White Identity

        This section discussed both the stages of black identity development and stages of white identity development.


The five stages of black identity development:

1. Preencounter: where they distance themselves from those who are different from them
2. Encounter: transition into this stage occurs from an event or experiences.
3. Immersion/emersion: feelings of hate towards those who are White
4. Internalization: the want/need to interact with those for other cultures
5. Internalization-commitment: where one is rooted in their own black identity (86)


        An example stated was the transition into encounrter. Race alone can lead to negative treatment such as a black man driving a nice car in a white suburb. A police officer pulls him over and immediately goes with the stereotype that he stole it. When it comes to white identity development, it is mostly defined by racism and personal culture.


The six stages of white identity development:

Phase I: Abandonment of a Racist Identity
Contact: your first encounter with someone of another race
Disintegration: acknowledge our Whiteness
Reintegration: consciously embrace White superiority


Phase II: Establishment of a Non racist White Identity
Pseudo-Independence: begins to question what they believed Whiteness means
Immersion-Emersion: movement towards positive efforts for other groups
Autonomy: a new positive definition of Whiteness is established (88)


       The story that jumped into my head was the story all over the news about the teen, Trayvon Martin, who was shot because he was wearing a hood, and believed to be part of a gang because of his skin color. This ties to exactly what Howard was discussing in this section about black identity development as well as the police officers needing to go through white identity development. He judged the black man by his skin color. He has every right to drive a nice car as a white man. Same with the news story, the teen had the right to wear a hood just as I would on campus. The difference is our skin color. They would never suspect me, a white girl, to be part of gang.


Worldview: When I think of worldview, the quote "We are all God's children." comes to mind. I have heard that quote over and over in my education classes as we will be teaching all types of students; however, to remember that they are all children of God. I think it is important to remember where we are in the stages. I do feel I can relate as I have been through the first phase and got stuck in there from past experiences. However, being exposed to other cultures in classrooms and on my own, I have started to move to the second phase to understanding what Whiteness means and my hope is to keep moving to a positive definition of what Whiteness means.