Course Description

Instructor: David Slavin, PhD

How do we identify microaggressions, subtle, ubiquitous put-downs directed towards African Americans and other targeted groups? What do we do about them? Is this a “white problem”? i.e. Are dominant groups, those who think and act ‘white’ or ‘male,’ obliged to take responsibility for progressing from well-intentioned allies to “accomplices” in solidarity with the oppressed? If so, we must look beyond psychology and “intentionality” and ask: cui bono? Whose interests are served by inequalities of wealth and power? If exploitation underlies racial and gender oppression, then white privilege is less about benefits and more about social control. This interplay will be examined in historical context and also use autobiography to create a tool kit of microsolidarities to counteract microaggressions.