Texas Tech University

ANTI-RACISM Speakers Series presents Derald Wing Sue

Derald Wing Sue

September 23, 2021
7:00 PM

Register here: Derald Wing Sue Talk

 

The Humanities Center at Texas Tech opens our year-long scholarly theme, Anti-Racism, with the first event in our Anti-Racism Speakers Series.  Dr. Derald Wing Sue (Columbia University) will present "Microintervention Strategies: Disarming Microaggressions."

In the United States, the omnipresence of racial bias and bigotry has led many to question the reasons for their persistence in light of widespread public condemnation. Social scientists have proposed a number of reasons for people's failure to act: (a) the invisibility of modern forms of bias, (b) trivializing an incident as innocuous, (c) diffusion of responsibility, (d) fear of repercussions or retaliation, and (e) the paralysis of not knowing what to do. This workshop is aimed at addressing the last reason by providing participants with a repertoire of anti-bias strategies and tactics to overcome the expressions of microaggressions.

This workshop has several overarching goals: (a) elucidate the harmful impact of race-related bias on persons of color (b) acknowledge the central value of self-care in coping used by persons of color, (c) highlight the importance of disarming and neutralizing harmful microaggressions, and (d) suggest intervention strategies that can be used by targets and antiracists.

Microinterventions are the everyday words or deeds, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicates to targets of microaggressions (a) validation of their experiential reality, (b) value as a person, (c) affirmation of their racial or group identity, (d) support and encouragement, and (e) reassurance that they are not alone. More importantly, they serve to enhance psychological well-being, and provide targets, allies and bystanders with a sense of control and self-efficacy. For anti-racists, they provide a repertoire of responses that can be used to directly disarm or counteract the effects of microaggressions by challenging perpetrators. They are interpersonal tools that are intended to counteract, change or stop microaggressions by subtly or overtly confronting and educating the perpetrator.

This event is a co-presentation of the Humanities Center at Texas Tech, The Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center at Texas Tech, and the College of Education at Texas Tech.