Page 260 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

234 microaggressive impact on education and teaching

monologues rather than develop into true dialogues (Sue & Constantine,
2007). There is no attempt to reach out to others, to hear their points of view,
and to digest the meanings; instead, defensiveness, anger, and an attacking
shouting match occur between participants (Young, 2003). Students seem
more motivated to press their views (stating and restating their positions, and
talking over each other) rather than attempting to listen to another ’ s point
of view. If sufficient emotional intensity is reached, students may leave the

classroom, break down in tears (Accapadi, 2007), and not participate further
in racial dialogues; the professor, on the other hand, may admonish students
to respect one another, to control their emotions, or to “ table the discussion. ”
These avoidance maneuvers are intended to end the dialogue or to place
extreme restrictions on how to talk about race.
Fourth, the unsuccessful outcome of difficult dialogues on race represents

a major setback and failure in understanding and improving race relations. It
can actually lead to a hardening of racially biased views on the part of White
students (people of color are oversensitive and can ’ t control their emotions),
and it leaves the students of color pained, hurt, and invalidated, reinforcing
beliefs that Whites cannot understand or be trusted. Further, by leaving the
topic untouched and unresolved it will continue to represent the “ elephant
in the room ” and negatively affect the learning environment by teaching stu-
dents to avoid race topics. As a result, many students of color fi nd the class-

room situation oppressive and intolerable, reflecting the power and privilege of
White students and professors to control the dialogue. While White students
can avoid issues of race by leaving the situation or avoiding it, students of
color have no such privilege. They must deal with race on a day - to - day basis;
escape and leaving the situation are not options open to them.
Last, the White professor reflected upon how his training had never pre-

pared him to facilitate these emotional interactions among students, or even
between himself and his students. It is clear that the professor was baffl ed by
the interaction and was unaware and unable to recognize racial microaggres-
sions. While educators are often prepared to teach in classrooms by stressing
knowledge acquisition and cognitive analysis, topics of race and racism are
more than intellectual exercises because they involves taboos, and nested feelings
of anxiety, fear, guilt, and anger. As we shall shortly see, facilitating diffi cult dia-
logues on race requires professors to (a) be aware of their own values, biases,
and assumptions about human behavior, (b) understand the worldview of the
culturally diverse students, and (c) possess a repertoire of teaching or facilitation

strategies to aid students in self - reflection and learning.

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