cpsylist: FW: [DIV17DISCUSS] Charlottesville, VA

Sun Aug 13 08:53:48 PDT 2017

Dear CPSY Community,

Please see below a powerful statement from the president of the Society for Counseling Psychology about the white nationalist violence in Charlottesville last night/early this morning. Please also see, attached, a guide for responding to alt-right rallies on campus. The guide is produced by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Do you work with students on a college campus? Read this guide!!

We should approach the current situation the way that we should approach ALL situations that benefit from the expertise of counseling psychology- seeking best practices, drawing from evidence to guide our actions, enacting values of social justice as we promote the health and wellness of clients, students, community members. With that goal in mind I recommend one more new resource that assembles evidence that can enhance the effectiveness of our responses to hate speech, racism, etc. It’s an article from the latest issue from the American Psychologist that addresses anti-science attitudes, what maintains them, why factual and clear information often doesn’t lead to change. It has important implications for responding to current events (to be clear, not new events, not new attitudes, just more visible):
Attitude roots and Jiu Jitsu persuasion: Understanding and overcoming the motivated rejection of science.<http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-29745-009>
Pages 459-473. Hornsey, Matthew J.; Fielding, Kelly S. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0040437<http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0040437>

Please reach out to offer support and encouragement to each other.
Best,
Ellen

*****************************************************************
Ellen Hawley McWhirter, Ph.D.
Ann Swindells Professor of Counseling Psychology
5251 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-5251
(541) 346-2443 (office)
(541) 346-6778 (Fax)

From: Division 17 Discussion list [mailto:DIV17DISCUSS at LISTS.APA.ORG] On Behalf Of Arpana G. Inman
Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2017 4:44 AM
To: DIV17DISCUSS at LISTS.APA.ORG
Subject: [DIV17DISCUSS] Charlottesville, VA

Dear Colleagues:
As I watch the events unfolding in Charlottesville, VA, I am horrified at the malicious violence. Coming with shields, baseball bats, homemade pepper spray, and bottles of urine suggests a clear intent to incite and enact violence, and create chaos by “Unite the Right” protestors. The issue being the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, a symbol of the city’s confederate past.

Although politics have certainly fueled the divide that we see currently, this is not merely about the political climate, but the legacies that we have inherited – a society fraught with the history of slavery, internment camps, Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, and other isms. The current political climate is giving people intolerant of diversity the license to act on these atrocities. It was disheartening to see the police not intervene last night. We have seen such lack of interventions in other instances and a concerted effort to attack people of different races, ethnicities, nationalities, faiths, and sexual and gender identities. The racism that was so carefully camouflaged and denied is repeating itself and rearing its ugly head. We do not live in a post-racial society. The alt-right movement<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alt-right> (i.e., Nazis, white supremacists) was never new. But the noticeable embracing of the alt-right movement focused on White nationalism and White oppression is spewing further hate. This has been further reinforced by the vague comments by the current administration about the need to stem the “hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides.” We need to be clear – these were not the actions of “many sides,” but of one.

My heart goes out to the people in Charlottesville – many of whom are our colleagues, family members, students, and friends. I am pained by the hate and bigotry that is creating intense tension and fear. Join me in sending healing thoughts to the community in Charlottesville. Thanks Anneliese for the useful resource (attached) that you have provided. As a Society focused on social justice, lets continue our commitment to non-violent community safety and anti-racist interventions in the communities in which we work and live.

In solidarity,
arpana

--

***********************************************

Arpana G. Inman, Ph.D.

President, Society of Counseling Psychologists (Division 17, American Psychological Association)

Iacocca Professorship 2017-2022

Professor of Counseling Psychology and Chairperson

Department of Education and Human Services

Lehigh University,

111 Research Drive, Bethlehem, PA 18015

Tel: (610) 758 4443; Fax: (610) 758 6223

e-mail: arpana.inman at lehigh.edu<mailto:arpana.inman at lehigh.edu> or agi2 at lehigh.edu<mailto:agi2 at lehigh.edu>

http://coe.lehigh.edu/cvc

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