Alicia Arendt
Chapter 5
Mapping the Journey of White Identity Development
Creative Connector
Understanding Black Identity Theory in particular the Encounter stage really related to my better understanding of dominance and privilege. The encounter stage is summarized as being simulated with experiences or events that lift the mask off of whiteness and point out significant racial categories. During this stage one learns that race along can lead to negative treatment.
I think this statement put the idea of dominance and privilege into a new category that I begin to understand more. In class and conversation we talk a lot about the idea of racial guilt, how whites feel guilty over privilege. While class says we shouldn’t be guilty I think it’s a fair and often required aspect of understanding racial identity.
As a white women I feel insulted when wide assumptions are made about me because I am white- I have a lot of great things in my life, and my family has worked and struggled for them considerable. The issue is that when faced with the idea of dominance and privilege it makes me feel like the effort and struggle my family and I have gone through aren’t valid, and that I got things without them being deserved. This is where I think a lot of the guilt and often resentment of the concept come into play.
While I am still processing a lot of the book and the class discussion and disagree with much of the conversation I think that this passage sheds new light on the idea of privilege to me. It de-masks the idea of unfair treatment and helps me see that the fact that I am treated as an equal among my peers plays a significant role in the idea of dominance.
Instead of basing this reflection off a particular passage I think this chapter due to its formulaic nature needs to be reflected on as a whole.
When faced with the stage of racial development I was struggling to really understand where I stood amongst it. This book requires a lot of self-reflection, and it’s about taking a personal journey into identity and dominance. I think where I struggle is that much of the last 5 years of my life and career have been spend in inner city schools working with a diverse range of students in an after school setting. I see myself as informed, aware, justice and in my teaching unbiased.
When reading this book I feel like I am constantly confronted with someone telling me that I am inherently racist and prefer whites over black- that I am unfairly given my position and status in life and that before any change can happen I need to come to grasps with my identity issues. While this might be a rash thing to say I think that I am comfortable in myself an my identity and that as an educator each day I walk into the classroom and make an effort to reach all of my students. My classroom isn’t black and white, it’s a magnitude of grays and variety, and each student has their own independent struggles and issues, and their own cultural identity. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think I am in a comfortable place with my racial identity, that I am seeking to acknowledge all students for who they are and the factors that feed into it in an non-threatening way. I feel like I am in a semi-autonomy state but the book makes me feel ashamed to think that, that because I am white and young I must still be holding prejudice and “white savior” syndrome.
Essence Extractor:
There is a strong correlation between the stage of both black and white racial identity. For the white educator these stages can be summarized as follows:
1. Acknowledge that white racism is present in individuals, institutions and cultural manifestations.
2. Abandoning racism and engaging in resistance forms.
3. Develop a positive, non racist connection to white racial and cultural identity.
This chapter focuses most of it's attention on the stage of racial identity and development. It looks at a variety of researches with emphasis placed on Erik Erikson, I though it might be interesting to explore some of these researchers outside the parameters of the books. Below are summaries and looks to the theorists explored int he chapters.
Erik Erikson
Janet E. Helms
Cross
This is the link to take the race test that was discussed in the class video- interesting theory, it would be interesting to take it and compare results- I was labeled as strongly prefers European Americans. The question I would ask is how does this "preference" impede my teaching and my life?
Demographic information compiled by institutions provide facts/statistics about who typically is represented-although exceptions can be identified. What do you think is typical of the demographic at Nazareth and in the teaching profession?
ReplyDeleteI think that the demographic at Nazareth is typically white students from middle to high class families. And in the teaching profession I believe that it depends on the area but teachers these days are mostly females and mainly white.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't discount the importance of this question I am unsure of where it relates to the post. I also agree with Noelle that the majority of teachers are white females- and the same can be said to the demographics at Nazareth. I would also agrue that Nazareth has those demographics because until the 70's it was an all girls catholic college- this is what established that. The college has taken this into account, and having worked in the admissions department for 3 years I have seen first hand the colleges desire to promote and foster a more diverse student population. The thing is, things are changing, and we are part of that change.
ReplyDelete