Counseling the Culturally Diverse. Laura Smith L.
denials of personal and societal racism, and physically leaving the situation were notable avoidant ploys used by students. The apprehensions they felt affected them physically as well (Sue, Rivera, et al., 2010; Sue, Torino, et al., 2010). Some students described physiological reactions of anxiety like a pounding heart, dry mouth, tense muscles, and perspiration. One student stated, “I tried hard to say something thoughtful and it's hard for me to say, and my heart was pounding when I said it.” Others described feeling intimidated in the discussions, stammering when trying to say something, being overly concerned about offending others, experiencing a strong sense of confusion as to what was going on, censoring thoughts or statements that could be misunderstood, feeling reluctant in expressing their thoughts, being overwhelmed by the mix of emotions they felt, and hearing constriction in their own voices.
DID YOU KNOW?
Talking about race, gender, and sexual orientation with culturally diverse clients often result in extreme tension and anxiety. Discomfort in racial dialogues may make the helping professional's verbalizations tentative, obtuse, abstract, and filled with nonsensical utterances. In an attempt to avoid being seen as racist or sexist, the therapist may reveal difficulties in articulation, barely audible speech, voice constriction, trembling voice, stammering and stuttering, and mispronunciation of common words. This phenomenon has been labeled rhetorical incoherence. Ironically, the attempt not to appear biased actually has the opposite effect: the counselor may appear more racist!
Source: Bolgatz (2005) and Bonilla‐Silva (2006).
These thoughts, feelings, and concerns blocked participants from fully participating in learning and discussing diversity issues, because they became so concerned about themselves (turning inward) that they could not freely be open and listen to the messages being communicated by socially devalued group members. Indeed, their whole goal seemed to be to ward off the messages and meanings being communicated to them, which challenged their worldviews, and themselves as racial beings, and highlighted their potential roles as oppressors.
For those who are able to listen to stories about racial and other forms of oppression, some allow their anxiety and fear to immobilize them: “I think sometimes I'm afraid to say things because I don't want to offend people, and so I just decide … to sit and be quiet” (Linder, 2015, p. 545). One's fear of appearing racist or offensive thus undermines learning because one remains silent in discussion and allows others to do the difficult work of self‐exploration; oftentimes, the brunt of the work is then unduly put on the shoulders of the People of Color or other marginalized group members in the class.
The Meaning of Defensiveness and Anger
Although defensiveness and anger are two different emotions, studies seem to indicate a high relationship between the two (Apfelbaum, Sommers, & Norton, 2008; Sue, Torino, et al., 2010; Zou & Dickter, 2013). One represents a protective stance and the other an attempt to strike back at the perpetrator (in many cases, statements by People of Color). Note, for example, how one of the White students became angry with the authors and accused them of being racist and propagandistic. In absorbing diversity content, many White students describe feeling defensive (unfairly accused of being biased or racist, blamed for past racial injustices, and responsible for the current state of race relations). “I'm tired of hearing ‘White people this … White people that’ … why are we always blamed for everything?”
When the text discusses bias and bigotry, or when classmates of color bring up the issue, for example, some White students seem to interpret this as a personal accusation, and rather than reach out to understand the content, respond in a defensive and protective posture. In many cases, even statements of racial facts and statistics, such as definitions of racism, disparities in income and education, segregation of neighborhoods, hate crime figures, and so forth, arouse defensiveness in many White students. Their defense response to a racial dialogue is seen as protection against (a) criticism (“You just don't get it!”), (b) revealing personal shortcomings (“You are racist!”), or (c) perceived threat to their self‐image and ego (“I'm not a racist—I'm a good person.”). Because of this stance, we have observed that many White students who feel attacked may engage in behaviors or argumentative ploys that present denials and counterpoints because they view the racial dialogue as a win–lose proposition. Warding off the legitimacy of the points raised by People of Color and maintaining their tightly guarded color‐blind racial perspective becomes the primary goals, rather than listening and attempting to understand the material or point of view.
When White students feel wrongly accused, they may respond with anger and engage in a counterattack when a racial topic arises. It appears that anger stems from three sources: (a) feeling unfairly accused, (b) being told the substance or stance they take is wrong, and (c) confronting information suggesting they have benefited from racial privilege. Many White students may feel offended and perceive the allegations as a provocation or an attack that requires retaliation. Anger may be aroused when students feel offended (“How dare you imply that about me?”), wronged (“I am deeply hurt you see me that way”), misunderstood (“You make it seem like I didn't work hard for everything I have”), or that their good standing is denied (“Don't associate me with racists!”). Defensiveness is designed to uphold one's own stance. Sometimes, we see students in class searching the Internet for information to refute data documenting racial disparities or a story about someone's experiences with discrimination.
Anger, on the other hand, turns its attention to attacking the threatening behavior of others. Given the choice of the fight‐or‐flight response, some White students’ anger turns to rage; they make a choice to take action in stopping the threatening accusations (Spanierman & Cabrera, 2015). The strategy used is to discredit the substance of an argument and/or to derogate the communicator, often through a personal attack (“He or she is just an angry Black man or woman”). Sometimes, White rage lies beneath the surface as students seethe in silence, and sometimes it leads to hostile actions, like making official complaints about the teacher for covering the material in class. In many respects, anger, rage, and defensiveness may become so aroused that one loses control of one's self‐monitoring capacities and the ability to accurately assess the external environment. These latter two abilities are extremely important for effective multicultural counseling.
The Meaning of Guilt, Regret, and Remorse
When discussing diversity issues, many White trainees admit to feeling guilty, although most tend to say that they “are made to feel guilty” by People of Color, especially when unjustly accused (Sue & Spanierman, 2020). This statement actually suggests a distancing strategy in localizing guilt as external to oneself rather than as rightfully residing and being felt internally. Guilt as an emotion occurs when we believe we have violated an internal moral code, and have compromised our own standards of conduct. The question becomes, why should White trainees feel guilty when topics of race, racism, or Whiteness are discussed? If indeed they are not racist, not responsible for the racial sins of the past, and not responsible for current injustices, then why should they feel guilt and how could they be made to feel guilty?
Some have coined the term “White guilt” to refer to the individual and collective feelings of culpability experienced by some White Americans for the racist treatment of People of Color, both historically and currently (Goodman, 2001; Spanierman, Todd, & Anderson, 2009; Tatum, 1992). In diversity discussions, many White trainees find guilt extremely uncomfortable, because it means that they have violated a moral standard and are disinclined to acknowledge their violation. What is that moral standard? Being a good, moral, and decent human being who does not discriminate, being a nonracist, living a life that speaks to equality and justice, and being a humane person who treats everyone with respect and dignity are the positive standards that are being breached. Compromising these moral standards and beliefs and acting in ways that violate them bring on bad feelings of guilt and remorse.
BEHAVIORAL RESISTANCE
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