Page 272 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

246 microaggressive impact on education and teaching

as close - mindedness or an ignorance on my part. ” . . . “ I wanted to say something,
but I also felt very nervous. When I did finally speak, my thoughts weren ’ t clear and

I am sure difficult to follow ” (Sue, Rivera, et al., 2009). Ironically, rather than

making themselves appear less biased, their behaviors were read by students
of color as indicating attempts to conceal racist attitudes and beliefs. It has
been conjectured that the fear of appearing racist is only a superfi cial level
of defense by Whites because it really masks a deeper fear—fear of actually
being racist (Sue & Constantine, 2007). This conclusion seems supported by
another dominant concern of White students.

Denial of Whiteness and White Privilege
White students expressed resentment toward being blamed for racism and
the association of Whiteness with privilege, power, and advantage. They
appeared to react defensively to being called “ White ” and seemed aware of
the negative associations with light skin color. Some even disavowed being
White by claiming to identify with only an ethnic group: “ I ’ m not White,
I ’ m German. ” “ I ’ m not White, I ’ m Irish Catholic. ” One White female student
expressed her strong objections to such associations: “ White people this and
White people that, because honestly, I don ’ t really identify with — I defi nitely feel like

I need to almost justify myself when those things come up . . . s ocietal problems are

out of my hands. ” Defensiveness seemed central to their reactions.
White students had considerable difficulty entertaining the notion that

their light skin color automatically advantaged them in this society and
that darker skin color disadvantaged others. They would often ward off such
suggestions with statements like, “ Don ’ t blame me, my parents didn ’ t own
slaves. ” “ Don ’ t blame me; I didn ’ t take land from Native Americans. ” It was
diffi cult for many White students to realize that despite not being the primary
culprits in perpetrating these wrongs, they still benefi ted from the historical
injustices and structural arrangements of their ancestors. The anger, resent-
ment, denial, and guilt expressed by White students made them want to avoid
conversations on race. Again, a deeper exploration of these resistances revealed
an additional level of discomfort many had difficulty facing: If indeed they

benefitted from White privilege, then two challenges confront them. First,
they must now question the myth of meritocracy and the likelihood that their
lot in life was attained not just through their own efforts, but by a biased
system that favored them. Second, if one accepts the notion of “ unfair advan-
tage ” due to White privilege, what implications does it have for one ’ s life and
what will Whites do about it?

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