Page 165 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

Racial/Ethnic Microaggressions and Racism 139

As we have repeatedly emphasized, racism in the form of racial microaggres-
sions may seem trivial, harmless, and innocent enough (conscious and uncon-
scious associations that Asians are not “ real Americans ” but aliens) (DeVos &
Banaji, 2005), but their impact may create maximum harm to the individual.
Wen Ho Lee ’ s personal life was shattered, his family and friends suffered, and
to this day, he may continue to live under a cloud of suspicion in spite of the
outcome of his case. Since the terrorist attack of 9/11, many Muslim brothers
and sisters have also experienced the sting of suspicion and the many detri-
mental consequences of mistrust.
Personal consequences, however, may pale in comparison to systemic
actions that can be and were perpetrated against people of color under the
umbrella of a racially biased worldview. The belief that Japanese Americans
were more loyal to Japan and might aid “ their country ” by passing on state
secrets during World War II resulted in the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese
Americans, two - thirds of whom were citizens by virtue of birth in the United
States. As in the case of Wen Ho Lee, the actions of the U.S. government were

justified by the need for “ national security, ” and racism was never acknow-
ledged. Many well - intentioned White brothers and sisters went along with
these actions because they also shared these beliefs and suspicions. There was
a failure, however, to realize that not only were we at war with Japan, but also
Italy and Germany; yet Italian Americans and German Americans were not

incarcerated into camps! Asian Americans continue to ask: “ How much did
skin color have to do with the differential treatment? ”
As we saw in the last chapter, White supremacy forms a worldview that

justifies oppressive actions. This worldview and its detrimental impact upon
many groups of color operated on a systemic governmental level for Native
Americans and African Americans as well. The belief in “ manifest destiny, ”
a philosophy that the United States was destined (even divinely decreed)
to acquire land, provided a rationale for the unchecked taking of land from
indigenous peoples in this country. It justified expansion into the western and

southern territories during the early 1800s and legitimized taking land from
Native Americans and from Mexico. Acts of racism were also contained in
belief systems that justified and maintained the system of slavery. For example,

it was believed that Blacks living under “ unnatural conditions of freedom ”
were prone to anxiety and that for their own mental health Blacks were better
off in conditions of subservience (Jones, 1997; Thomas & Sillen, 1972). During
the 1840s, for example, a psychiatric disorder called “ drapetomania ” (fl ight -
from - home) was used to describe the abnormal desire for freedom and the

1/19/10 6:11:41 PM
c07.indd 139 1/19/10 6:11:41 PM
c07.indd 139