The Role of Acculturation and White Supremacist Ideology

American Psychologist

Racial Trauma, Microaggressions, and Becoming Racially Innocuous: The Role of Acculturation and White Supremacist Ideology

William Ming Liu and Rossina Zamora Liu Yunkyoung Loh Garrison, Ji Youn Cindy Kim, University of Maryland Laurence Chan, Yu C. S. Ho, and Chi W. Yeung The University of Iowa

Acculturation theories often describe how individuals in the United States adopt and incorporate dominant cultural values, beliefs, and behaviors such as individualism and self- reliance. Theorists tend to perceive dominant cultural values as “accessible to everyone,” even though some dominant cultural values, such as preserving White racial status, are reserved for White people. In this article, the authors posit that White supremacist ideology is suffused within dominant cultural values, connecting the array of cultural values into a coherent whole and bearing with it an explicit status for White people and people of color. Consequently, the authors frame acculturation as a continuing process wherein some people of color learn explicitly via racism, microaggressions, and racial trauma about their racial positionality; White racial space; and how they are supposed to accommodate White people’s needs, status, and emotions. The authors suggest that acculturation may mean that the person of color learns to avoid racial discourse to minimize eliciting White fragility and distress. Moreover, acculturation allows the person of color to live in proximity to White people because the person of color has become unthreatening and racially innocuous. The authors provide recommendations for research and clinical practice focused on understanding the connections between ideology, racism, microaggressions and ways to create psychological healing.

Keywords: acculturation, White supremacy, microaggressions, racial trauma, White space

What is the purpose of acculturation for people of color graphic and historical context often entails laboring with the within the context of White supremacist ideology, a “racial overwhelming pressure to accommodate White cultural ex- grammar” (Bonilla-Silva, 2012, p. 174) that makes White pectations. Scholars of color like W. E. B. Du Bois (1903) dominance over people of color almost unnoticed? For described the double-consciousness of living as an African many people of color in the United States (e.g., African American man in America, and author Carlos Bulosan American, Asian American, Latinx, and Native American), (1943) spoke similarly of the internalized self-hatred and being acculturated within the larger White dominant geo- eventual racial awakening as a brown-skin Filipino immigrant. In everyday engagements, learning to live as a person of color may mean avoiding racial discourse to minimize eliciting White people’s racial fragility (i.e., discomfort Editor’s note. This article is part of a special issue, “Racial Trauma: This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. with racial discussions even in light of overt instances of Theory, Research, and Healing,“ published in the January 2019 issue of This article is intended solely for the personal use ofAmerican the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. Psychologist. Lillian Comas-Díaz, Gordon Nagayama Hall, and terror like Flint and Ferguson and Charlottesville; DiAn- Helen A. Neville served as guest editors with Anne E. Kazak as advisory gelo, 2011), or it may mean participating in seemingly editor. innocuous practices like stepping out of the way on the sidewalk for a White person to pass (Wang, Leu, & Shoda, Authors’ note. William Ming Liu, Department of Counseling, Higher 2011). Although these behaviors are often deemed as com- Education, and Special Education, University of Maryland; Rossina Zamora Liu, Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, mon, accepted social etiquette, Liu (2017) contended that University of Maryland; Yunkyoung Loh Garrison, Ji Youn Cindy Kim, people of color learn explicitly via racism, microaggres- Laurence Chan, Yu C. S. Ho, and Chi W. Yeung, Department of Psycho- sions (Kanter et al., 2017; Sue et al., 2007), and racial logical and Quantitative Foundations, The University of Iowa. trauma (Carter & Muchow, 2017) about their positionality Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Wil- and how to accommodate White people’s needs, status, and liam Ming Liu, Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742- emotions. One possible outcome of acculturation, thus, re- 1125. E-mail: [email protected] quires people of color to perpetually be aware of White

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inant through individual actions and cultural and institutional structures in the United States, then one can also understand that racial traumas and microaggressions are reasonable expected outcomes of an acculturative process that racializes people of color as “other,” “marginalized,” and “not-American” (Devos & Banaji, 2005). At present, acculturation is commonly understood as adopting aspects of the dominant culture (e.g., values like self-reliance; Berry, 2006); however, Liu (2017) argued that current acculturation theories and research overlook the ideological underpinnings of White supremacy and the asymmetric power relationships that propel this process for people of color. Our goal in this article, thus, is to call attention to these theoretical oversights and underscore the White supremacist historical and ideological roots within American theories and research on acculturation and the psychological consequences that they have reaped (and continues to reap) on people of color. In this theoretical syn- thesis, we recognize the acculturative process as a form of William Ming racial trauma from living within White supremacist spaces Liu and culture. We contend that acculturation theory is relevant even for people of color who are born in the United States cultural norms and expectations and, of importance, to because they, too, must begin accommodating themselves to subscribe to them in order to fit in and to “take care of” White culture from the day of their birth. And finally, we White people’s feelings around race, ethnicity, and cul- extend the American Psychological Association’s current ture—all the while, people of color may be forfeiting their multicultural guidelines (American Psychological Associa- own psychological and emotional welfare (Holoien & Shel- tion, 2017), which focus on context and a person’s ecology ton, 2012), internalizing stereotypes and demeaning ideo- in relation to identities and intersectionality, to our critical logical systems (Cokley, 2002; Yip, 2016), and experienc- interdisciplinary analyses. To guide our discussion, we ask: ing poor health (Chae et al., 2015). Liu (2017) argued that How might we reconceptualize acculturation experiences as people of color learn these cultural and social practices and shaped by racial trauma and microaggressions (e.g., micro- continue to enact them so they may live and thrive in the invalidation, microinsults, microassaults; Sue et al., 2007) United States; what they also may learn as part of this rather than acculturation as individual choices? Of impor- acculturative process is that the status for White people may tance, how might American psychologists more effectively be different from what it is for people of color. address the source of racial trauma with respect to accul- Thus, although the “melting pot” alludes to cultural and turation and work with clients to develop resiliency and to racial inclusivity, and meritocracy promises reward for hard heal from these racism-induced wounds? By critically ex- work, both are superordinate myths of America (Kunst, amining these queries, we hope to move toward a retheo- Dovidio, & Dotsch, 2018). Liu (2017) suggested that White rizing of the acculturation process and its role and purposes supremacist ideology exists for the benefit of all White in relation to microaggressions and overt racial trauma. people but especially for those who are affluent, wealthy, Our article is structured as follows. First, we offer a This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its alliedand publishers. White. Moreover, the purpose of racism has been to synthesized critique of current acculturation scholarship. This article is intended solely for the personal use of(and the individual user and is not to be continues disseminated broadly. to) focus on accumulating and/or maintain- Second, we describe the relationship of White cultural val- ing geography and territory (e.g., housing and school seg- ues, ideologies, and spaces. Third, we present ways in regation) and perpetuating economic inequality regarding which researchers of acculturation and racism might ac- people of color (Quillian, Pager, Hexel, & Midtbøen, 2017). knowledge (and thus unpack) the prevalence of White su- To this end, a racial stratification still occurs in practically premacist ideology in White culture. We conclude with every educational, economic, and public setting (Sue, implications for more racially and culturally responsive 2004), which means that for people of color, acculturation scholarship and psychological practices. It is important to may entail learning, knowing, and being taught one’s social, note that throughout this article, we are attempting to de- cultural, political, and racial positioning, or “place,” in scribe the challenges that people of color in the United dominant White space (Settles, Buchanan, & Dotson, 2018). States experience as part of their acculturation process To render it in another way, if one is able to define how rather than implying that they are victims without power White culture, norms, and expectations have remained dom- and agency. To the contrary, we acknowledge that genera- RACIAL TRAUMA AND MICROAGGRESSIONS 145

sional and bidirectional conceptual frameworks facilitated researchers’ discussions of relational dynamics between a dominant group and an acculturating group. For instance, Navas and colleagues (2005) developed the relative acculturation extended model (RAEM) and addressed a broader context of acculturation to distinguish between an “ideal” situation and a “real” situation in the acculturation process for both dominant and nondominant groups. Acculturation researchers have also posited various outcomes for individuals within a dominant cultural context. LaFromboise, Coleman, and Gerton (1993), for instance, hypothesized that people of color intentionally alternate between multiple cultures and that they may develop a bicultural competence to shift “cognitive and perceptual processes” (p. 402). A multidimensional conceptualization of acculturation encompasses values, identity, and behaviors (Schwartz, Unger, Zamboanga, & Szapocznik, 2010) and could measure the degree to which an individual adopts dominant cultural values as well as retaining one’s indige- Rossina Zamora nous cultural identity, values, and behaviors (Concepcion, Liu Kohatsu, & Yeh, 2013). Yet, even for all the sophistication in acculturation theories, research connecting racism and acculturation has fo- tions of communities of color have resisted and thrived in cused on the interpersonal perceptions of racism and race- the United States; however, for the purposes of this article related stress (Concepcion et al., 2013; Ibrahim & Heuer, we explore the resulting problems when acculturation is not 2016) as aspects and experiences of the acculturation pro- connected to a clear understanding of White supremacist cess. Dominant White cultural values are not connected to ideology. White supremacy but left as neutral (i.e., nonracial) mainstream value and belief systems (Ibrahim & Heuer, 2016). Limits to Understanding Acculturation These models also place a premium on personal choice, Ibrahim and Heuer (2016) summarized decades of accul- inferring that persons of color have the power to choose turation research and found that studies primarily focused how they will interact with the environment and the people on immigrant groups in contact with a host culture, like the in it. The implied outcome of acculturation, then, is indi- one in the United States. Much of this acculturation schol- viduals’ responsibility and actions to succeed or to fail. arship grew from the work of John W. Berry, a Canadian However, as suggested, acculturation is not independent of cross-cultural psychologist (Berry, 2006; Berry, Phinney, racial and structural implications. Sam, & Vedder, 2006). The most prominent among Berry’s What may have inhibited scholars from pinpointing the (2006; Berry et al., 2006) theories was the fourfold accul- connection between White cultural values with White su- turation strategies in which he proposed that acculturative premacy may be due, in part, to the lack of critical wording groups undergo either (a) a preference of maintaining mi- and syntax (Ngo, 2008) describing the process of accultur- norityϪethnocultural heritage and identity (M) and/or (b) a ation for people of color. That researchers of acculturation This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its alliedpreference publishers. of seeking connections to the dominant society tend to use the passive voice in conveying their frameworks, This article is intended solely for the personal use of(D; the individual user and is not“ to beϩ disseminated broadly. ” means preference vs. “Ϫ” means no preference). for instance, may create a kind of theoretical ambiguity Premised on a multicultural approach (as opposed to a blurring aspects of racial hierarchy (Ngo, 2008). Similarly, mainstream minority approach), Berry’s bidirectional the- racially innocuous and abstract terms referencing White ory accounted for both the acculturative group’s and dom- individuals and White cultural institutions as the “larger inant group’s roles in enacting acculturation. Where accul- society” (Berry, 2009, p. 366), the “receiving culture” turative groups may employ such strategies as integration (Schwartz et al., 2010, p. 245), the “dominant group” (ϩD, ϩM), assimilation (ϩD, ϪM), separation (ϪD, ϩM), (Berry, 2006, p. 291), or the “native” (Navas et al., 2005,p. and marginalization (ϪD, ϪM) with integration as the most 27) can minimize the historic and systemic impact of ac- adaptive strategy, for instance, the dominant group may enact culturation on people of color—in the same way that clas- multiculturalism (ϩD, ϩM), melting pot (ϩD, ϪM), segre- sifications describing people of color as “ethnocultural gation (ϪD, ϩM), and exclusion (ϪD, ϪM) with multicul- groups” (Berry, 2006, p. 291), the “heritage culture” turalism as the most adaptive (Berry, 2006). Berry’s bidimen- (Schwartz et al., 2010, p. 245), or the “immigrant” (Navas 146 LIU ET AL.

explicit racial hierarchy, and legitimacy for continued inequality (Hindriks, Verkuyten, & Coenders, 2014). Furthermore, implicating White supremacist ideology in White cultural values means that psychologists must name additional values such as elevating and maintaining White status (Mutz, 2018) and protecting and privileging White people. These two values reflect the centrality of White supremacist ideology and add to the ontological purpose for White people (i.e., to surveil and police White space); at the same time, they also complicate for people of color the value system to which they acculturate and how they regard themselves, White people, and other people of color. One way to maintain the hierarchy and protect White privilege is for White people to acculturate people of color (i.e., from indigenous peoples to new immigrants) to the ideals of White culture (Kunst, Thomsen, Sam, & Berry, 2015) and not toward the cultures or ways of knowing of peoples of color (i.e., epistemic exclusion; Settles et al., 2018). In this process, the more persons of color acculturate, Yunkyoung Loh the more likely they will be perceived by White people as Garrison phenotypically “White” and thus less targeted for question- ing by White people (Kunst et al., 2018). However, White- et al., 2005, p. 27) can neutralize their experiences with looking immigrants are already perceived to be more accul- oppression. The “objective” and “neutral” scientific lan- turated than are people of color (Kunst et al., 2018), guage used in these theoretical discussions may restrict suggesting that becoming “American” by way of accultur- researchers from integrating the sociopolitical, sociohistori- ation is associated with having White skin, and more to the cal, and sociostructural frameworks needed to better con- point, with being of or resembling European ancestry. ceptualize the acculturative process for people of color Although current research on acculturation (Ibrahim & (Banks, 2014; Hall, Yip, & Zárate, 2016). Heuer, 2016), microaggressions (Wang et al., 2011), race- related stress (Pittman, Cho Kim, Hunter, & Obasi, 2017), White Culture, White Supremacist Ideology, and and racial trauma (Comas-Díaz, 2016) have expanded our understanding of the ways in which people live in dominant White Spaces cultural environments, existing acculturation theories have But what exactly is White culture and White cultural yet to fully explicate the foundational White supremacist values, and how are they connected to White supremacist ideologies of the dominant culture’s values and beliefs, and ideology and White spaces? specifically, in the context of psychology, the additional For the purposes of our critical discussion, we define culture psychological distress that acculturation has on people of as the “customs, norms, practices, and social institutions, in- color (Alamilla, Kim, Walker, & Sisson, 2017). In fact, cluding psychological processes...[and one’s] beliefs, values, these significant acculturative historical contexts have be- and practices” (Cooper & Leong, 2008, p. 133). In the United come practically unnoticed—even minimized—by some States, White culture is described as a fixed constellation of researchers (Rudmin, Wang, & de Castro, 2016). What has This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its alliedWestern publishers. values and beliefs that prioritize “rugged individual- potentially become lost in the larger understanding of ac- This article is intended solely for the personal use ofism, the individual user and is not to competition, be disseminated broadly. action-orientation, hierarchical power struc- culturation, therefore, is the role that White people, culture, tures, standard American English, linear and future time ori- and institutions play in this process for people of color. entation, Judeo-Christianity, European history, Protestant work Indeed, White people are active participants in acculturating ethic, objective science, owning goods and property, the nu- people of color, but many may not recognize their partici- clear family unit, and European aesthetics” (Katz, 1985,p. pation as such, in part, because the discourse on and enact- 618). The cement that holds White cultural values together and ment of racism has largely transformed from overt bigotry gives them coherence and meaning for White people is White into aversive racism (Dovidio, Kawakami, & Gaertner, supremacy, or the “ideological belief that biological and cul- 2002). Moreover, White people tend to prefer “color- tural Whiteness is superior” (Howard & Sommers, 2017), as blindness” to avoid an awareness of race and racism (Nev- well as normal and healthy (Varga, 2011). That is, White ille, Awad, Brooks, Flores, & Bluemel, 2013) and/or to supremacist ideology provides an ontological purpose for avoid potentially being labeled as “racist” (Goff, Jackson, White people (e.g., to work hard; Liu, 2017), as well as an Nichols, Allison, & Leone, 2013). Meanwhile, microag- RACIAL TRAUMA AND MICROAGGRESSIONS 147

lege; White people; and their behaviors, culture, and norms—many people of color have had to learn and adopt White cultural norms and values, regardless of personal choices, and often at significant psychological costs (e.g., anxiety and depression; Garcini et al., 2017). One way that children of color understand Whiteness, racism, and how to navigate White spaces, for instance, is through acculturation via racial trauma (i.e., persistent exposure to racism or a sudden racist encounter, experienced as painful, followed by symptoms such as intrusive thoughts, avoidance, anger, and depression; Carter & Muchow, 2017) and microaggressions (i.e., commonplace and frequent verbal, behavioral, and environmental slights; Sue et al., 2007). To illustrate, a Mexican American child learns not to speak Spanish outside of the home for fear of being labeled as an undocumented migrant, or a Vietnamese American child quickly realizes through bullying in the cafeteria that a ham and cheese sandwich is preferable to fried fish and rice. Although such microaggressions and Ji Youn Cindy racial trauma might be committed by individuals, many Kim children of color begin to recognize that they exist within a larger ecosystem that is microaggressive and racially trau- gressions (Kanter et al., 2017) and negative and threatening matic (Garcini et al., 2017). In this way, these children’s perceptions of people of color (Garcini et al., 2017; Todd, responses to racism are not a matter of free choice, as Thiem, & Neel, 2016) continue to dominate racial profiles acculturation theory would have it, but decisions to avoid and racist treatment of people of color. Residential segre- further hostility or tension or to minimize their racial pres- gation (Massey & Tannen, 2015; Rothstein, 2017), school- ence. As a result, some children may start scanning and to-prison pipelines (Seroczynski & Jobst, 2016), job oppor- evaluating their environment or situation for cultural safety tunity restrictions (Quillian et al., 2017), threats against (i.e., can they be themselves and exhibit their preferred undocumented immigrants (Garcini et al., 2017), increased cultural styles; LaFromboise et al., 1993). exposure to pollution (Grineski & Collins, 2018), and police killings and brutality (Davis, 2017) are present-day behav- Internalized Racialism iors and practices that reinforce White dominance. As a recent public poll suggested, many White people may abhor Whereas some people of color may work to maintain their White supremacy, yet they still endorse White supremacist dual, multiple, and intersectional identities, others may re- beliefs and worldviews because they believe White culture solve to slough off aspects of their native culture. Internal- is under assault (Reuters, Ipsos, & UVA Center for Politics, ized racialism implies identifying with White stereotypes 2017) and therefore must be preserved (Mutz, 2018). about the immutability of racial characteristics (both posi- Although the notion of being American and White was tive and negative; e.g., African Americans innately run initially reserved for Anglo-Saxon ethnic groups, it eventu- faster) and may be related to diminishing one’s identifica- ally evolved through racist practices into Whiteness, a racial tion with one’s race and culture (Cokley, 2002; Yip, 2016). This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its alliedcategory publishers. that would include nonprivileged European groups Accordingly, internalized racialism is a contemporary psy- This article is intended solely for the personal use of(e.g., the individual user and is not to be disseminatedIrish; broadly. Omi & Winant, 2015); Whiteness became a chological construct that is rooted in a history of negative racial descriptor continually adjusted to maintain White and demeaning constructions of people of color (Brown & racial purity and numerical dominance, as well as cultural Segrist, 2016; Choi et al., 2017; Cokley, 2002). These and ideological superiority (Omi & Winant, 2015). White- harmful portrayals and belief systems were meant to keep ness was (and continues to be) a well-guarded, exclusive people of color subjugated and to provide a White cultural membership, and within this racial hierarchy, people of rationale for continued inequality (Hindriks et al., 2014; color have learned that their skin color and the cultures and Pérez Huber & Solorzano, 2015). Native American chil- worldviews that come with it are less valuable and worthy dren, for instance, attending boarding schools learned (and of advancement (Brown & Segrist, 2016; Choi, Israel, & arguably, continue to learn) about White cultural norms, Maeda, 2017; Garcini et al., 2017). Hence, to survive and languages, and religious practices rather than the multitude live in White spaces— geographic areas perceived by White of indigenous cultural values, languages, and spirituality people to have boundaries and protections for White privi- (Johnston-Goodstar & VeLure Roholt, 2017). That their 148 LIU ET AL.

rybooks, rhymes, and familiar iconography and images (i.e., White Jesus; Howard & Sommers, 2017) wherein White- ness and White culture is central in all aspects. In the United States, these mnemonic communities privilege aspects of White and European history and culture such that there is a collective amnesia for non-White histories; that is, one may come to some agreement that before the presence of Euro- peans, “no history has taken place” (Mills, 2014, p. 31). For persons of color, the absence of and the demeaning por- trayal of their culture, race, and ethnicity may be experienced as forms of racial trauma and microaggressions (Pérez Huber & Solorzano, 2015).

(In)visibility For White people who may never have met people of color, for example, African Americans, cultural appropriation helps familiarize White people with African Americans within White history as well as their role (as White people) with them (Zerubavel, 1996). For people of color, learning Laurence Chan about White people may also come well before interacting with any White person, and socialization about and acculturating toward White culture are constantly available ways of behaving, speaking, and dressing were (and are) through the presence of White cultural products and the regularly monitored and subjected to abuse and ridicule by absence or marginalization of communities of color (How- White people in surrounding communities also necessitated ard & Sommers, 2017). People of color, thus, are constantly their comportment to White cultural expectations and aes- learning that one of their places and roles in White dominant thetics (Oberg, 2018). Making indigenous or native cultural culture is to be invisible, innocuous, quiet, and unthreaten- aspects unfavorable, undesirable, or meaningless (Oberg, ing because success in White dominant culture demands 2018) is a principle tenet of internalized racialism (Cokley, these behaviors and beliefs. For instance, being accosted in 2002) and internalized racism (racial self-hatred; Choi et al., public or asked for citizenship papers creates an environ- 2017; Howard & Sommers, 2017). ment where Latinx people understand that speaking Spanish is not welcomed by White people. This racism becomes Cultural Appropriation and Acculturation ecological such that Latinx people do not need repeated Potentially contributing to people’s of color internalized interpersonal encounters to know that Spanish is not per- racialism and racism is the way in which they come to view mitted and that their brown skin invites surveillance. their culture and community. People of color were histori- cally considered property (Harris, 1993), and they were White Fragility and Racial Innocuousness dehumanized (i.e., lacking humanity) or infrahumanized as less than fully human (Haslam & Loughnan, 2014). Conse- In the United States, acculturation is a process tied to quently, much of their culture (e.g., art, music, religion) was White supremacist ideology, White cultural values, and This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its alliedalso publishers. considered property regarded as “free for the taking.” Whiteness, and as such, there is an asymmetric power This article is intended solely for the personal use ofCultural the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. appropriation also creates a sociohistorical narra- dynamic between the dominant group and people of color. tive of the United States that favors the White person and White cultural values already legitimize inequality via mer- White culture (Howard & Sommers, 2017). Cultural appro- itocracy (Hindriks et al., 2014), and consequently, dominant priation recontextualizes and rehistoricizes, and sometimes group members are likely to defend this power and their erases (Harris, 1993) people of color to fit within a “White privileges and ensure its continuation (Piff, Kraus, & Kelt- mnemonic community” (Mills, 2014, p. 27). By mnemonic ner, 2018)—by requiring people of color to adopt White community, Mills (2014) is referring to Zerubavel’s (1996) cultural norms but not necessarily granting them all the notion of how people within a particular context remember same affordances and opportunities that come with being their collective past through socialization and culturally and born White. That is, being born White is akin to winning a institutionally sanctioned memories. And this collective racial competition in the United States, and as a conse- “American” past is constantly reinforced by memory de- quence, White people are more likely to look for ways to vices (mnemonics) such as holidays, movies and TV, sto- maintain or increase their favored status (Mutz, 2018; RACIAL TRAUMA AND MICROAGGRESSIONS 149

stances, White worldviews and feelings become paramount and need to be protected, and people of color are enlisted via acculturation and potential privileges to serve in these roles. But who is enlisted, and how do people of color partici- pate in protecting White people’s racial fragility? How have generations of people of color learned to traverse White spaces, learned to avoid and circumvent difficult dialogues, all with the implicit and explicit goal of becoming innocuous racialized beings? As articulated, some of these behaviors and attitudes may be forms of survival and self-protection. Psychological research has suggested that people of color quickly learn to adopt attitudes and behaviors (e.g., with- drawing into ethnic groups; Houshmand, Spanierman, & Tafarodi, 2014) that would minimize their presence (Davis, 2017; Keum, 2016; Settles et al., 2018) and lower their expectations or entitlement, silence their voices, and subdue their expressions, which may be perceived as threatening (Griffith & Cornish, 2018). In other words, although people of color may not be able to hide their skin color, being racially innocuous means that they are able to behave in Yu C. S. Ho ways that may soften their racial, ethnic, and cultural ex- pression (Kaiser & Pratt-Hyatt, 2009) so as not to stand out. Schurr & Ritov, 2016), as well as being spitefully sensitive For some, navigating this racial dynamic may entail inten- to perceived unfairness (Ding, Wu, Ji, Chen, & Van Lange, tionally changing how they speak, dress, and/or eat to 2017) against their group. Within White spaces, Whiteness camouflage themselves in White spaces (Garcini et al., may, thus, be as much privileged as it is fragile (Cabrera, 2017; Keum, 2016). For others, becoming racially innocu- Watson, & Franklin, 2016). ous may be a means by which they “thrive” within White DiAngelo (2011) suggested that White fragility and anger spaces such as business and education; that is, becoming occur with the most modest amount of racial distress be- racially innocuous may come with rewards such as proxy cause White men and White women are unaccustomed to privilege (i.e., privilege that is tied to the power of a White these “stress-inducing situation[s]” (p. 57). Racialized dis- person and only within certain spaces), advancement, and tress may come from being confronted with dialogue about promotion (Liu, 2017) that may allow some people of color race and racism where White men and women may believe to retain nuanced ways that challenge and critique the White they need to be shielded from the discussions and distress. cultural status quo. Still yet, for others, being racially in- Anger, physical withdrawal, and sadness (i.e., tears) are also nocuous may not be a consciously deliberate choice; such ways in which White people react as a means to restore individuals may wholeheartedly believe that they are not equilibrium (DiAngelo, 2011; DiAngelo & Sensoy, 2014)— persons of color at all or understand that they are being their status quo of safe racial discourse, which protects them tokenized within White institutional spaces (Settles et al., and privileges their centrality to the discussions (DiAngelo, 2018), a kind of “pre-encounter” stage of their racial or 2011). For other White people, “civil” conversation is a way ethnic identity (Neville & Cross, 2017). They may believe to regulate White spaces and avoid critical, meaningful in meritocratic outcomes—that accumulating a professional This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its alliedconversations publishers. (Rudick & Golsan, 2017). Racial traumas and degree and living in an affluent neighborhood, for instance, This article is intended solely for the personal use ofmicroaggressions the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. within this framework, therefore, may be would protect them from traffic stops by police officers or regarded as ways in which people of color are reminded of having a gun drawn upon them by a neighbor (O’Brien, their “role” to absolve White people of the consequences of Forrest, Lynott, & Daly, 2013). They may believe that racism and to protect White people from difficult racialized having sufficient aspects of White culture and its value discourse. These forms of racism and microaggressions may systems would translate to protections and privileges like be direct violations and/or subtle reminders such as racial- their White counterparts. This incongruence between one’s ized or sexist jokes (Douglass, Mirpuri, English, & Yip, perceived proxy privileges and one’s racial reality (e.g., as 2016) where the target of the joke is expected to “play a Black man in his car) may be experienced as continually along” or to have a “thick skin.” Those microaggressive racially traumatic—physically and emotionally. jokes may harbor underlying racist attitudes (Kanter et al., Acculturation, then, might be a dual process of learning 2017), but when confronted, White people may feel ag- the explicit White cultural norms, beliefs, and expectations gressed upon (DiAngelo & Sensoy, 2014). In these in- and of understanding racism and microaggressions as forms 150 LIU ET AL.

state to surveil, count, and keep people of color “in-line” (Davis, 2017; Rothstein, 2017). Today, racist comments against African Americans like “You do not belong here” (Davis, 2017, p. 329) or the “perpetual foreigners” image against Asian Americans (Wong-Padoongpatt, Zane, Oka- zaki, & Saw, 2017, p. 574) represent examples of White perceptual ownership over territory and membership to communities (i.e., White spaces; Fine et al., 2003). Hence, Liu (2017) defined White privilege as “an entitlement and unearned authority of White men to engage in attitudes, beliefs, and practices in any place and time [in order] to perpetuate the status quo of White supremacy, social and racial segregation, and systemic inequality” (p. 352).

Implications for Psychology Research and Practice If the acculturation process and acculturation experiences via microaggressions and racial trauma are continuous, then so, too, are the healing processes and experiences for people Chi W. Yeung of color. Indeed, healing is a personal and community effort that occurs throughout the life span (American Psycholog- ical Association [APA], 2017). Helping communities to of racialized management—subtle and explicit, direct ag- thrive requires evolving psychological scholarship on accul- gression or withdrawal of privileges to help people of color turation, microaggressions, and racial trauma and develop- “know their place.” Acculturation, therefore, is not a singu- ing psychological tools to more effectively work with lar, one-time process but a continuing activity, because any various communities. To this end, psychologists and re- resistance to the dominant expectations (e.g., kneeling dur- searchers might conceptualize these everyday occurrences ing the national anthem) calls for renewed forms of racial for people of color (e.g., not being acknowledged when one trauma and microaggressions against people of color (e.g., enters a store) as acculturative iterations meant to teach threats of deportation or physical assault). To this end, the and/or remind people of color how to act in White spaces idea of “successful” acculturation, in and of itself, implies and around White people. Our proposed research and prac- conditionality, and the alternative is not simply being un- tice recommendations, thus, are intended to help psycholo- successful but potentially enduring consequential psycho- gists and researchers better understand how acculturation, logical distress (e.g., depression and anxiety; Garcini et al., microaggressions, and racial trauma are manifested in the 2017), death and illness (Chae et al., 2015), and the with- lives of people of color. drawal of proxy privileges and monetary punishment. That acculturation, or becoming American, is anything Research Recommendations but a benign process is certainly not a revelation. Critical race theorists have understood that the economic, religious, In this article, we posit that acculturation is not just for and legal foundations on which America has been founded new immigrants or from the first contact with a host culture have always elevated and privileged Whiteness while pro- (cf. Ibrahim & Heuer, 2016); instead, research and theory This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its alliedhibiting publishers. and restricting daily life practices (e.g., marriage, development around the acculturation process could focus This article is intended solely for the personal use ofproperty the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. ownership, citizenship, education) for communi- on perceived microaggressions and racism. This would ex- ties of color (Crenshaw, Gotanda, Peller, & Thomas, 1996). pand the research populations to include communities of People of color who did not act appropriately or dress in color typically not associated with acculturation (e.g., Af- accordance with White expectations were often met with rican Americans and Native Americans). As suggested, racialized terror (e.g., physical threats or lynching; Cren- acculturation may be reconceptualized as an iterative pro- shaw et al., 1996; Davis, 2017). The histories of racialized cess by the dominant society to show how people of color terror and trauma were not anomalies but were codified, are to behave in the United States (Omi & Winant, 2015); legislated, and normalized behaviors by White communities thus, acculturation theory could further explore the under- against communities of color to maintain geographic bound- lying tenets of White supremacy in dominant cultural values aries and restrict economic opportunities for White people and how some of these tenets also articulate a racial hier- (Crenshaw et al., 1996; Davis, 2017). White civilian men archy that people of color are expected to understand and to and women were often authorized to act on behalf of the which they should subscribe (Sue, 2004). RACIAL TRAUMA AND MICROAGGRESSIONS 151

First, we recommend that psychological research specify people of color have learned to hide or repress their emo- the places and times (i.e., perceived White spaces) in which tions—to not react to racism and microaggressions (Griffith & White people enact microaggressions and racial trauma. Cornish, 2018)—so as to help manage White people’s racial Racism, as Liu (2017) argued, has a distinct purpose to sensitivity and fragility around race and racism. Research may control spaces and opportunities that White people consider also identify the psychological distress a person of color en- to be theirs (Wilkins, Wellman, Babbitt, Toosi, & Schad, cumbers with respect to this form of emotional labor (Holoien 2015). Surveillance on an African American shopper, di- & Shelton, 2012). In return, people of color are sometimes recting adolescents of color to turn down their music, telling rewarded with economic and positional privileges as well as a Latinx person to “go back to your own country,” or asking being identified as an exemplar (i.e., a model minority). Sim- an Asian American “where are you from?” are examples of ilarly, high levels of endorsement of dominant cultural norms White people’s perception of their ownership over White (i.e., individualism or self-reliance) or high acculturation may spaces and how people of color are perceived to be “aliens” also mean a high endorsement of internalized racialism and in these White spaces. White people may not explicitly justification for inequality. That is, endorsing or subscribing to understand “White spaces,” but people of color understand dominant White cultural values may also mean that persons of when they venture into many White-dominated spaces; color internalize the negative stereotypes of other people of hence, the head nods to other people of color (Jones, 2017) color and rationalize their poor treatment and unequal status. or the scanning of the room for racially and ethnically Thus, research may focus on the relationship of racial identity diverse peoples. Research may focus on the ways in which and justifications around racial and economic inequality. racial management occurs within White spaces—a form of But not all persons of color choose to be racially innoc- racism that integrates perceptions and behaviors within ra- uous via a false consciousness (i.e., pre-encounter status). cialized space (Lipsitz, 2011). Along with psychological Other persons of color may better understand how to nego- distress, research should focus on the physiological conse- tiate when it is acceptable to even elicit White fragility and quences (e.g., diabetes and obesity) of racial traumas and how to use these opportunities to help White persons ex- microaggressions within these racialized spaces (Chae et al., plore racism and White supremacist ideology. Hence, our 2015; Grineski & Collins, 2018; Wen & Maloney, 2011). fourth research recommendation is for psychologists to un- For psychologists, trauma transmitted over generations of derstand the relationship between racial awakening and people of color (i.e., historical trauma) cannot simply be activism that comes from understanding the acculturative interpersonal; racism must be conceptualized as purposeful process (Neville & Cross, 2017). Whether through direct structural and spatialized racism. microaggressions and racism or vicariously learning these Our second recommendation is for psychological research to lessons (Truong, Museus, & McGuire, 2016), people of explore the ways in which a person’s of color racial identity is color understand the racial decision of “when to make a related to perceived privileges. More specifically, research fuss” or “when to let it go” (LaFromboise et al., 1993). may explore racial identity and perceived privileges (i.e., proxy Research should examine the capacity for people of color to privileges) within certain White spaces and how persons of evaluate when and how to speak up as a source of strength color may negotiate the psychological tension related to main- and resilience despite the fact that there is little in the taining these privileges and recognizing and addressing racism. environment or even in interpersonal relationships to help As suggested, one way that persons of color may choose to reinforce this competency. maintain their proxy privileges is to become racially innocu- Finally, for persons of color who are conducting psycho- ous. In this way, being racially innocuous is related to adopting logical research and scholarship, it is important for self- a false consciousness (Neville, Coleman, Falconer, & Holmes, critique and critical reflexivity to illuminate ways in which 2005) that allows the person of color to maintain close prox- they, too, have internalized “standards” of scholarship suf- This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its alliedimity publishers. to power and privilege (Liu, 2017). Research on healing, fused in White supremacist ideology. What is considered This article is intended solely for the personal use ofthen, the individual user and is not to be requires disseminated broadly. persons of color to understand the internalized appropriate English, how to engage in discourse around stereotypes (i.e., false consciousness; Neville et al., 2005) and racially provocative topics, and what is meaningful in re- expectations that they have about themselves and how these search, for example, are often framed by White epistemo- have operated in their lives. logical ideals to which many scholars of color have accul- A third research recommendation is to operationalize acculturated and accommodated (Hall et al., 2016). turation to include the process by which persons of color have also learned ways to understand the triggers for White people’s Practice Recommendations discomfort around racial discourse (White fragility), and of importance, to avoid, prevent, and/or diffuse such discomfort. With a more holistic comprehension of the relationships To avoid being labeled as “uppity,” persons of color may allow of racial trauma, microaggressions, and acculturation within White persons to feel they have a higher status in comparison White spaces, psychologists could better help clients and to persons of color (Wilkins et al., 2015). Certainly, some patients heal from these traumas. First, psychologists need 152 LIU ET AL.

to understand that psychotherapy and their conceptualizations (Spanierman & Smith, 2017). Helping persons of color tion of mental well-being are based on White masculine understand the spatial and temporal limits of their perceived norms (Katz, 1985) and White supremacist ideology (Hin- privileges may be an important aspect of their racial awak- driks et al., 2014; Howard & Sommers, 2017). This means, ening and feelings of empowerment. for both White psychologists and psychologists of color, Fifth, psychologists may help persons of color embody that an examination of conceptualizations of health and their intersectional identities (APA, 2017) and cultures and well-being needs to incorporate White supremacist ideology recognize that the central ideology for them is resistance and justifications for inequality within conceptualizations of and egalitarianism. In this way, acculturation does not have acculturation (Wilkins et al., 2015). to be predicated upon one dominant cultural value system Parents of color may understand that racial traumas and and ideological structure, wherein people of color are ac- microaggressions begin early in their child’s life (Todd et culturated into it via racial traumas and microaggressions. al., 2016). Thus, our second recommendation is for psychol- Instead, persons of color may thrive in mainstream and ogists to help parents develop forms of “microprotections” dominant culturally White spaces, be intentional about their (Dotterer & James, 2018, p. 38) that could help buffer behaviors, and choose when and how they discuss racial children of color against microaggressions and racial issues and how they choose to live in or disrupt these White trauma. Critical aspects of these microprotections are pa- spaces. People of color may adopt their own spatial meta- rental warmth and acceptance of the child’s experiences, phors against those who infringe (i.e., microaggress or com- cultural socialization (i.e., egalitarianism, ethnic pride, cul- mit racism) upon their space and say to them, “stay in your tural history), and preparation for racial bias (Dotterer & lane” (Thompson, Her, Nitzarim, Sampe, & Diestelmann, James, 2018)—all of which are aspects of positive forms of 2017). racial identity (Butler-Barnes et al., 2017). As psychologists Finally, racial healing cannot be achieved alone but must work with parents on these microprotections, it would be be accomplished in collaboration with White allies. Psy- critical to also offer emotional and psychoeducational sup- chologists may work with White people in psychotherapy or port for these parents of color (Ayón, Marsiglia, & consult with White psychologists who have a critical con- Bermudez-Parsai, 2010). sciousness around Whiteness, power, and privilege (Spani- Third, psychological healing and resiliency needs to in- erman, Poteat, Whittaker, Schlosser, & Arévalo Avalos, clude a realistic appraisal and understanding of racism and 2017; Spanierman & Smith, 2017). The support of White its purposes. Psychologists need to understand that racial allies would help other White people understand that racism traumas and microaggressions are not merely interpersonal and microaggressions are not just “perceptions” (Banks, conflicts but also spatial and economic—that racism is not 2014, p. 312) but experiences of racialized traumas and random but deliberate acts against a person of color (Sue, assaults. Psychologists should be aware that White people 2004). One outcome of this understanding is for people of color to develop and nurture a more resilient worldview also experience frustrations, fatigue, and demoralization (Comas-Díaz, 2016) and to fortify their racial identity in related to the constant need to work on their own critical order to buffer against racial traumas and microaggressions consciousness and to being empathetic in supporting their (Butler-Barnes et al., 2017). For instance, racist jokes could White racial identity development. be regarded as attempts to assert White dominance (Doug- To conclude, acculturation is far from an easy process, be lass et al., 2016) and maintain economic inequality (Liu, it for people who are new migrants or for communities of 2017). Psychologists could help people of color to see this color who have thrived in the United States for generations. dual purpose for racial traumas and microaggressions and In the United States, dominant White culture’s values, be- create opportunities for greater racial and ethnic identity liefs, attitudes, and expected behaviors must be contextual- This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its alliedexploration publishers. and intentional actions (i.e., racial awakening) ized in a history of White supremacy, that of which has This article is intended solely for the personal use ofaround the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. these microaggressions and racism. explicit roles for people of color and their cultures. In this The fourth recommendation for psychologists is to con- article we focused on the underlying ideologies of White ceptualize acculturation stress or distress (Ibrahim & Heuer, dominant culture in the United States and the way in which 2016) as racialized interactions wherein persons of color people of color are constantly acculturating, resisting, and must question how they should engage with White people, creating intersectional identities to disrupt White suprema- despite having adopted dominant cultural norms and behav- cist ideology and White racialized spaces. We contend that iors. For persons of color, developing better resilience conceptualizing acculturation as a process related to White means understanding how to be intentional in their ac- supremacist ideology allows psychologists to connect con- tions—when to take care of and/or when to question the structs like internalized racialism, acculturation and distress, White person’s presumed expectations. Regardless, at all and microaggressions as constant features for people of times, it also means understanding that White privilege color. Recognizing these interrelationships will enable psy- protects White people from the consequences of their ac- chologists to further refine research and scholarship as well RACIAL TRAUMA AND MICROAGGRESSIONS 153

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