ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the author's concept of the discriminatory gesture as a way of describing racially traumatizing conduct that can have an apparently disproportionately negative impact on African Americans and other racially persecuted people. Conceived from a psychodynamic/psychoanalytic perspective, the discriminatory gesture is seen to derive its impact from its implicit, symbolic link to enslavement and its emotional and physical annihilatory components. Racism, it is argued, derives much of its toxicity from the destructive feelings that the racist uses to dissociate. Acts of racial hatred are seen to provide a channel for the racist's own intolerable hatred and rage, allowing them to find interpersonal expression while simultaneously being disavowed. Illustrative case examples are provided and discussed.
