I know this is hard to believe, but the first class I ever had about cultural awareness was one that I taught. In my graduation programs in the 1980s, there was not a single class that involved understanding our clients' different backgrounds. The best thing we did back then was a short paragraph at the end of each textbook chapter that hats cultural awareness. My first engagement with the topic was with Derald Wing Sue and David Sue's Text Counseling the Culturally Diverse. This book, now in its eighth edition, is used in many graduate programs. I still use it today.
For more than 30 years I have been teaching this course on cultural awareness for both doctoral and undergraduate students, and each time I recognize the importance of this topic. Honestly, I'd rather see graduate programs drop a personality theory course or something else and add a second or third required course on diversity. I can only introduce the topic in one semester. Competence is still a long way off for these young clinicians.
During a semester in which this course was taught, one of my students told the following story. With her permission I have since shared it with every class because she has passionately and succinctly conveyed the importance of cultural awareness. When she mentioned an experience with one of her clients during an internship, she wrote me the following:
Just yesterday I interviewed a man in the psychiatric clinic while raising my eyebrows, suspecting that he was not being honest with me. This tall, obese African American gentleman looked like he hadn't bathed in days. The slime stains and scales that covered his shirt immediately triggered thoughts in my head. When he denied his drug use and other suspicious problems, I secretly assumed that he was lying and trying to avoid the consequences. He smiled through his missing teeth and told me he had never drunk alcohol. Looking back at the call to his sister when I found out that he had suffered a severe head trauma in the 1960s. This gentleman had been the victim of an uprising that started over racial disputes and ended when the police banged his head in a bloody mess. The man had never drunk alcohol and was only in the hospital to adjust the medication for his schizophrenia. I went back and apologized for not believing this cute man. The only shake of my head I did yesterday was with myself.
This story is so powerful and moving that I sometimes find it difficult to hold back tears when I read them to my students. Imagine the dangers of cultural unconsciousness. I know that this is bad English, but I want to emphasize that I just don't know it. Unlike years of my graduate experience where cultural awareness has been largely neglected, most of us now know that it matters. But I guess we hear about it so often that we don't really think about the effects.
The doctoral student I quote above was an intern in a large hospital. The least experienced person in the system was the first to contact the customer. That alone is terrifying, but it's not an unusual situation. If this intern hadn't discovered her mistake, the gentleman could easily (and erroneously) have been tracked down as an addict. At the same time, his real problems would have been ignored. This victim of racist violence would again have been the victim of systemic racism, which had primarily contrasted him with the intern.
And what is most frightening is that my student was as culturally sensitive as any of us at this stage of our education. She simply did what she was trained to do by an educational system that could overlook important cultural clues.
Someone once said that "the most insidious form of racism is covert racism". When racists frolic on street corners or carry symbols that indicate their perspective, they are easy to spot and therefore easy to avoid. Subtle biased thinking and, above all, systemic racial discrimination are much harder to fight, because well-meaning therapists like my student don't even recognize it.
My students are often angry with the Sue and Sue text because the authors are very confrontational in their approach. I experienced the same trouble when I read it for the first time. But I know why the authors do this. Novelist Flannery O & # 39; Connor was once asked why she wrote such graphic novels, and she replied, "If you want to communicate with the blind, you have to paint big, surprising pictures and you have to scream in the world of the deaf. ”
I have heard Derald Sue speak several times. He is a brilliant and gentle man, but he is not afraid to talk about difficult topics. This calm man is not afraid to scream or paint large, surprising pictures. Maybe that's what a deaf and blind society needs to get it.
****
Gregory K. Moffatt is a veteran advisor and Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Point University, more than 30 years old. In his monthly Voice of Experience column for CT Online, he would like to draw theoretical, ethical and practical lessons from his diverse career and inspiration for today's consultants, regardless of whether they are just starting out or have been practicing for many years. His experience spans three decades of working with children, trauma and abuse, as well as a variety of other experiences, including working with schools, businesses, and law enforcement. Contact him at [email protected].
****
It should not be assumed that opinions and statements in articles that appear on CT Online reflect the opinions of the publishers or guidelines of the American Counseling Association.