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3 The Henry Louis Gates Jr. incident represents an opportunity to dialogue about race in the United States. As some have said, it represents a teachable moment. How do we begin to understand the racial realities of one another? The fact that many White Americans are unable to bridge their worldviews with those of people of color represents a major challenge to our society. The subtext to this incident involves the observation that a national dialogue on race is much needed, but it brings on so many fears, defenses, and antagonisms that even President Obama retreated from taking it on.

As long as microaggressions remain hidden, invisible, unspoken, and excused as innocent slights with minimal harm, we will continue to insult, demean, alienate, and oppress members of marginalized groups. In the realm of racial microaggressions, for example, studies indicate that racial microaggressions often are triggers to difficult dialogues on race in the classroom (D. W. Sue, Lin, Torino, et al., 2009). White students and professors, for example, experience anxiety and a confusing array of emotions when race issues are brought to their attention. Researchers have identified common reasons that might hinder White individuals' exploration of race and racism:

1 White students and professors are confused and uncertain about what is transpiring (D. W. Sue, Torino, Capodilupo, Rivera, & Lin, 2009).

2 White students and professors are very “hung up” (defensive and anxious) about clarifying these racial interactions for fear of appearing racist (Apfelbaum, Sommers, & Norton, 2008).

When critical consciousness and awareness are lacking, when one is fearful about clarifying the meaning of tension‐filled interactions, and when one actively avoids pursuing an understanding of these dynamics, the offenses remain invisible (Goodman, 1995; Henry et al., 2007). Indeed, avoidance of race topics has been likened to “a conspiracy of silence” (D. W. Sue, 2005).

Making the “invisible” visible is the first step toward combating unconscious and unintentional racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other forms of bigotry. Thus, the primary purposes of this book build upon the efforts in the first edition to: