Page 277 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

Racial Dialogues in the Classroom 251

groups when they (a) involve an unequal status relationship of power and
privilege, (b) highlight major differences in worldviews, personalities, and per-
spectives, (c) are challenged publicly, (d) are found to be offensive to others, (e)
may reveal biases and prejudices, and (f) trigger intense emotional responses
(Sue & Constantine, 2007; Young, 2003). Any individual or group engaged in a
difficult dialogue may feel at risk for potentially disclosing intimate thoughts,

beliefs or feelings related to the topic of race. (Sue, Lin, et al., 2009, p. 184)

2. Understanding Self as a Racial/Cultural Being by Making the
“I nvisible, Visible ”
Being an effective facilitator cannot occur unless the person is aware of
her or his own values, biases, and assumptions about human behavior.
Questions that he or she must constantly work on exploring include: What
does it mean to be White, Black/African American, Asian American/Pacifi c
Islander, Latino/Hispanic American, or Native American?
3. Intellectually Acknowledge One ’ s Own Cultural Conditioning
and Biases
On an intellectual/cognitive level, teachers must be able to acknowledge
and accept the fact that they are products of the cultural conditioning of
this society and, as such, they have inherited the biases, fears, and stereotypes
of their ancestors.
This honest acknowledgment does several things: (1) it frees the teacher
from the constant guardedness and vigilance exercised in denying their own
racism, sexism, and other biases; (2) the teacher can use it to model truthful-
ness, openness, and honesty to students on conversations about race and
racism; (3) it can communicate courage in making the teacher vulnerable
by taking a risk to share with students their own biases, limitations, and attempts
to deal with racism; and (4) it may encourage other students to approach the
topic with honesty, because their own teacher is equally “ fl awed. ”

4. Emotional Comfort in Dealing with Race and Racism
On an emotional level, it is to the advantage of teachers if they are
comfortable in discussing issues of race and racism, and/or being open,
honest, and vulnerable to exploring their own biases and those of students.
If students sense teachers are uncomfortable, it will only add fuel to their
own discomfort and defenses. Attaining comfort means practice outside
of the classroom, lived experience in interacting with people or groups

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