Page 157 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

The Psychological Costs of Oppression (Microaggressions) to Perpetrators 131

We have already mentioned how interpersonal relationships are seriously
undermined because of racist, sexist, or homophobic fears. The fear of appear-
ing racist, for example, makes people avoid talking about the subject, even
when it is central to the interaction or situation (Sue, Rivera, Capodilupo,
Lin, & Torino, 2009; Young & Davis - Russell, 2002). When Whites do speak
about race, however, they become convoluted in their communications and
their utterances are marked by excessive hesitations, stammering, and pauses
(Utsey et al., 2005). All of this conveys anxiety as they deny or pretend not to
see race (inauthenticity). The internal dialogue and conflict of Whites regard-

ing race is aptly captured in the following quote:
We avoid people of color because their presence brings painful questions to
mind. Is it OK to talk about watermelons or mention “ black coffee ” ? Should we
use Black slang and tell racial jokes? How about talking about our experiences
in Harlem, or mentioning our Black lovers? Should we conceal the fact that our
mother still employs a Mexican cleaning lady? . . . We ’ re embarrassedly aware
of trying to do our best but to “ act natural ” at the same time. No wonder we ’ re
more comfortable in all - White situations where these dilemmas don ’ t arise.
(Winter, 1977, p. 3)

Spiritual and Moral Cost of Oppression

During the so - called “ war on terror, ” and as a direct result of fears associ-
ated with the terrorist attack of 9/11, the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was used
to hold suspected terrorists who were captured or arrested. In 2004, reports
of torture, sodomy, abuse, and homicide of prisoners were leaked to the
press and public. A criminal investigation along with disturbing photos of
torture and humiliation visited on prisoners by American sons and daugh-
ters of the military surfaced. Seven soldiers were convicted of dereliction of
duty, maltreatment, and aggravated assaults. The pictures of our own sol-
diers taking such delight in torturing prisoners were shocking and prompted
many to ask, “ How could good and decent Americans, our sons and daugh-
ters, have engaged in such grotesque, humiliating, and perhaps murderous
actions toward prisoners (fellow human beings)? ” The answer seems to lie in
the dehumanization process that portrayed the prisoners as subhuman aliens
that were even lower than animals. This is certainly not a new phenomenon.
During World War II and the Vietnam War, the Japanese and Viet Cong were
referred to in demeaning racial epithets: “ Japs, ” “ gooks, ” and “ slants. ” This
allowed soldiers to kill their enemies without guilt or compassion, because
they were lesser beings. To carry out the atrocities of the Holocaust, soldiers

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