How Oppression (microaggression) Affects Oppressors

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

How oppression (microaggression) affects oppressors

The cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual consequences of oppression.

From the book of D. V. Sue "Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation" (Derald Wing Sue).

Translation: Sergey Baev

“All white people I know condemn racism. We feel helpless about racial injustice in society and do not know how to deal with the racism we feel in our own groups (communities) and in our lives. People of other races avoid our groups when they sense racism in them that we do not see (just as gays instantly notice heterosexism in heterosexual groups, and women see chauvinism among men). Few white people associate or work politically with members of other races, even if their goals are the same. At the same time, we do not want to be racists - therefore, most of the time we try not to be, pretending that we are liberal. Nonetheless, white supremacy is fundamental to American and global socioeconomic history, and this racist legacy is internalized by white people of all classes. We've all absorbed white racism; and the pretense and mystification around it only exacerbates the problem."

According to Sarah Winter, a white woman psychologist, what she and many other well-meaning people encounter when talking about racism, sexism and heterosexism is a hard-hitting truth that is difficult to bear, namely: attitudes towards marginalized groups; b) a growing understanding of their own role and complicity in the oppression of others; c) pretending that we are free from prejudice and prejudice; d) avoiding marginalized groups, so as not to see the reminders of racism, sexism and heterosexism that surround us inside and outside; e) a sense of powerlessness in relation to social injustice in society; f) the awareness that white, male and heterosexual "superiority" is a fundamental and integral part of the American and world community; and g) the realization that no one is free from the inheritance of the racial, gender and sexual orientation biases of this society.

Sarah Winter's quote is addressed to well-meaning white people who are not fully aware of their prejudices and their role in oppressing people of color. The inner struggle that she describes manifests itself cognitively (mindfulness versus denial, mystification, and pretense) and behaviorally (isolating and avoiding marginalized groups). However, internal struggles evoke strong, intense emotions:

“When someone makes me aware of racism, I feel guilty (which, in fact, I could do so much more); angry (I don't like feeling like I'm wrong); aggressively defensive (I already have two black friends … I'm more worried about racism than most whites - isn't that enough?); disabled (I have other priorities in life - with a sense of guilt for this thought); helpless (the problem is so big - what can I do?). Either way, I DON'T LIKE WHAT I FEEL. That is why I play down racial issues and let them disappear from the horizon of my consciousness whenever possible."

At the cognitive, emotional, behavioral and spiritual levels, psychological research shows that when micro-aggressive representatives of dominant groups become more aware of their biases, they often experience debilitating emotional stress (feelings of guilt, fear, defensive behavior), cognitive distortion and narrowing - a false sense of reality. and behavioral avoidance or inauthentic actions that only worsen relationships with marginalized people and groups. In previous chapters, I analyzed the impact of racial, gender, and sexual orientation microaggression on persecuted groups, in particular people of color, women, and LGBT people.

For now, I would like to describe the social and psychological consequences of microaggression on oppressors. What is the psychosocial cost for those who generate or condone racism, sexism and heterosexism? The growing interest and scholarly work on the psychosocial consequences of racism has generated renewed interest in studying the harmful effects of these phenomena on the oppressors themselves.

Cognitive consequences of oppression

Many scholars and humanists argue that in order to be an oppressor, a darkening of perception is necessary, which is associated with self-deception. They note that few oppressors are completely unaware of their role in oppressing and humiliating others. To continue to oppress others, they must engage in denial and live in a false reality that allows them to act with a clear conscience. Second, the power status of oppressors vis-à-vis marginalized groups can have a devastating effect on their ability to adjust to their plight. The oft-quoted saying that "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely," is attributed to Lord Acton in 1887. In fact, the imbalance of forces uniquely affects the accuracy of perception and reduces the ability to pass reality testing. In the corporate world, women must adapt to the feelings and actions of their male counterparts in order to survive in a male culture. People of color must be constantly vigilant and read the minds of their oppressors so as not to incur their wrath. Oppressors, however, do not need to understand the thoughts, beliefs, or feelings of various marginalized groups in order to survive. Their actions are not accountable to those without power, and they do not need to understand them in order to function effectively.

The emotional consequences of oppression

As we can see, when the oppressors are made aware of racism, sexism, or heterosexism, they often experience a mixture of intense destructive emotions. These feelings represent emotional obstacles to self-exploration and must be removed if the oppressors are to continue on their path to self-discovery.

1. Fear, anxiety and apprehension are common intense feelings that arise in controversial situations related to race, gender, or sexual orientation. Fear can be directed at members of marginalized groups: that they are dangerous, harmful, violent, or infecting people (eg, AIDS). Thus, you can choose to avoid certain group members and limit your interaction with them.

2. Guilt is another powerful emotion that many whites experience when they become aware of racism. As we have already noted, trying to avoid feelings of guilt and remorse means dulling and weakening your own perception. Awareness of racial advantages, long-term abuse of large groups of people, and the realization that they are personally responsible for the pain and suffering of others, all generate intense feelings of guilt. Guilt elicits defensiveness and outbursts of anger in an attempt to deny, belittle, and avoid such unpleasant self-exposure.

3. Low empathy and sensitivity to the oppressed is another consequence of oppression for members of the dominant group. The harm, harm and violence against marginalized groups can only continue if the person puts aside their humanity, loses sensitivity to those they harm, becomes tough, cold and insensitive to the plight of the oppressed, cutting off compassion and empathy. Continuing to ignore your complicity in such acts means objectifying and depersonalizing people of color, women and LGBT people. In many ways, this means separating yourself from others, seeing them as inferior beings, and in many ways treating them as subhuman aliens.

Behavioral consequences of oppression

In terms of behavior, the psychosocial consequences of racism include fearful avoidance of different groups and the variety of activities and experiences that can be obtained in interaction with them, interpersonal disruption, pretense and indifference about race, gender or sexual orientation, as well as heartless and cold attitude towards other people.

Fearful avoidance deprives oppressors of the wealth of possible friendships and expanding experiences that open horizons and opportunities. For example, in a situation of racism, we lose the opportunity for interracial relations and new alliances, limiting our knowledge of diversity. Self-segregation due to fear of certain groups in our society and depriving ourselves of the experience of multiculturalism narrows our life opportunities and impoverishes our worldview.

Spiritual and moral consequences of oppression

In essence, oppression inevitably means the loss of one's humanity for the sake of power, wealth, and status gained by enslaving others. This means a loss of spiritual connection with other people. Refusal to recognize the polarity of the democratic principle of equality and inhuman unequal treatment of the oppressed. This means turning a blind eye to the fact that marginalized groups are treated like second-class citizens, imprisoned in reservations, concentration camps, segregated schools and districts, prisons, and condemned to lifelong poverty. To tolerate continued degradation, harm and cruelty towards the oppressed is to suppress our humanity and compassion for others. People who oppress must, on some level, become callous, cold, tough, and insensitive to the plight of the oppressed.

In conclusion, it should be noted that acts of racial, gender, and sexual orientation microaggression are manifestations of oppression. They remain invisible due to a cultural conditioning process that allows members of dominant groups to discriminate without knowing that they are complicit in inequality for people of color, women, LGBT people and other persecuted groups. The consequences of inaction on the part of the oppressors can be represented in terms of the cognitive, emotional, behavioral and spiritual costs of their camp, or in terms of the price they pay. But what are we to do about it? We will talk about this in the following chapters, but for now I end with a quote attributed to Albert Einstein: “The world is a dangerous place; not because of people who do evil, but because of those who watch it and do nothing."