Page 159 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

The Psychological Costs of Oppression (Microaggressions) to Perpetrators 133

The way forward is a diffi cult journey, but the moral and ethical mandate
for social justice requires action, not passivity and inaction. Since publica-
tion in 1954 of his classic book, The Nature of Prejudice, Gordon Allport ’ s
work still serves as the foundations of revealing basic principles of preju-
dice reduction and lowering intergroup hostility. Since that time, continued
work on antiracism has shown the importance of establishing the follow-
ing conditions to combat racial bias and prejudice. Additionally, each is a
necessary, but not a sufficient condition to combat racism. In other words,

change is most likely to be positive when all seven conditions exist. Each
would require considerable elaboration, but are only briefl y listed here.
A more thorough description can be found in D. W. Sue (2003).

1. Having intimate contact with people who differ from us in race, culture,
ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation.
2. Working together in a cooperative rather than a competitive environment.

3. Sharing mutual goals (superordinate goals) as opposed to individual
ones.
4. Exchanging and learning accurate information rather than stereotypes

or misinformation.
5. Sharing an equal status relationship with other groups instead of an

unequal or imbalanced one.

6. Having leadership and authority as supportive of group harmony and
welfare.

7. Feeling a sense of unity or spiritual interconnectedness with all humanity.
It is easy for me to outline these conditions, but the question is how to
achieve them in this society. There are no simple answers, but I end this
chapter with the following quote, attributed to Albert Einstein: “ The world
is too dangerous to live in — not because of the people who do evil, but
because of the people who sit and let it happen. ”

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