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Emotional roadblocks often arise when issues of race, culture, ethnicity are met by helping professionals. Drs. Kinselica and Sue describe their racial/cultural awakening as a White person and a Person of Color and share personal experiences with racism, bigotry and bias. Dr. Kinselica courageously describes his defensive reactions to reading the text as a doctoral student, his anger at Sue for attacking the mental health professions as being harmful to marginalized groups, and his final painful realization that he had inherited racist attitudes and beliefs. Dr. Sue describes early experiences of prejudice and discrimination in childhood, lessons and insights learned as a result of being different in a monocultural society, and the constant feeling that current psychology did not reflect his experiential reality which led to the writing of his best-selling book. Specific suggestions are given about what students must do to overcome their own racist cultural conditioning in order to be a culturally competent citizen and helping professional.
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