Читать книгу Microaggressions in Everyday Life онлайн | страница 39

Scholars suggest that it is nearly impossible for any of us not to inherit the racial, gender, and sexual‐orientation biases of our forebears (Baker & Fishbein, 1998; Banaji & Greenwald, 1995; Barret & Logan, 2002; Dovidio, Gaertner, Kawakami, & Hodson, 2002; Feagin, 2013; Fiske & Stevens, 1993; D. W. Sue, 2003). Such prejudices, however, may exist consciously, unconsciously, or on the margins of consciousness (Nelson, 2006; Ponterotto, Utsey, & Pedersen, 2006; D. W. Sue, 2003). One could make a strong argument, for example, that Maher, Barr, Pacquiao, Trump, and Baio (a) are aware of their biases but are generally successful in concealing them, (b) are only minimally aware, or (c) are completely unaware until their outbursts. To understand racism means to realize that our prejudices, stereotypes, and biases exist on a continuum of conscious awareness (Trepagnier, 2010). The avowed racist, for example, will use racial epithets freely, will consciously believe in the inferiority of persons of color, and will deliberately discriminate. Those who are less aware, however, are likely to unintentionally behave in subtle discriminatory patterns against people of color, women, and LGBTQ individuals outside their level of conscious awareness.

People who are aware of their racial, gender, and sexual‐orientation biases, who believe in the inferiority of certain groups, and who discriminate when the opportunity arises have been labeled conscious‐deliberate bigots (D. W. Sue, 2003). In the area of racism, for example, they vary from people who privately harbor racial animosity but do a good job of concealing it, to those who are more overt in expressing their biases, and finally to those who might be labeled White supremacists. In most cases, conscious‐deliberate bigots are held in check by legal, moral, and social constraints. These individuals form a small number, although they have great public impact. In an August 2017 Marist Poll, researchers found that only a small proportion of Americans “mostly agree” with beliefs of the alt‐right (6%), White nationalists (4%), the White supremacy movement (4%), and the Ku Klux Klan (2%). During the same month, White nationalists organized a rally to “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville, Virginia. Several hundred people from various White supremacist groups wielded tiki torches during an evening march to protest the city's plan to remove Confederate statues. Notably, a far greater number of counterprotestors (estimates of 2,000–8,000) showed up for the main event the following day to express their opposition to fascism and White supremacy. There were physical altercations, and, regrettably, someone was murdered. White supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car into the crowd, killing a racial justice counterprotester, 32‐year‐old Heather Heyer, and injuring 35 others, according to reports. In his response to the events, President Trump condemned “hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides,” further emboldening the small number of White supremacists in America.