Microaggressions Unit 2

Bystanders

Can be anyone who become aware of and or witness unjust behavior or practices that are worthy of comment or action Research on white allyship suggests that allies are more likely to have an evolved awareness of themselves as racial/cultural beings, and to be more attuned to sociopolitical dynamics of race and racism this term for individuals who possess only superficially developed awareness of racially biased behaviors and of institutional policies and practices that are not fair to a POC or minority group Most experience selves as good, moral, and decent and move under the veil of whiteness Difficult for them to recognize bias or discrimination in others, and how institutional policies and practices advantages select groups and disadvantage groups of color

Allies

Individuals who belong to a dominant social group and through their support of non-dominant group actively work towards the eradication of prejudicial practices they witness in both their personal and professional lives Allies surpass individuals who simply refrain from engaging in overtly sexist, racist, ethnocentrism, or heterosexist behaviors; but rather, because of their desire to bolster social justice and equity, to end the social disparities from which they reap unearned benefits, and to maintain accountability of their actions to marginalized group members, they are motivated that take action at the interpersonal and institutional levels by actively promoting the rights of the oppressed Like targets, allyship development involves internal and painful self-reckoning, and take commitment to external action The internal process of change for white allies is equally difficult Development of a non-racist (interpersonal reconciliation with whiteness) identity and anti racist (taking external actions against racism) identity has consequences To continue the social justice journey, you often need to create a different social support group

Sources of Conflict between POC

- 1992 LA Riots • Hard feelings between Asians and Blacks, events evoked much sympathy from white americans for the hardworking "innocent" Koreans which furthered the wedge between Asians and Blacks - Interracial/Interethnic Prejudice and Bias • For POC is it disturbing to know that we also absorb stereotypes about other racial minorities - Historical Relationships Between Groups of Color

Seeking external reinforcement

- Alert leadership - Report incident - Seek therapy - Seek spirituality/religion/community support - Establish a buddy system - Establish/join a support group

3 Processes of Professed Colorblindness

- Attempts to deny differences by adhering to idea of sameness and equality (color evasion) e.g. Research shows it is nearly impossible to not recognize race. - Attempts to disassociate problematic racial beliefs from implicitly held ones (stereotype evasion) e.g. Study on implicit vs explicit biases children 3, 10, and adult using IAT -- formal ed good at combating explicit but NOT implicit bias - Attempts to avoid acknowledging the continuing existence of structural or institutional racism in society (power evasion) e.g. Melting pot, assimilation, acculturation concepts

Educating the offender

- Help microaggressor differentiate between good intent and harmful impact - Contradict the group based stereotype with opposing evidence - Appeal to offenders values and principles - Point out commonalities - Promote empathy - Point out how they benefit from learning/being less biased

When Women Cry: How White Women's Tears Oppressed Women of Color, 2007

- In racial dialogue when white women cry, there is an automatic tendency for the focus of the discussion to shift to consoling the person - First the actual issue is sidetracked and no longer the center of attention - The remainder of the class meeting was spent on consoling the female student and by default suggesting that she was not at fault or wrong - The outcome fo the debate is likely to place responsibility and blame on the students of color - students of color remain unmoved because they know something is going on, a manipulative ploy, and perceived as a lack of compassion and humanity by others

Disarming the microaggression

- Interrupt the communication and redirect it (let's not go there) - state values and set limits - Express disagreement - Describe what is happening - Use an exclamatory short expression - Remind them of the rules

Politeness Protocol

- Politeness protocol = implicitly and explicitly embedded in social norms inherent in social interactions. Certain topics are considered taboo, sensitive to any violation, code of silence reinforces avoidance of such dialogues - 3 types of selves *Authentic self - image that we project that is real and consistent with he ways we see ourselves *Ideal self - The public image of ourselves that is consistent with the way that we wish we were *Tactical self - Image we hope to portray that is both positive and favorable to our authentic or ideal self through the use of self presentation - Best to avoid controversial topics so the self does not come into question

What are the characteristics of race talk?

- When mixed racial group there is a disinclination to engage -- tension and anxiety - Once race talk begins, there are uncomfortable emotions -- defensiveness, anxiety, blame, helplessness - Attempts to diminish, dilute, change, or terminate topic - POC may find avoidant behavior of whites offensive and interpret it as microaggressive - Unequal relationship of power and privilege among participants

macro impact of microinterventions

- create an inclusive and welcoming environment - discourage negative behavior - reinforcing a norm that values respectful interactions - impact by creating a societal climate in public forums, employment settings, and educational institutions that encourage the positive over the negative

self care strategies for targets

- social support - spirituality and religion - humor - role shifting - armoring - cognitive reinterpretation - withdrawing for self protection - self affirmations - directly or indirectly confronting the racism

2 primary functions of microinterventions

1) enhance psychological well being and provide targets, allies, and bystanders with a sense of control and self efficacy 2) provide a repertoire of responses that an be used to directly disarm or counteract the effects of microaggressions by challenging perpetrators

Four requirements for bystander action

1. Ability to recognize acceptable and unacceptable behaviors 2. Positive benefits that accrue to the targets, perpetrators, bystander or organization 3. Providing a toolkit for active bystander interventions 4. Use of bystander training and rehearsal

Fear of Owning White Privilege

1. Automatically Confers Dominance versus "I Made It on My Own" 2. Exists on White Supremacy Versus "I am not responsible for the oppression of others" 3. Predicated on Favoritism Rather Than Meritocracy versus "The Most Qualified Ought to Get the Job" 4. Embedded Systemically in Society versus "The Cream Always Rises to the Top" 5. The Unspoken and Protected Secret versus "We should be a Color-Blind Nation"

6 Tactics to make the invisible visible

1. Develop perspecacity 2. Name and make the meta-communication explicit 3. Undermine the meta-communication 4. Challenge the stereotype 5. Broaden the ascribed trait 6. Ask for clarification **7 - make meta-communication explicit by restating statement

Why is it hard to engage in convos about race?

1. Represents a potential clash of racial realities 2. Pushed emotional buttons 3. Race talk evokes avoidance strategies

What is the purpose of race talk (book)?

1. Uncover reasons that make race talk difficult 2. Expose explicit and hidden rules that govern race talk 3. Illuminate the consequences of a filure to dialogue honestly about race 4. Outline benefits of successful convos on race 5. Propose solutions in overcoming obstacles to honest racial dialogue

Dealing with Racial Microaggressions affects 3 areas of POC

Cognitive Behavior Emotional

Colorblind means Colormute

Color blindness -- Belief that race should most and does not matter in judging a persons character and should not influence decisions or actions toward another group - which overlooks notion that racism continues to be a significant negative factor in the lives of POC If you profess not to see racial differences, in reality, you just cant TALK ABOUT THEM

How do societal rules impede race talk?

Counter-narratives of race talk are threatening to whites bc they unmask power and privilege Violates : politeness protocol, academic protocol, and colorblind protocol.

POC fear race talk because...

Difficulty talking about topic when whites avoid acknowledging it Dealing with denial, defensiveness, and anxiety from whites Managing intense anger at continued denial Needing to constantly ascertain how much the group will open up Differing power dynamics

Academic Protocol

Emphasis that the learning environment is characterized by objectivity, rationality, and intellectual thought and inquiry - Empirical reality versus experiential reality: Assumes some things are empirically correct, when certain cultures experiential reality may tell a different story - Reason versus emotion: Dialogues on race push hot emotional buttons in the students and teachers alike. White middle class styles of communication are describes as being detached, objective, impersonal and non challenging. Black styles of communication are often high key, animated, heated, interpersonal, and confrontational - Objectivism versus subjectivism: Objectivity is the cornerstone of being able to establish universal laws or truths devoid of human factors that may contaminate the acquisition o facts or knowledge

Two components of credibility

Expertness: ability variable.e You have knowledge and skills about XYZ Trustworthiness: motivational variable. How open and honest you are, perceived lack of motivation for personal gain Trustworthiness is key dimension for building rapport - Clients of color will test trustworthiness of counselors

Whites fear race talk because...

Fear of appearing racist, realizing own racism, confronting white privilege, taking personal responsibility to end racism

Emotional avoidance

Fear, guilt, and other feelings - Anxiety and fear • Directly challenges whites self-image of themselves as good, moral, and decent human beings who do not discriminate - Defensiveness and Anger • Whites often interpret race talk as personal accusations, rather than reach out to understand the content • When whites feel accused they responds with anger and engage in a counter-attack when racial topic arises - Guilt, regret, remorse • Many admit to feeling guilty, although some say they are "made to feel guilty" • Statements suggest distancing strategy in localizing guilt as external to the person rather than one rightfully residing and felt internally

Internalized racism

Hatred of your own race. Common for children to want to be like others, compounded with race, leads to a lot of damage

Behavioral Avoidance

Helplessness that is felt by white in race talk can easily provide an excuse for inaction or avoidance Hopelessness is one of despair and giving up - can also provide cover for inaction

Trust vs Mistrust

Many people of color view white americans and their institutions with considerable mistrust due to history of oppression • This mistrust is often mislabeled and pathologized by whites as paranoia or oversensitivity • Dual identity of blacks wherein they were taught to express aggression indirectly, create as few waves as possible by engaging in subordinating behavior, read the thoughts of others while hiding their own - led to revealing the true self only to other blacks and a dissociation of the self

X often proceeds race talk

Microaggressions. When witnessed it evokes a powerful emotional reaction Struggle to know how to address the topic Worry about consequences and reactions from both POC and whites

What does it mean to be white? The invisibility of Whiteness

Most people seldom think about the air that surrounds them - whites are taught to think of their lives as normal and average, whereas POC can see that it does not fit into their normative worlds Whiteness is predicated on white supremacy and the oppression of POC and if whites benefit from it then a frightening conclusion must be drawn: whites have a stake in racism and to be white is to benefit from racism

Fear of Taking Personal Responsibility to End Racism

Moving from being nonracist to antiracist - People tend to mispredict their affective and behavioral responses to racism - actually seem to respond with indifference, well-intentioned whites are discinclined to enforce egalitarian norms - Chasm between awareness and action is quite large - Becoming antiracist means making significant changes in how whites live their lives and may alter relationships with family, friends, coworkers, and environments in which they live

Paralanguage

Other vocal cues that individuals use to communicate • Loudness of voice, pauses, silences, hesitations • Asians - use of euphemisms and ambiguity • African Americans - direct and frank about matters

Cognitive avoidance

Racism denial - Unconscious and conscious - often anxiety provoking for white Americans when they talk about race - Denials of Personal Bias, prejudice, and discrimination - Denials of societal bias, prejudice, and discrimination • Post-racial era, racism is a thing of the past, I didn't own slaves, anyone can succeed if they work hard enough - Denials through deflection • POC play the race card, you're being paranoid, not a race issue but a class issue, affirmative action discriminates against whites

Kinesics

Refers to bodily movements (facial expression, posture, gestures, eye contact) • Among some Japanese and Chinese, restraint or strong feelings is a sign of maturity and wisdom • Lack of eye contact can be viewed as individual being inattentive, sullen, resistant, or uncooperative

Emotion focused coping

Related to one's taking care of themselves, self-care. Target is usually in pain, angry, defensive, harmful impact on them. First rule of thumb is that the target has to take care of themselves. Self-protection, but does not terminate the source of the microaggression

Emotional Roadblacks to Race Talk

Sadness, disappointment, humiliation, blame, invalidation, etc. Unpleasantness of these emotions and potentially disturbing meanings make avoidance of racial dialogues a common strategy used by white Americans.

Problem focused coping

Self-care does not alter or disarm the source of the microaggression. Strategies to use, whether a target or ally, to disarm a microaggression

Ethnocentric Monoculturalism

Umbrella of individual, institutional, and cultural forces that demeans, disadvantages, and denies POC equal access and opportunity - Component 1 - Belief in superiority: Belief of superiority of white euro-american cultural heritage - Component 2 - belief in inferiority of others - Component 3 - Manifestation in institutions - Component 4 - Invisibility of White Racial Ideology in Worldviews: Operates through an invisible cultural veil outside the level of conscious awareness. Reflected in worldviews of which racial ideology is embedded. Socialization process imbues citizens with biases and prejudices of the society - Component 5 - The Power to Impose

what do microinterventions do to perpetrators?

a) counteract the expressed bias b) challenge the aggressor

bystanders

can be anyone who become aware of and witness unjust behavior or practices that are worthy of comment or action - difficult for them to recognize bias or discrimination

Mictrointerventions are...

everyday words or deeds, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicates to targets of microaggresions that a) validate their experiential reality b) value as a person c) affirmation of their racial or group identity d) support and encouragement e) reassure they are not alone

Strategies for intervention (obstacles)

feelings of helplessness, powerlessness, fear, and paralysis

strategies for intervention (societal level)

goal is to challenge and change societal programs, policies, practices and structures that deny equal access and opportunities through social policy

strategies for intervention (cultural level)

goal is to challenge ethnocentric monoculturalism or the expression of the superiority of one group's cultural heritage over another

strategies for intervention (individual level)

goal is to change attitudes, beliefs, emotions and behaviors that are prejudicial and fraught with implicit and explicit beliefs

strategies for intervention (institutional level)

goal is to change or create new programs, policies, practices and structures in organizations that deny equal access and opportunity

Racial battle fatigue

if you have to respond to every microaggression and slight it leads to exhaustion. This is experienced by many POC o This is why self care is the most important part and comes first when it comes to responding to microaggressions and difficult racial dialogues o The more you practice responses and quips, the less energy it will take to respond to microaggressions o Suggested to engage in micro-intervention training

Allies

individuals who belong to dominant social groups and through their support of non dominant groups actively work towards the eradication of prejudicial practices they witness in bot their personal and professional lives - individual who refrain form engaging in overt racist, sexist, ethnocentricist, or heterosexist behaviors but rather

Targets

marginalized group members who are objects of racial, gender, or sexual orientation prejudice and discrimination expressed through micro/Microaggressions

Techniques for speaking up

o Assume good intent - approach that other person like they are a decent human being (classified as educational in nature) o Ask a question - place the burden of explanation on the person that is making the biased statement. Force the person to think about what they actually meant, and oftentimes they are embarrassed in realizing what they meant or said. o Interrupt and redirect - Changes the direction of the conversation o Broaden to universal human behavior - helps break through stereotype o Make it individual o Ouch - when someone unintentionally hurts you, your words had a negative impact on me or others I care abo

Interracial/Interethnic Race Talk

o Fears of Divide and Conquer - United we Stand, Divided we Fall • Reluctance to engage in interracial race talk due to fear of creating a divide amongst people of color • Prefer to band together to fight racism as a combined front - Don't Air Dirty Laundry in Public • Fear that by discussing disagreements in public, they will play into the hands of those who prefer to maintain the status quo • Fear white americans in power will use interracial conflicts to assuage their own white guilt, excuse their racism, and justify their passivity to make change • Fear it will divert attention away from injustices of society by defining racial problems as existing chiefly among racial and ethnic minorities • Prejudice towards other people of color occurs under an umbrella of white racial superiority and supremacy

Difficult dialogues likely to occur when...

o Major differences are present o Challenged publicly o Found to be offensive o Trigger intense emotional responses o Involve an unequal status relationship of power and privilege between the participants o Contain a hidden disparaging message to people of color who find them offensive, triggering, intense emotional responses

Goal of microinterventions is to...

o Meant to be brief comebacks that communicate a check-mate o When a person engages in a micro-intervention is validates the target's experiential reality, their value as people, an affirmation of their identity, and reassurance that they are not alone

Proxemics

perception and use of personal and interpersonal space • Interpersonal distance zones in US - Intimate - 18 inches - Personal - 1.5-4 ft - Social - 4-12 ft - Public - greater than 12 ft • Individuals grow uncomfortable when others stand too close rather than too far away • Some cultures converse at a much closer distance - Latin Americans, African Americans, Indonesians, Arabs, South Americans, and French

first rule for targets in regards to race related stress

take care of oneself

Master narrative does...

• Reassures whites that they are good moral, fair people • Prevents them from being conscious of their biased cultural conditioning • Allows them to live in a world of false deception • Maintains their innocence and naïveté • Perpetuates racial status quo • Acts as blinders that prevent whites from being conscious of inequities that exist for people of color • Justifies inaction on their part

Coping/self-care strategies for targets

• Social support • Spirituality and religion • Humor • Role shifting - a POC can be one thing in one situation and another by shifting roles in another situation • Armoring - developing a thick skin • Cognitive reinterpretation - racism is not my problem, it's there's • Withdrawing for self-protection • Self-affirmations • Directly or indirectly confronting the racism - Proactive response that we believe merits more attention as it is one of the main explanations for inaction in the face of micro-aggressions

African American Communication Styles

• Tend to be passionate and animated • Believe that afffect is considered sincere, unifying, and healthy - Contrast to what whites believe, which is that discussion should be void of affect • Perceived as angry and potentially violent

Master narrative says...

• We are a democratic society • We are good, moral, decent humans • Egalitarian relations are valued • Truth and justice are important • Equal access to opportunity are hallmarks of ur society • Prejudice and discrimination are bad • Hard work and individual effort are the pathways to success • People should not be judged by the color of their skin • Although racism is abhorrent, it is now a thing of the past

Asian American Communication Styles

• Western leadership assertive aggressive, take charge, competitive, dynamics, and forceful, highly visible • AA com styles often seen as an obstacle to leadership positions within a company • Perceived as lacking an ability to take charge of others and make tough decisions • Also make in classrooms - described be teachers as shy, seldom contributing to discussion, overly cautious, and difficulty relating to other classmates