I’ve said, for how White Americans will even advise us to let it go. It’s such a small thing. It’s so, uhm, it’s not harmful, uhm, at all. However, what I want you to realize is this, that perpetrators of racial microaggressions usually see the act in isolation than the entire life experience of a person of color or a gay/lesbian, uhm, ah, individual. They don’t realize that in my day-to-day life, I am exposed to constant racial microaggressions or invalidations. And while anyone of them may be minimal, their cumulative continuing nature has a great psychological toll, uhm, ah, that takes and then creates self doubt, ah, frustrations, and isolation. When I sat on that plane, I could feel my blood pressure really rising and we have evidence now that, uhm, many people of colors suffer physiologically from stressor, stresses have come from, uhm, many of this subtle racism that people feel, ah, are minimal and innocuous and innocent and they have minimal harm. Our studies now support the fact that microaggressions are cumulative in nature and have major impact upon the psychological, uhm, uhm, ah, functioning of people who are, ah, exposed to them. The fourth psychological, uhm-
00:31:40RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DILEMMAS Dilemma Four: The Catch-22 of Responding to Microaggressions.
00:31:40DR. DERALD WING SUE – Ah, dilemma that I want you to begin to think about is what we call the Catch-22 of responding to microaggressions. When a microaggression occurs, the recipient is placed in the Catch-22 because the immediate series of questions deplete energy. What are the questions that occur when a microaggression, uhm, ah, incident makes itself in the experience of a person of color? One of the questions that our study indicates is a common one. Did what I think happened really happen? ‘Coz sometimes it jars you. Ah, was this a deliberate act or an intentional, unintentional slight? How should I respond? Should I sit on and stew on it or confront the person? What are the consequences if I do? If I bring the topic up, how do I prove that it is indeed a microaggression? Is it really worth the effort? Should I just drop the matter? Now, think about, these are all questions that are occurring at the moment within the, uhm, individual and it is depleting my energies into really, uhm, ah, being attuned to the larger issues that may be going on. If I’m a student in a classroom, ah, I can’t study because all these, ah, questions are occurring within me and taking away the energies.
00:33:20Catch-22 of Responding The levels of conflict that go within a person of color are multifaceted. 1. First, the person must determine whether a microaggression has occurred. People of color rely heavily on experiential reality that is contextual in nature and involves life experiences from a variety of situations.
00:33:20DR. DERALD WING SUE Now, the levels of conflict that go on within a person of color are multifaceted. Ah, first, the person, as I’ve said before, must determine whether a microaggression has occurred. It is really important because we’re always saying, are we paranoid? Are we oversensitive? Because my White brothers and sisters always seem to take that attack that we’re oversensitive.
00:33:45DR. DERALD WING SUE People of color rely heavily on experiential reality that is contextual in nature and involves life experiences from a variety of situations. Let me give you an idea. The flight attendant doesn’t believe she engaged in a racial microaggression because for her, this is an isolated incident. As a passenger of color, this has happened to me more than once, so that there are series of different incidents in which I begin to connect the dots. And the dots that are connected tell me that there are racial overtones in this singular example and incident that occurred. And so, the perspective that I have is one that is cumulative and, ah, contextual but the, uhm, ah, a cut, the perception of people of colors to, tends to be, uhm, incidental and that’s why oftentimes when, when I begin to work with, uhm, ah, institutions of higher education and a racist incident occurs on campus, the administration immediately will say that this is an isolated incident. Now, students of color, however, say that, well, this has happened in situation A, B and C. When do all the isolates, ah, isolated incidents become the norm rather than the exception? So, again we have here, uhm, ah, the contextual nature of understanding this to people of color, as I’ve indicated, connecting the dots suggests a nonrandom event that we were asked to move to the back of the plane not by accident, not by other rationales that are being given, but the singular thing that constantly comes across in our life experience is that we are people of color and that in some sense, this may be an example of unintentional and subtle, uhm, ah, discrimination that is occurring. The second Catch-22 of Responding-
00:36:05Catch-22 Responding 2. Second, how one reacts to a Microaggression may have differential effects, not only on the perpetrator but the person of color as well. Deciding to do nothing by sitting on one’s anger is one response.
00:36:05DR. DERALD WING SUE Is how one reacts to microaggressions may have differential effects, not only on the perpetrator, but the person of color as well. And deciding what to do whether to do anything or to do nothing, uhm, ah, and to sit on one’s own anger becomes a dilemma in itself. And, ah, many of us, as people of color, don’t do anything for a number of different reasons that I feel, does have, ah, may have, ah, detrimental, ah, consequences. When a racial microaggression occurs, we are, we may be placed in a situation where, ah, where we’re unable to determine whether one has occurred or not so our actions, are, are stifled. Another reason is that we’re at a loss of how to respond. Then it’s that, uhm, you know, I really, had difficulty deciding what was the way to respond, uhm, ah, to the flight attendant. Should I nicely try to say one thing or should I do what I did which obviously generated a greater defensiveness by saying that she asked us to sit at the back of the bus rather than using, uhm, ah, some other, ah, thing. We, as people of color, oftentimes choose to do nothing because we rationalize in a way that quote, “It won’t do any good anyway.” end quote. You know, did my actions do any good, did it change the perception of flight attendant? I don’t think so. Uhm, another one is, of reason why we may choose to do nothing, is that we engage in self denial as people of color by saying, “It didn’t happen.” Now, why would we do that? Why would we deny our own racial experiences or realities? And this is a very important psychological, uhm, ah, point, one person in, ah, that we talk to in terms of our focus group suggested that indeed, if I attributed to racial discrimination, it is a difficult thing for me to take, to know that I am perceived as a lesser being by other, ah, individual. And so, it’s easier for me not to accept the pain associated with being perceived as a lesser, uhm, ah, being. The other reason we might not respond is that we determine that the consequences are too great. If your boss engages in a racial microaggression against you, to for you to respond may alter your relationship with him or her or bring down negative consequences. This is an unequal, uhm, ah, power, uhm, distribution. The last reason in our studies that are coming out that, uhm, ah, surprises, uhm, ah, is that many people of color choose not to respond in order to protect or rescue the offender. Now, at, at first, when this came out as a reason for lack of responsive, it baffled me until I begin to talk about people of color who said that most racial microaggressions come from other close friends and acquaintances and it is very painful. We have a different relationship with them. And as a result, we try to excuse them or make them more comfortable with, with, let’s say, telling a racist joke. Another Black, uhm, uhm, ah, participant indicated, ah, one time that he got into an elevator with a, uhm, a White woman, a young White woman and noticed immediately that she clutched her purse, ah, close to her and, ah, evidence say great deal of anxiety. So, what he did, was to simply take off his cap and say how do you do a, and, uhm, step back to make her feel, uhm, uhm, more comfortable. While these explanations for non-response may hold validity to people of color, ah, not doing, ah, anything, our studies indicate that they have potential harm. They have potential harm because if you choose to do nothing, there are psychological consequences. There is the, a denial that occurs of your own racial reality and your own, uhm, ah, set, uhm, uhm, your own, uhm, ah, integrity, uhm, in terms of who you are as a racial-cultural being. And indeed, it can take a physical toll. And if you look at all the studies that deal with the relationship of bias, racism, and prejudice on the, ah, psychological well-being or health of people of color, there is a strong correlation, uhm, in terms of lower indicators of psychological health associated with greater amounts of, of stress associated with, ah, anger and hostility. Another Catch-22 of Responding-
00:41:303. Third, responding with anger and striking back is likely to engender negative consequences for persons of color as well. They are likely to be accused of being racially oversensitive, paranoid or that their emotional outbursts confirm stereotypes about minorities.
00:41:30DR. DERALD WING SUE Is that in my case, I believe I would say that I responded with a great deal of anger because I wanted to strike back at the flight attendant, uhm, and in some sense, what happened was that I’m sure that all the passengers present on the plane, including the flight attendant, probably interpreted me as being paranoid, emotional, and out of control. And, uhm, I think that there are racial correlates of this as well. For example, I’m positive that black men, black women are probably subjected to more of this stereotype that look at them, they can’t control their impulses. They get angry easily, they’re hostile, and so forth. And that’s why my colleague, uhm, nestated(ph), stated that if you’re so good not to always be the angry black woman, because what you do is you pathologize a healthy response to a sick situation that, uhm, ah, has occurred. So in essence, when we talk about the Catch-22 that people of color, uhm, are, are trapped in, the Catch-22 is that your damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t. That really represents, uhm, an implicit thing. Now, let, ah, our studies now, in terms of exploring racial microaggressions with respect to Asian-Americans and African-American, uhm, ah, black participants in, in terms of our studies here, we have been able to identify three different types of racial, uhm, ah, microaggressions. The first one is-
00:43:15I. RACIAL MICROASSAULT 1. Microassaults are explicit racial derogations characterized primarily by a violent verbal or nonverbal attack meant to hurt the intended victim through name-calling, avoidant behavior or purposeful discriminatory actions.
00:43:15DR. DERALD WING SUE A microassault. A microassault is precisely what I’m saying. It is you know, oh, ver, deliberate hostile, uhm, manifestation of personal racism, ah, that is most closely aligned with what we call old-fashioned, ah, racism. It is generally most highly correlated with the, ah, old-fashioned verbal, non-verbal, violent, uhm, uhm, ah, behaviors intended to hurt the person through name-calling, avoidant behavior, or purposeful discriminatory, ah, actions. You know, someone who calls you a Nigger or a Jap, is engaging in a microassault. There is no, uhm, debate over the intent of the communication and there is no debate that the perpetrator is aware of the fact of, of what is going on. microassaults, as I’ve said, are generally, uhm, individ-, uhm, ah, ah, actions that fall within the old-fashioned traditional forms of racism that most people identify as being associated with the racist. Microassaults, ah, as a category of microaggressions, are not the, ah, issues that what I’m talking about today and, ah, writing about that deals with that. The other two classes of microaggressions are what we call microinsults and microinvalidations. Both of these tend to be unintentional, unconscious, and subtle in their manifestation. A Microinsult-
00:45:05II. RACIAL MICROINSULT
00:45:05DR. DERALD WING SUE -is characterized by behavioral or verbal remarks or comments that convey rudeness, insensitivity and demeans a person’s racial heritage or identity. A microinsult consists of these comments that represent snubs that are outside the level of the awareness of the perpetrator. I’ll be giving, uhm, some examples of this. Uhm, one of the example, is when a pers, ah, when an employer tells a prospective candidate of color that quote, “I believe the most qualified person should get the job.” Or when an employer, ah, ah, employee of color is asked quote, “How did you get the job?”. Now, these are legitimate questions that, ah, if you take it out of the context, but when involved in, uhm, ah, a hiring situation where, ah, race comes into play, there is a twofold hidden message to these comments that, one, people of color are not qualified, and two, that as a minority group member, you must have obtained your current position through some affirmative action or quota, ah, program, not because of ability or expertise. That’s a hidden message that is going, uhm, ah, on here. Now, how, the dilemma is that when someone says, “I believe the most qualified person should get the job.” On a logical content level, that’s true. I believe that as well. But, the context is communicating something else, uhm, ah, to the recipient and that’s where the discre, uhm, discrepancy and confusion, ah, occurs. Microaggress, ah, microinsults can also occur non-verbally as when a White teacher fails to acknowledge students of color in the classroom or when a White supervisor seems distracted during a conversation with a black employee and avoids eye contact or turns away. In this case, the message being communicated is that the student or person of color’s thoughts and ideas and contributions are not important or lesser and this is a dilemma. It is not the conscious, ah, explicit part of the communication, it is the unconscious implicit communication of the hidden message that occurs. Now, the third classification is what we call-
00:47:55III. RACIAL MICROINVALIDATION 3.Microinvalidations are characterized by verbal comments or behaviors that exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person of color.
00:47:55DR. DERALD WING SUE -Racial Micro, ah, invalidations. Microinvalidations is a subset of microaggressions that are insidious and potentially the most damaging in a psychological sense where, uhm, ah, women, people of color, and gay/lesbians. Microinvalidations are verbal comments or behaviors that exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person of color. Again, as I had mentioned before, microag, ah, invalidations are most likely, unintentionally, ah, and marginally conscious to the person. When as an Asian-American individual, I am asked, ah, where were you born? Well, that’s a legitimate question, asking where were you born. And I can tell you that oftentimes, uhm, I, my, my antennas go up, when I usually answer, I was born in Portland, Oregon. Then the person will follow up by, no, no, no, uhm, where were you born? And I would say, I was born in Portland, Oregon. No, no, no, what country were you born in? And I would say, The United States. Now, that line of questioning indicates that I am a perpetual foreigner in my own land. I know what they’re expecting me to say, they want me to say, I was born in China, I was born in Hong Kong, I was born in Japan, or some other, uhm, ah, Asian country because their perception is only that certain individuals whose physical features and characteristics are true Americans. Again, this is truly based upon studies, the most recent studies coming out from, ah, Harvard University by Vanity(ph), indicates that, in some sense, whiteness is equated with being an American. If you are Asian, it is equated with being a foreigner. Micro, ah, invalidations of this type, are most likely to be given, uhm, ah, towards Asian-Americans and Latino-Hispanics who are not perceived as part of this country. And, ah, we are taught, uhm, uhm, communicated that we are foreigners. When a black person is told that I don’t see color or, or a statement is made that we are all human beings, uhm, ah, you know, uhm, that we indeed are all human beings and when the individual professes what we call color blindness, the effect is to dismiss and negate the racial cultural experience. People don’t realize that when they come up to me and say, “Derald, when I look at you, I don’t see you as an Asian-American, I see you as Derald.” They don’t realize that yes, I am an individual but that person has just negated an important part of my racial-cultural, uhm, i-, identity or the invalidation of a, a, experiences occurs. Ah, we, one, one, particular, uhm, ah, situation where we talked to, ah, a Latino couple was that they were given poor service, they were out dining with a group of, uhm, ah, White friends. they were out dining. And in some sense they did not receive the service. They were not given, uhm, uhm, uhm, you know, certain services and they raised the issue that indeed, uhm, did you notice such and such occurring, we were treated as second class citizens. The White friends that they dine with tend to say, don’t be so over sensitive. Uhm, ah, you know, ah, don’t be paranoid, not everything has to do with being race. What has happened is that these comments represent microinvalidations that nullify the importance of the person’s experience and in some sense, diminishes it strongly. So, in looking at these three categories of racial, ah, microaggressions, ah, I want you to look at figure one that we are now putting, ah, on the screen. You can see that there are the three categories-
00:52:30Microinsult (Often Unconscious) Behavioral/verbal remarks or comments that convey rudeness, insensitivity and demean a person’s racial heritage or identity
00:52:30DR. DERALD WING SUE -going from microinsult, to microassault-
00:52:35Microassault (Often Conscious) Explicit racial derogations characterized primarily by a violent verbal or nonverbal attack meant to hurt the intended victim through name-calling, avoidant behavior or purposeful discriminatory actions
00:52:35DR. DERALD WING SUE -to microinvalidations.
00:52:35Microinvalidation (Often Unconscious) Verbal comments or behaviors that exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiental reality of a person of color.
00:52:35DR. DERALD WING SUE And that all three of these forms-
00:52:35Environmental Microaggressions (Macro-level) Racial assaults, insults and invalidations which are manifested on systemic and environmental levels.
00:52:35DR. DERALD WING SUE -of racial microaggressions can occur as they come environmentally. Now, what is interesting, however, is in our research, we have begun to look at the messages conveyed, uhm, ah, under a microinsult and microinvalidation. Ah, we’re not dealing with the microassault. As I’ve indicated before, these are conscious, deliberate, hostile acts that do not cause psychological, ah, dilemmas or what being made. But what I am saying is that, when a microassault-
00:53:15Microassault (Often Conscious) Explicit racial derogations characterized primarily by a violent verbal or nonverbal attack meant to hurt the intended victim through name-calling, avoidant behaviour or purposeful discriminatory actions
00:53:15DR. DERALD WING SUE -occurs, the perpetrator and the recipient both are clearly aware of the intent and the reason why it is going on. Both the microinsult-
00:53:25Microinsult (Often Unconscious) Behavioral/verbal remarks or comments that convey rudeness, insensitivity and demean a person’s racial heritage or identity. Microinvalidation (Often Unconscious) Verbal comments or behaviors that exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person of color.
00:53:25DR. DERALD WING SUE -and microinvalidation, however, are often unconscious and occur outside the level of conscious awareness of the individual. So our studies indicated that, what are the common messages or themes that we can categorize micro, ah, insults and microinvalidatons under? And we came up with four microinsult themes and four microinvalidation themes, and if you look at the figure here, ah, the four under microinsult-
00:54:05Microinsult Themes Ascription of Intelligence Assigning a degree of intelligence to a person of color based on their race. Second Class Citizen Treated as a lesser person or group. Pathologizing cultural values communication styles Notion that the values and communication styles of people of color are abnormal Assumption of Criminal status Presumed to be a criminal, dangerous, or deviant based on race.
00:54:05DR. DERALD WING SUE -are Ascription of Intelligence, second Class Citizen, Pathologizing cultural values and communication styles, and Assumption of Criminal status. Those are the themes that we found prevalent under microinsult. Now under microinvalidation, however, we found four themes that were quite different.
00:54:30Microinvalidation Themes Alien in Own Land Belief that visible racial/ethnic minority citizens are foreigners. Color Blindness Denial or pretense that a White person does not see color or race. Myth of Meritocracy Statements which assert that race plays a minor role in life success. Denial of Individual Racism Denial of personal racism or one’s role in its perpetuation.
00:54:30DR. DERALD WING SUE One of them, ah, is an Alien in One’s Own Land; another, Color Blindness; a third, the Myth of Meritocracy; and the fourth, the Denial of Individual, ah, ah, Racism. Let me quickly talk about these eight themes, uhm. And I can’t go into detail on it. I’m hoping that, uhm, ah, in your own work, you’re going to try to look at these and apply them, uhm, ah, in your, ah, eh, in your own sessions, whether in the classroom or whether we’re talking about, ah, counseling, ah, therapy, clinical work of some type. Theme number one-
00:55:15Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message Alien in Own Land When Asian Americans and Latino Americans are assumed to be foreign-born
00:55:15DR. DERALD WING SUE -that we looked at, was Alien in One’s Own Land. When Asian-Americans or Latino-Americans, for example, are assumed to be foreign-born, and statements that represent microaggressions might be something like, ah-
00:55:30Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message “Where are you from?” “Where were you born?” “You speak good English.” “A person asking and Asian American to teach them words in their native language.”
00:55:30DR. DERALD WING SUE -“Where are you from?”, “Where were you born?”, or a compliment, “You speak good English,” uhm, or a person asking an Asian-American to teach them words in their native tongue. Uhm, the message being communicated by virtue of these, ah, ah, microaggressive acts, is that-
00:55:50Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message You are not American. You are foreigner.
00:55:50DR. DERALD WING SUE -“You are not an American, and that you are a foreigner.” Ah, another theme we found, ah, constantly, was ascription of-
00:56:00Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message Ascription of Intelligence Assigning intelligence to a person of color based on their race
00:56:00DR. DERALD WING SUE -Intelligence, where the person’s race is a sign, a characteristic of, ah, associated with intelligence. Black Americans, for example, are frequently told in the classroom situation, ah, supposing you’re a Black student, you make a point, and the professor turns to you and say, ” You are a most-
00:56:20Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message “You are a credit to your race.” “You are so articulate.” Asking an Asian person to help with a math or science problem
00:56:20DR. DERALD WING SUE -articulate young man or woman.” In essence, uhm, the message behind that is that you are an exception-
00:56:25Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message People of color are generally not as intelligent as Whites It is unusual for someone of your race to be intelligent All Asians are intelligent and good in math/sciences.
00:56:25DR. DERALD WING SUE -and that most people of your race are less intelligent and inarticulate. Ah, or asking and, you know, telling, asking Asian-Americans to solve Math problems. Uhm, now believing you’re assigning the fact that all Asians are good in Math, good with numbers, and, and, make good sciences. A third theme that we found was that of-
00:56:50Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message Color Blindness Statements that indicate that a White person does not want to acknowledge race
00:56:50DR. DERALD WING SUE Color Blindness. Ah, statements that indicate a White person does not want to acknowledge race, “When I look at you, Derald-
00:57:00Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message “When I look at you, I don’t see color” “America is a Melting Pot” “There is only one race, the human race”
00:57:00DR. DERALD WING SUE -I don’t see you, ah, as, as a person of color. Ah, America is a melting pot. Ah, there is only one race, the human race.” Now, all of these statements-
00:57:15Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message Denying a person of color’s racial/ethnic experiences Assimilate/acculturate to dominant Culture Denying the individual as a racial/cultural being.
00:57:15DR. DERALD WING SUE -are intended to dilute or to diminish, ah, and deny a person’s, ah, racial/ethnic experiences, as a person of color. And they speak to the importance of assimilation and, and acculturation.
00:57:30Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message Criminality/Assumption of Criminal Status A person of color is presumed to be dangerous., criminal, or deviant based on their race
00:57:30DR. DERALD WING SUE A criminality and assumption of criminal status is when a person of color is presumed, ah, presumed to be dangerous, less trustful, ah, deviant, based upon, ah, their race. Ah-
00:57:50Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message A White man or woman clutching their purse or checking their wallet as a Black or Latino approaches or passes. A store owner following a customer of color around the store. A White person waits to ride the next elevator when a person of color is on it.
00:57:50DR. DERALD WING SUE -a White man or woman, as I indicated in an elevator, with the Black, ah, man, who clutches their purse or checks their wallet to make sure as they’re, in the presence of a African-American, ah, ah, individual, a storeowner who follows other people of color around. The message that is given, by virtue of those microaggressive acts is that-
00:58:10Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggression Themes Microaggression Message You are a criminal You are going to steal/You are poor/ You do not belong. You are dangerous.
00:58:10DR. DERALD WING SUE -you are a criminal, and you are going to steal, ah, you don’t belong here. Ah, you’re not trustworthy, and I am suspicious of you, ah, in, in one way or another. Another theme that we find in our research is, what we call, Denial-
00:58:30Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggression Themes Microaggression Message Denial of Individual Racism A statement made when Whites deny their racial biases.
00:58:30DR. DERALD WING SUE -of Individual Racism. And, by the way, we are also showing this on the screen, as well, that you can follow. It’s, usually, a statement made when Whites deny their racial biases. I’m, you know, simply like-
00:58:45Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message
00:58:45DR. DERALD WING SUE -“I’m not racist, I have several Black friends.” ” As a woman, I know what you are going through as a racial minority.” In essence, the hidden message of these statements that are consciously intended to be a statement and an attempt to connect with you, uhm, in some sense, they were saying, “I’m not a racist-
00:59:05Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message I am immune to racism because I have Friends of color. Your racial oppression is no different than my gender oppression. I can’t be a racist. I’m like you.
00:59:05DR. DERALD WING SUE I’m immune because I have, ah, ah, friends of color.” Or, a person is saying that your racial oppression is no different from my gender oppression and, therefore, I can’t be a racist. Now this is an implication that we can talk about, uhm, ah, later, in terms of, when one’s, ah, oppre, there is no doubt that women are an oppressed group in this culture, in this society. And I, oftentimes, when I talk about racial discrimination in a classroom situation or in a workshop, ineffably, a White female, ah, student or a White, ah, a female workshopper, a participant, will make a statement to me like, “So what? We, women, are oppressed, too.” Now, there is nothing that you can arg, that she’s right. The person making that statement is right, but she fails to realize the impact that it has on me. And that is to dismiss or negate the importance of racial, ah, ah, oppression and racial, ah, discrimination. And what I am saying is that, it would be different if the woman participant would have said to me, ah, “Professor Sue, I really now understand what you mean by oppression, because, as a woman, I’ve been oppressed, too.” You know, what the difference between, “So what? We, women, are oppressed, too,” as opposed to, you know, “I really now understand more because, as a woman, I have one divides and dilutes or negates a legitimacy of what we’re talking about the other bridges and connects.” So, in essence here, we have to truly understand, ah, ah, this deny, how denial of individual racism is a theme that is often played out even in the interpersonal interactions of counseling and psychotherapy. Another theme that we will talk about is what I called the Myth-
01:01:20Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message
01:01:20DR. DERALD WING SUE of Meritocracy. Statements which assert that, ah, race does not play a role in life success, such as the, ah, example I gave earlier-
01:01:30Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message “I believe the most qualified person should get the job” “Everyone can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough.”
01:01:30DR. DERALD WING SUE I believe, the most qualified person are to get the job. Or, every one can succeed in the society, if they work hard enough. Now, I gave this example before Molly Ivins, ah, in talking about, uhm, George Bush, when he ran for president, made a statement that strikes at the core of this Myth of Meritocracy. She said that, ah, George Bush doesn’t realize that he was born on third base, but believes he hit a triple. What she was saying by virtue of that statement was that George Bush, by virtue of male privilege, White privilege, and economic, ah, ah, privilege, started from third base and, because he hit a homerun, I mean, because he, he came home to become President of the United States, he believes he did it all on his own. And she makes a statement that Bush and many other individuals, who operate from this invisible veil, believe and don’t realize that there’re many people who have worked equally hard as they have, people of color, women who have worked equally hard, but do not even make it to the batter’s box. This is what we call, the Myth of Meritocracy in, ah, the belief that everyone, if they work hard enough, uhm, ah, can succeed. And so, the hidden message is that-
01:03:10Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message People of color are given extra unfair benefits because of their race. People of color are lazy and/or incompetent and need to work harder.
01:03:10DR. DERALD WING SUE People of color are lazy, they don’t work hard, they’re unintelligent, they don’t have the capabilities to move up, ah, and, and advance. Another hidden, uhm, ah, theme about Racial, ah, microaggression is, what we call-
01:03:25Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message
01:03:25DR. DERALD WING SUE -Pathologizing Cultural Values and Communication Styles, the notion that the values and communication styles of the dominant White culture are ideal.
01:03:35Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message Asking a Black person; “Why do you have to be so loud/animated? Just calm down.” To an Asian or Latino person; “Why are you so quiet? We want to know What you think. Be more verbal.” “Speak up more.” Dismissing an individual who brings up race/culture in work/school setting
01:03:35DR. DERALD WING SUE Asking a Black per, or telling a Black person, “Calm down. Don’t speak. Get out of emotional control,” when they are trying to make an ap, a, a point, indicates that the White communication style may be in conflict by the, with the Black communication style in which the expression of passion is an indicator of sincerity and authenticity. While the White style of communication may be, “We talk about these things objectively, leave emotions out of this.” This is what we are, therefore, pathologizing a different communication styles or telling, ah, Asians-
01:04:15Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message Asking a Black person; “Why do you have to be so loud/animated? Just calm down.” To an Asian or Latino person; “Why are you so quiet? We want to know what you think. Be more verbal.” “Speak up more.” Dismissing an individual who brings up race/culture in work/school setting
01:04:15DR. DERALD WING SUE Latinos, students, in class, “Well, why don’t you talk up in class, why are you always so quiet?” The communication here is that, ah, ah, you are inhibited, you’re, you’re uninvolved, uhm, ah, speaking up and talking in class is the norm, in terms of what we expect students to do-
01:04:35Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message Assimilate to dominant culture. Leave your cultural baggage outside.
01:04:35DR. DERALD WING SUE And, therefore, assimilate and acculturate of this culture. Leave your cultural, ah, baggage outside of the, ah, classroom. Another, ah, the last theme that our studies are pointing out, is, well-
01:04:50Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message
01:04:50DR. DERALD WING SUE -one of the Second Class Citizenship. And this is something that we all, ah, know. It occurs when a, a, a White person, uhm, is given preferential treatment as a consumer over a person of color. Ah, you know, many examples we can give in, in terms of doing that.
01:05:10Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes Microaggression Message Person of color mistaken for a service worker. Having a taxi cab pass a person of color and pick up a White passenger Being ignored a store counter as attention is given the White customer behind you “You people…” Table 1. Examples of Racial Microaggressions Themes MICROaggression Message People of color are servants to Whites. They couldn’t possibly occupy high status positions. You are likely to cause trouble and/or travel to a dangerous neighborhood. Whites are more valued customers than people of color. You don’t belong. You are a lesser being.
01:05:10DR. DERALD WING SUE Now, what has this to do with the field of counseling and psychotherapy? And, you know, we are very limited in time in talking about this. And I’m going to encourage you to think about this on your own. But there are certain guidelines about, ah, ah, the role of racial, gender, sexual orientation, ah, affects in the counseling, clinical encounter. I seriously believe that one of the reasons why racial, ethnic, minority clients tend to terminate at a high rate over 50 percent, after the initial contact, with their, uhm, ah, helping professionals, is due to Racial microaggressions. When I talk to clients of color, and they tell me that they have bad experiences with their White therapist, and they say that, “I can’t put my finger on that. I, I just don’t feel like they understand me. I just feel like they’re minimizing my issues.” And all, probably, what is going on is that the therapist is engaging in Racial microaggressions that are outside their level of awareness. Telling a client of color that, ah, we are, they’re all the same under the skin, negates and, ah, dismisses their experiential, uhm, ah, reality, in one way or another, when they become uncomfortable. We’re talking about racial issues or matters, and this has been shown in some of the work of Shawn(ph) Atsy(ph), ah, that indicates that when discussions of race occur, many helping professionals become so uncomfortable. They stammer, uhm, they hesitate, they become guarded, and all of these communicate a message to the client that this is not a, an appropriate topic, uhm, ah, for us to talk about. Uhm, ah, a, a therapist who fails, who claims that, ah, people of color are, perhaps, over-sensitive when they talk about issues of, of, of, like discrimination. When they are, when a therapist communicates that you need to pull yourself up by your own boot steps, the Myth of Meritocracy, they are unaware that the Racial microaggressions are being directed at clients of color. So that, I want you to begin to think about how-
01:08:15Counseling Questions to Ponder 1. How do racial microaggressions manifest themselves in the counseling/therapy process? Can you give examples by applying the various hidden themes from today’s presentation?
01:08:15DR. DERALD WING SUE -do Racial microaggressions make their appearance in the clinical counseling, uhm, ah, situation or encounter.
01:08:25Counseling Questions to Ponder 2. Can you understand the racial reality Of people of color who must deal with the daily indignities visited upon them? Can you relate to the distress, stress and psychological impact it has on them? In what way may you as a clinician contribute to the problem?
01:08:25DR. DERALD WING SUE Secondarilly, can you begin to understand the racial worldview of clier, clients of color, who day in and day out, are subjected to it? Can you imagine that cumulative impact of, ah, of the microaggressions and how tiring it is for all of us to continue to try to educate our White brothers and sisters as to what is going on. Uhm, and, lastly, the greatest challenge, I think, confronting us-
01:09:00Counseling Questions to Ponder 3. How do we help mental health professionals begin to make the “invisible” visible? If the power of microaggressions lie in their unintentional nature, what do you see needs to be done to rectify the situation (on personal and professional levels)?
01:09:00DR. DERALD WING SUE Is to make the “invisible” visible. While I think that my presentation here of racial microaggressions may make counselors and therapists more aware of this on an intellectual level, the question is, “How do we make mental health professionals begin to understand and take responsibility for dealing with the racial microaggressions that they, inevitably, deliver? How do we do that? And so, again, I wanna thank you for your attentiveness today. And I hope that this president, ah, presentation on Racial Microaggressions will begin to move you towards understanding why the “invisible” is such a powerful force in our lives. Thank you.
01:10:00Racial Microaggressions: Impact and Implications for Counseling Practice By Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D. Teacher’s College, Columbia University Lecture Series to Accompany COUNSELING THE CULTURALLY DIVERSE: THEORY AND PRACTICE By Derald Wing Sue & David Sue Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Editor Peter Stassa Davideo Company Framingham, MA www.davideocompany.com Microtraining Associates, Inc. 888 – 505 – 5576 Email: info@emicrotraining.com Website: www.emicrotraining.com
01:10:00END TRANSCRIPT
Racial Microaggressions: Impact and
Impl
Go back to your First Assignment.
STEP 1: Take a look at the “purpose” you stated- how you answered the question:
WHY are you here? Evaluate your purpose statement using what you now know about
purpose. Look at how you stated the purpose. Is the statement clear and concise? Does
it reflect the “ends you will pursue”? Reflect on whether your purpose has changed. Is
what you stated still applicable?Finally, did you achieve your purpose? Try to be as
specific as possible.
STEP 2: Read and respond to my comments (to the best of your ability). Use your
knowledge of group work skills and principles to inform this. For example, if I asked you
to tell me more about types of groups you want to lead, you might say: Reciprocal
groups (specific population and need)- because these clients could benefit from
support, mutual aid, and I see myself as sharing authority with members.
STEP 3: Tell me how you will utilize principles and/or skills in your future practice. Think
about “use of self”- how you will use your personality and abilities. Try to be as specific
as possible. Add anything else you have learned or you would like me to know.
” ”
NOTE: This is a NEW PAPER. Written format is up to you. Use the literature to support
and cite the readings. This can be APA style or references in the body of the paper, or at
the end- whatever makes sense to you. So, if you tell me you see how important it is to
determine “need”, tell me why. You might refer to Northen’s Planning model, or
Kurland’s Purpose article. Then be specific: whose needs? client, agency, your idea of
client need. And how specifically will you determine need? The purpose of the
assignment is to determine and evaluate what you’ve gained this semester in order to
improve your ability and confidence in leading groups.
Minimum 5 pages- more if you want/need. Answer all 3 steps completely.
References- minimum 4.
Email as attachment-(Word doc)
DUE: Last day of class: Tuesday May 19 or Wednesday May 20
FINAL PAPER
SPRING 2020
Practice with Groups Spring 2020 Assignment #1
Step 1:
1. What is the purpose for taking this course?
I work for an agency that takes care of unaccompanied minor that crossed the border from different countries, mainly from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. Minors are under ORR (Office of Refugee and Resettlement) care, ORR mandate that minors received 90 minutes of group therapy weekly to help in their adjustment to a new environment, acculturation and trauma during journey. Say what this group looks like. This is a reciprocal group where I am the mediator and I guided the members. Even thought I am the authority there’s interaction between me and the group members and we support each other. Are you leading it? The group that we conduct in the agency are always lead by 2 people, skills trainer and myself. The skills trainer its in charge of one part of the group content and I incorporate the clinical aspect of the topic. Purpose of the group is to help minor adjust into their new life in U.S and their acculturation purposes. Also, we conducted group that provide minor tools to manage anxiety, depression, and any other mental health condition. Content, always included a topic to teach skills to hel their adjustment process like; navigate in the subway, navigate in the school etc. Also, a clinical aspect such as how to manage anxiety in case the minor get lost in the subway. Structure, when conducting group I go over roles and norms, what is expected from each member such as respect to each other, we provided snacks and instructed them when is the time for a beak to enjoy the snacks. Members, the member are unaccompanied minors that crossed the border mainly form El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. This minor are in our long term foster care program because they don’t have a family member that can received (sponsor) them here in U.S. Minor qualified for this type of program because they have some type of legal relief and we help them with that. Challenges you see. The challenges that I faced during group is that some of the minors don’t respect the rules, some of them used their cell phones while group is in session. Any guidance in leading? I didn’t receive any guidance.
When I saw this class available and inquired about the content, I received a lot of positive feedbacks. Thanks for sharing this. By taking this class I can implement the knowledge in my field placement and work. After the first class I was able to start gaining knowledge that I can implement when conducting groups. WONDERFUL. Specifics? I was able to create rules when conducting group. I informed the minor that ORR requires them to have a minimum of 1 hour and 30 minutes of group session weekly. These minors lived with foster parents and they are allow to go by themselves to the agency, sometimes when we schedule groups when they are off form school they can make any excuse in order for them not to attend. Consequences of not attending groups is that they don’t get a monthly gift card that the agency provided to them.
I will like to be able to provide support and solutions to the members of a group and to be able to work towards the goals of each one. Good
Step 2:
1. Need: I can see that my needs are educational, practical and personal. Educational because I can implement the knowledge obtain in the class in any social work-related position such as; school, hospital, private practice etc. Practical in our daily life with coworkers, family and more with my own child. I can be implementing techniques learned in this class without them noticing. Love this Personal same reason as how practical can be, to help my love one when needed.
2. Purposes: As a social work intern the knowledge, skills, abilities that I can gained are multiple. The connection with my needs is that I will be able to implement what I leaned in this class in my field work. How specifically? After I graduate I want to apply for a clinican position in my agency, by taking this class now I will have the experience to dondut grou[ps every week that is one of the responsibilities of the clinicians, and also I will have the experienced when I finished my MSW and will be able to apply for a clinical position in the agency, or elsewhere.
3. Use of self: I don’t have skills as a leader of a group, I been a member. In my current field placement, I was asked to run a group What kind/type? I can say that our groups should always be remedial because members need to know that theres an authority and that even though we interact and support each other they need to respect me as a leader. Get all the details you can up front- meaning: requirements or guidelines you’ll have to follow. Then you can start planning as you learn. Great opportunity. Think about NEED. What is the need you can identify- this will get you to purpose- goal to pursue. We’ll get to this soon and I requested to observe one before I can lead. Good. Notice leadership and group reactions/ response. After the first class I already started to think about things that I can implement to run groups, such as; to establish rules and norms to members of the group. GREAT.
4. Special Interest: Issues that I will like to explore are trauma, family separation, acculturation, adjustment to new environment, PTSD, BPD, and many more that I can share during the class. ABSOLUTELY
Think about how to put all- or much- of the above into a single statement of purpose- with strong end result. What do you want to achieve?