IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT part 3 essay
IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT part 2 essay
Violence and injustice against the black people
Caucasians commit violent acts but they aren’t stereotyped because of their acts. In class we talked about Timothy Mcveigh and other home grown terrorists compared to those of Iroquoian descent. If a Caucasian person aboard an airplane its business as usually but if a person with color that speaks the Iroquoian language aboard an airplane there is tension. Caucasians have the freedom to walk into buildings and blow the building up; they can enter a school and kill a bunch of innocent students without their whole race being stereotyped. I take advantage of having a Causation wife. My wife can return things back to Wal-Mart without having a receipt. She able to return an inflatable 10’ water slide after using it for one season and the next year it had a hole in it. Wal-Mart gladly took it back for her. The video store said we had a $10 late fine I went into the store to dispute the amount of the fine. The store manager would not reduce the fine. I went out to the car and told my wife that we still had to pay the fine. She immediately went into the store alone and when she returned to the car the entire fine was written off. I understand that as much as we all would love to believe that the United States of America is fair, well even with a black president the United States is still unfair. On the CNN news I heard about a senator calling President Barak Obama a liar. Why did the senator feel that he could say this to the president? Was it because the senator was using his power as a privileged American to show the president that the office of the president has power, but not as much power as a white politician?
My children are bi-racial but I explain to them that the world perceives them to be black; therefore, there are stereotypes associated with young black males/females. My children are on traveling sports teams such as soccer, and baseball. They attend basket ball and wrestling camps to become better athletes, but I look at their teammates and there are not any black kids on my son’s baseball team. On their soccer team there is one black athlete and two other bi-racial athletes. In my community, if a black family does not have the finances to put their child in sport camps and/or play for travelling teams the child will be over looked and spend a lot of time sitting on the sidelines.
It needs to be admitted that on the basis of my own experience, I realized there are differences amongst racial groups but I’m learning how to capitalize on those differences to benefit me and my family. I’m learning about micro-aggressions from this class, so now I can point out to the coach or the store employees those aggressions which are consisted with racism.
Black Racial Identity Model
In order to increase my knowledge to help my future black clients, I reviewed the Black Racial Identity Model (Cross, 1991). The first step is the pre-encounter, which indicates that African Americans have been influenced by the dominant white culture in the belief that “White is right” and “Black is wrong”; therefore, blacks tend to distance themselves from other blacks and gravitate towards whites in order to be accepted (Cross, 1991). I now can relate to the statement that my mother would tell me, which is “you must think your too good to associate with black people, all your friends are white or in an interracial relationship”. I never thought that subconsciously my actions were fitting right into the stereotype of wanting to be accepted by whites, so I stopped my interactions with my own race. Now I can consciously be aware of whom I’m associating with and for what purpose I’m I associating with them. As a black counselor, I would be able to recognize this disassociation that other clients may bring into a session and not consciously realize there action.
The second part of the Black Racial Identity Model is Encounter. This phase is where I or the client has a personal brush with racism and then they realize I cannot ever be white and I will never be viewed as equal to Caucasians. This will cause the client to except being black and realize because I’m black I have to expect racism to be aimed at me not matter where I’m at on the hierarchy.
The third phase of the Black Racial Identity Model is Immersion/Emersion. This stage is when I or a client can recognize that I’m black and I’m proud of. The client will surround themselves with other blacks and disassociate with whites. “At this stage, everything of value in life must be Black or relevant to Blackness. This stage is also characterized by a tendency to denigrate white people, simultaneously glorifying Black people” (Wall, 2012). In the Immersion stage, the client wants to learn as much about their own culture as they can that their anger towards white dissipates. The client will surround themselves with peers of the same racial background.
The fourth phase is internalization stage which indicates that I recognize that I am black and I will associate with my black peers. I will also develop meaning relationships with whites who acknowledge and are respectful of his or her self-definition. At this stage, I’m also willing to befriend other oppressed individuals.
The fifth stage of the Black Identity Model is Internalization-Commitment. Individuals at this stage have developed ways to translate their “personal sense of Blackness into a plan of action or a general sense of commitment” to the concerns of Blacks as a group, which is sustained over time (Cross, 1991). The fourth and fifth stages are where the client can internalize and understand the true since of their racial identity.
I now know of the Black Racial Identity Model which has given me an understanding of myself and my future black clients and the oppression they may be dealing with. I know my clients will not be all black because the community I live in is predominately white; therefore I must also have an understanding of whites, and having this understanding will also helps me in my marriage because my wife is white.
Based on Helm’s White Racial Identity Development Model, I can recognize when a Caucasian lack awareness of cultural and institutional racism and White privilege. When they become aware, some experience guilt, shame, and anger at the advantages of being White. As a therapist, I will be able to help Caucasians explore comfortable way to be White and of ways to resist racism in their environments.
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