Page 278 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

252 microaggressive impact on education and teaching

different from the teacher. It requires experience in dialoguing with people
who differ from the teacher in terms of race, culture, and ethnicity. It ulti-
mately means the teacher must be proactive in placing himself or herself in
“ uncomfortable ” and new situations.

5. Understanding and Making Sense of One ’ s Own Emotions
Because very few teachers can have experiences with all groups who differ
from them in worldviews, they will always feel discomfort and confusion
when different diversity/multicultural issues arise. These feelings are natural
and should not be avoided; rather making sense of them is important.
Being able to monitor them and infer meaning to feelings and emotional
reactions and those of students are important in facilitating dialogues. It has
been found that emotive responses often serve as “ emotional roadblocks ” to
having a successful difficult dialogue. Feelings have diagnostic signifi cance.

For example, these feelings often have hidden meanings:

• I FEEL GUILTY. “ I could be doing more. ”

• I FEEL ANGRY. “ I don ’ t like to feel I ’ m wrong. ”

• I FEEL DEFENSIVE. “ Why blame me, I do enough already! ”

• I FEEL TURNED OFF. “ I have other priorities in life. ”

• I FEEL HELPLESS. “ The problem is too big . . . what can I do? ”

• I FEEL AFRAID. “ I ’ m going to lose something ” or “ I don ’ t know what will

happen. ”
Unless a teacher gets beyond his or her own feeling level or that of
students, blockages in learning will occur. If a teacher experiences these
feelings, it helps to acknowledge them even when they do not make imme-
diate sense. Teaching and encouraging students to do so as well will lessen
their detrimental impact.
6. Control the Process and Not the Content
When a heated dialogue occurs on race, the duel between students is
nearly always at the content level. When referring to dreams, Freud took
the stance that the manifest content (conscious level) is not the “ real ” or
latent content of the unconscious. Some common statements when racism
is discussed, expressed by both White students and students of color, are:

• “ So what, we women are oppressed too! ”
• “ My family didn ’ t own slaves. I had nothing to do with the incarceration of
Japanese Americans or the taking away of lands from Native Americans. ”

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