Derald Wing Sue | Mini Moments With Big Thinkers

You speak English very well." It might seem like a compliment, but to the recipient, the underlying message can be: You are a perpetual foreigner in your own country. TC psychologist Derald Wing Sue -- featured this week's in "Mini Moments with Big Thinkers" on the TC homepage -- has shown that such unintended "microagressions" can cause greater harm than overt racism. 

Born to a Chinese-American family in Portland, Oregon, Derald Wing Sue, Professor of Psychology and Education in TC's Counseling Psychology program in the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, has shown that "microagressions" -- unintended slights or social cues by members of a dominant group that make members of minority groups uncomfortable -- can cause greater psychological harm than overt racism or other bias. Sue is the author of several books, including Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice, Overcoming our Racism, and Understanding Abnormal Behavior.  In 2010, he was awarded the first-ever UnityFirst.com National Diversity and Inclusion Book Prize in recognition of his recently published book, Microaggressions in Everyday Life:  Race, Gender and Sexual Orientation (John Wiley and Sons). 

Sue is a past President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues, a co-founder and first President of the Asian American Psychological Association, and the past President of the Society of Counseling Psychology of the American Psychological Association. He has written over 150 publications, including many on microaggressions, and consulted with a wide range of organizations on ways of acknowledging, confronting and eliminating microaggressions. 

To learn more about Derald Wing Sue, read:

• Derald Wing Sue Named to UNESCO Multicultural Effort (www.tc.edu)
• Making the Safe Space Safe (TC Today magazine)
• Derald Wing Sue Wins Award for New Book on Microagressions (www.tc.edu)

Premiered on 5/13/2013