Page 274 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

248 microaggressive impact on education and teaching

or cope with feelings evoked from a classroom dialogue. A White student
describes her reaction: “ And then it sort of turned into, you know, a lot of the

Students of Color kind of venting their frustrations, which is, you know, completely
understandable, but at the same time, I felt so helpless, like, I really don ’ t know what
to do right now. ” These students were likely to acknowledge the existence of

racial injustice, but felt at a loss of how to speak to it. Consistent with the
fear of appearing racist, some students felt misunderstood when they made
comments. When addressing the topic of “ antisocial behavior and violence, ”
one White student recalls listing risk factors and mentioned the Black com-
munity. She reports being confronted by Black students and unfairly accused
of stereotyping. The incident was so upsetting that she failed to participate
during the rest of the class.

White Teachers ’ Perspectives

Teachers and educators are in a unique position to help students understand
racial issues, especially when such interactions arise in the classroom (Young,

2004). When difficult racial dialogues occur in the classroom, they are no
longer purely abstract intellectual constructs, but their appearances are con-
crete and real for students and teachers alike (Bell, 2003). They represent a

microcosm of race relation difficulties in our society. In the hands of a skilled

facilitator, difficult dialogues on race can represent a potential learning oppor-
tunity for personal growth and understanding, improved communication,
and racial harmony (Young & Davis - Russell, 2002). Because the majority of
teachers in the United States are predominantly White, their roles are crucial
in facilitating successful racial dialogues in the classroom. Unfortunately,
studies seem to suggest that White educators are often (1) ill - prepared to
recognize and understand the dynamics of racial microaggressions as causes
to difficult dialogues, (2) confused as to what constitutes a diffi cult dialogue,

and (3) at a loss of how to intervene when they occur (Sue, Torino, et al.,
2009; Sue, Rivera, et al., 2009).

Teacher Fears
One of the greatest fears and concerns for teachers around race dialogues is
loss of classroom control and the emotionally charged nature of the interactions.
The loss of control is often related to the feeling of helplessness, inability to

determine the nature of the conflict, and the lack of knowledge of how best
to properly intervene (Sue, Torino, et al., 2009). These three are compounded

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