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120 microaggressive perpetrators and oppression

employment, churches, and one ’ s own family perpetuate racism. The social
conditioning of young children, for example, can occur nonverbally through
parental actions as described below.

It was a late summer afternoon. A group of white neighborhood mothers, obvi-
ously friends, had brought their 4 - and 5 - year - olds to the local McDonald ’ s for
a snack and to play on the swings and slides provided by the restaurant. They
were all seated at a table watching their sons and daughters run about the play
area. In one corner of the yard sat a small black child pushing a red truck along
the grass. One of the white girls from the group approached the black boy and
they started a conversation. During that instant, the mother of the girl exchanged
quick glances with the other mothers who nodded knowingly. She quickly rose
from the table, walked over to the two, spoke to her daughter, and gently pulled
her away to join her previous playmates. Within minutes, however, the girl again
approached the black boy and both began to play with the truck. At that point,
all the mothers rose from the table and loudly exclaimed to their children, “ It ’ s
time to go now! ” (D. W. Sue, 2003, pp. 89 – 90)

Transformation Four — Racism through Whiteness
Cultural racism comprises the cumulative effects of a racialized worldview,
based on belief in essential racial differences that favor the dominant racial
group over others. These effects are suffused throughout the culture via insti-
tutional structures, ideological beliefs, and personal everyday actions of people
in the culture, and these effects are passed on from generation to generation.
(Jones, 1997, p. 472)
The conditioning aspect of culture is well known as it guides us in how
we think, feel, and act. The association of Whiteness with White supremacy
through social conditioning and the imposition of racial realities that advan-
tage one group but disadvantage another become transformed into White
racism. In broad terms, racism is the individual, institutional, and cultural
expression of the superiority of White Western cultural heritage over all non -
White groups. Inherent in this defi nition is the power to impose and enforce
that worldview on those in this society (Whites and non - Whites). There are
three outcomes associated with White racism: (1) justification of unequal and

unfair treatment to people of color based solely on the color of their skin or

visible physical features, (2) unearned advantages and benefits that accrue to
Whites by virtue of their skin color (White privilege), and (3) inherent disad-
vantages (inferior education, segregated housing, lower wages, and negative
sociopsychological consequences) to people of color.

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