Читать книгу Counseling the Culturally Diverse - Laura Smith L. - Страница 19

Expectations oftentimes shape the reactions to the course content, especially those in the book. As the course evolves, emotional hot buttons become pushed, as exemplified in the following reactions.

 White Student: “How dare you and your fellow caustic co‐authors express such vitriol against White Americans? You are all racists, but of a different color … What makes you think that racism comes just from Whites? Minorities are equally racist. I can't believe you are counselors. Your book does nothing but to weaken our nationalism, our sense of unity and solidarity. If you don't like it here, leave this country. You are all spoiled hate‐mongers who take advantage of our educational system by convincing others to use such a propagandistic book! Shame on you. Your book doesn't make me want to be more multicultural, but take ungrateful people like you and export them out of this great land of mine.”

 African American Student: “When I first took this course (multicultural counseling) I did not have much hope that it would be different from all the others in our program, White and Eurocentric. I felt it would be the typical cosmetic and superficial coverage of minority issues. Boy was I wrong. I like that you did not ‘tip toe’ around the subject. Your book Counseling the Culturally Diverse was so forceful and honest that it made me feel liberated … I felt like I had a voice, and it allowed me to truly express my anger and frustration against racism, and to honestly talk about what we experience on a daily basis. White folks don't seem to want to understand how we have been oppressed. Some of the white students were upset and I could see them squirming in their seats when the professor discussed the book. I felt like saying ‘good, it's about time Whites suffer like we have. I have no sympathy for you. It's about time they learned to listen.’ Thank you, thank you, and thank you all for having the courage to write such an honest book.”

Many students approach courses on race, gender, sexual orientation and identity with a combination of excitement, curiosity, and ambivalence. They may have varying expectations about the course content, but are often unprepared to deal with the “hot emotional buttons” pushed in them. Understanding and being able to process feelings are the first steps to becoming a culturally competent counselor/therapist. Unless adequately understood and resolved, these nested or embedded feelings can serve as roadblocks to working effectively with clients who differ from you in terms of race, ethnicity, culture, gender, etc. Let us turn our attention to the reactions of the last two students and distill their meanings.

First, the reactions by the White student reveal immense anger at the content of Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice (CCD), and especially at the authors whom are labeled “hate‐mongers” and “racists.” It is obvious that the student feels the book is biased and propagandistic. The language used by the student seems to indicate defensiveness and the material covered in the book is easily dismissed as political indoctrination. More important, there is an implicit suggestion in the use of “people like you” and “land of mine” that conveys a perception that only certain groups can be considered “American” and that others are “foreigners.” This is similar to statements often made to People of Color: “If you don't like it here, go back to China, Africa, or Latin America.” Likewise, the implication is that this land does not belong to Persons of Color who are U.S. Citizens, but only to White Americans. The emotive tone of the student is one of being angered, offended, and defensive.

What hot buttons are being pushed in the student? Where are the strong reactions coming from? Is the material in the book, biased and political rhetoric, or is the White student having his view of the world challenged? We will delve more deeply into these emotive reactions shortly, but it appears that the student feels unjustly accused of being bigoted. To feel less guilty, the student emphasizes that minorities are equally prejudiced against White Americans. Although it may be an accurate observation, it serves to make the student and other Whites less culpable by equating one form of bias with another. If the student can get other groups to admit they too are “racist,” then less guilt and responsibility for one's own biased beliefs and actions will be experienced.

Second, note that the reaction from the student of color is diametrically opposite to that of the White trainee. This student reacts positively to the material, finds the content helpful in explaining his/her experiential reality, and feels validated and reaffirmed. In other words, the student finds the content of the book truthful, compelling and empathetic. The student of color describes how the content and tone of the book make him/her feel liberated, provide a voice to describe racial experiences, and tap into and allow him/her to express feelings like anger and frustration. The student implies that most courses on multicultural psychology are taught from a EuroAmerican perspective, but the book content “tells it like it is.” Additionally, the student seems to take pleasure in observing the discomfort of White students, expresses little sympathy for their struggles in the class, and enjoys seeing them being placed on the defensive. (We will return to the meaning of this last point shortly.)

It would be a mistake, however, to conclude that White students and students of color respond uniformly in one way. As we will explore in future chapters, many White students react positively to the book and some students of color report negative reactions. However, in general, there are major worldview differences and reactions to the material between the groups. For example, many socially marginalized group members find solace in the book; they describe a deep sense of validation, release, elation, joy, and even feelings of liberation as they read the text.

The important question to ask is, “Why do Students of Color react so differently from their White counterparts?” After all, the content of the book remains the same, but the perceptions appear worlds apart. The short answer is that racial realities differ between groups because of differences in lived experience, just like differences in realities between men and women, gays and straights, able‐bodied and those with disabilities, Christians and Jews, and rich and poor. MCT is about being able to bridge these differences, to relate to the worldview of culturally diverse clients, to not silence their stories, to listen to their narratives without becoming defensive, but most importantly, to not impose your definitions of normality and abnormality upon them.

For practicing professionals and trainees in the helping professions, understanding the differing worldviews of our racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse clients is tantamount to effective multicultural counseling. But understanding our own reactions to issues of diversity, multiculturalism, oppression, race, gender, and sexual orientation is equally important to our development as counselors/therapists (Collins, Arthur, & Brown, 2013; Melasmed, 2021). As we will shortly see, that understanding can be quite anxiety‐provoking, especially when we are asked to confront our own biases, prejudices, and stereotypes. The old adage “counselor or therapist, know thyself” is the basic building block to cultural competence and cultural humility in the helping professions.