Summary
Positive racial identity means feeling good about oneself as a racial being. It reinforces the understanding that one is part of the immediate family and a large group of a certain descent. I have learned that kids around age three can categorize people by race, and many who are six years old already express prejudice around race. Therefore, waiting until kids have a solidified attitude toward race does not make sense. If kids as young as three are already thinking, learning, and talking about race, avoiding talking about it implies we are missing the opportunity to be part of the conversation. Whether adults say anything or not, the children will develop their own ideas about race, shaping the person they become in adulthood.
My Status in Racial and Ethnic Identity Development and Awareness
Developing a positive and knowledgeable racial and cultural identity is one of the primary developmental goals, especially for marginalized races in society. A positive racial identity must be constantly reinforced because many things revolve around race in our society today. Parents want their kids to come from a strong foundation so that racial heritage is something the children become proud of and acknowledge. Raising awareness about learning, addressing and understanding race with young children is essential. Parents must discuss race and gender with their kids to reinforce positive racial identity. Some of the most important categories we belong to are race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, that parent needs to focus their attention on. We cannot afford to toss children into social groups and expect them to navigate and figure out independently without modeling them to overcome racial biases.
The different groups one belongs to, and experiences all contribute to how individuals think about themselves and others. Therefore, helping kids recognize the values in their groups and how they can be proud of who they are despite the cultural messages about their group can help them see the common humanity in all of us. Helping kids recognize their values in themselves, even if it is not reflected in the media and cultural representation, is important for reinforcing their attitude toward humanity. It includes how sexism is displayed and influences our behavior during adulthood.
While sexism still exists and impacts the younger generation, how it is displayed has changed. One of the ways we see sexism now is that girls are supposed to be highly sexualized all the time. For example, everybody with value should look to girls as sexualized and sexy, and boys should be interested in girls in that way and should not be legitimate friends. However, I think that is a damaging form of sexism that limits both genders in terms of the friendships they form and the healthy relationships we want them to have as they go into adolescence. I believe gender stereotypes and sexism still impact career choices and even hobbies younger people make today without them knowing it.
Gender identity is often shaped by gender typing, potentially independent of social and cultural roles of gender. Gender typing entails children learning behaviors, interests, and abilities associated with masculinity in their culture. So, gender identity has nothing to do with sexual orientation but with how famine or masculinity feels. Traditional white American society accepted male or female, but transgender is becoming more accepted. However, there is no equal protection, employment rights, and equality for transgender. Gender identity and sexual identity are two different things, but together they can define the sexuality of a person. Sexual identity encompasses a broad range of sexual, emotional, and erotic attractions that exist in an individual. For example, a person can be asexual or bisexual, but we are increasingly accepting homosexuals as cultural diversity continues to emerge in our society. Overall, sexual orientation and gender identity are integral to our lives and should never lead to discrimination or abuse. Recognition of racial diversity and the fight against systemic racism have triggered initiatives to address racial oppression.
Whiteness is something people do not talk about explicitly in our society. Especially for white people, it can tend to be this unnamed or invisible concept, so it can be awkward to talk about it. Racism is a wide topic, and what is or is not racist and who is or is not racist are hotly debated topics in our society. For instance, most people I have encountered are unsure whether racism is about their beliefs or behavior towards others. Racism includes beliefs, thoughts, and actions based on the idea that one race is innately superior to another. Some take this definition further and argue that racism is inherently tied up in structures of power. Like gender, race is a socially constructed category to group people who share biological traits that society thinks are important. The key important part of this definition is the last segment, what society thinks is important.
Skin color varies widely across regions of the world, and so does eye color. While physical traits are often used to describe or identify a race, they are not always applied consistently. For example, the “one drop rule” in the United States, where even the smallest amount of African American ancestry is enough to classify one as black rather than white. Although society commonly uses race to organize people and distribute power, race and ethnicity play a role in how people are perceived and the opportunities available to them. A person’s race influences a whole host of social outcomes, from their education, income, and experiences with the criminal justice system. However, which ethnicity or minority groups are advantaged or disadvantaged depends on when and where the discussion is focused. For example, women are considered the minority even though they make up the larger population of the United States. However, to be a minority in a sociological sense of the word, a group must be disadvantaged. The way that the government defines race will continue to change to incorporate our society changing notion of race and ethnicity. Something that should be clear is that races are not a fixed, immutable category because they are defined by society as cultural advances.
Impact of the Readings and Class Discussion on My Values and Worldviews
The readings and class discussions have enabled me to understand the practical applications of racial identity development models and theories. Race is a social construct that impacts social experiences and carries political implications. I have learned that race is more than the literal color of the skin. Nowadays, light-skinned people of European descent are typically considered white in the United States regardless of whether they are of British, Irish, Italian, German, or Polish heritage. Humans belong to many groups, but some ties are stronger than others. These groups include national, ethnic, intellectual, religious, regional, neighborhood, and family. When making decisions, each of my in-group values is considered, and only those I feel most connected to are given all the best benefits, rights, and considerations available. Human connection is so important that much individual time is dedicated to building relationships and maintaining group membership.
The readings and class discussion were important for understanding social grouping and its role in building relationships. Group membership can be separated into two general categories, those in your group and those outside. Those in my group often share similar ideas, like interests, beliefs, and values. These similarities draw members of an in-group together, and it is common for people to feel related even if they belong to different families. When judging people’s behavior, humans tend not to use the same rules to judge in-group and outgroup members. Only members of the in-group deserve full consideration, care, support, and benefits, while those outside are treated differently. Understanding how obligations and beliefs differ for in-group and outgroup members can help explain why contradiction seems to exist in belief structures. For instance, a government may claim that all people in the country deserve free healthcare, as it should be a fundamental right. But the government makes access to health available only to citizens, and immigrants do not receive the same benefits.
Knowing the rule of values in forming and maintaining human societies and how to value structure influences human behavior is fundamental for understanding humans of different cultures. Analyzing cultural patterns is one way of comparing and understanding behavioral differences among societal groups. Common themes across all cultures include equality, group allegiance, appropriate cooperation and competitiveness, dealing with the unknown, and perception of time. Analyzing the grouping concepts and cultural differences taught me to appreciate and respect other people’s traditions, national identity, affection, patriotism, and equality. Different groups may hold divergent opinions and values, which are essential for them in the same way I attach importance to my social group.
Equity, justice and wisdom are crucial concepts in forming human societies and the cornerstone of civilization. Therefore, regardless of your affection or patriotism for your group and attachment to your traditions or national identity, embracing diversity and equality creates opportunities for everyone regardless of origin, religion, or sex (Sue et al., 2019). The reading and class discussion illustrates the importance of associating with a particular culture, ethnicity, religion, or tradition because it gives us identity and a sense of duty towards the rest of the society to which one belongs.
How My Values and Worldview Impacted Interpretations of the Readings
Racial and ethnic identity development and awareness is a loaded topic because it highlights sensitive topics, such as racism and social and cultural marginalization. Humans should embrace diversity and treat everyone equally because the world deserves humanity more than anything. Therefore, it is justified to evaluate racial and ethnic identity development and awareness regarding prejudice, discrimination, and prejudice. Prejudice is a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people. It presupposes that something you assume to be true for a whole group applies to every individual member of that group without sufficient evidence. Prejudice often takes the form of stereotypes, which are exaggerated and simplified descriptions applied to every person in a category. Negative stereotypes are often directed at people who are different from yourself, meaning people who are a minority are likely to be negatively stereotyped.
Racism is based on the beliefs, ideas, thoughts, and actions that one race is innately superior to another. Racism can be explicit or implicit, whereas explicit bias is attitudes or beliefs about a group we consciously acknowledge. Implicit biases are unconscious perceptions we have about other groups. While we might easily recognize the explicit act of racism, like calling someone a racial slur, we often do not know how implicit biases affect how we interact. For example, people’s implicit bias comes into play when they judge gun violence criminals, especially if they are of African American origin.
Discrimination is described as any unequal treatment of different groups of people. One of my values and worldviews is that equality should prevail in any circumstance regardless of an individual’s race, gender, or ethnicity. Most of us think of discrimination as a specific action, like calling someone a racial slur or refusing to do business with a certain type of people. Together, prejudice and discrimination form a vicious circle that entrenches social disadvantages. The circle starts with prejudice taking hold in a society, often as a strategy for consolidating economic or social power for a certain group. Prejudice then motivates discrimination against the minority group, both at the individual and institutional level, forcing the group into a lower societal position. These social disadvantages mean the minority group is seen as less successful and inferior to the majority groups, justifying the original prejudice, and the circle continues.
Prejudice can be considered a defense mechanism by frustrated people who blame another more disadvantaged group for their trouble, even if it stems from structural changes. Economic anxiety is seen as a common trigger for prejudice or discrimination. For instance, fear of losing jobs leads to blaming immigrants for taking jobs rather than looking at how globalization and automation have changed the economy. Similarly, racial prejudice can heighten when an authoritarian personality feels some physical threats to their way of life. Some prejudice can be found in everyone because people are products of their culture, which is often a discriminatory culture. We learn racial prejudice and stereotypes through a kind of cultural osmosis. For example, American history textbooks tend to be written from a Euro-Caucasian perspective and focus mainly on the contribution of white people rather than other cultures. Social inequality develops due to power conflicts between racial and ethnic groups.
How the Class Will Impact My Work as a Counsellor
Often, it is important to address racial issues in therapy, but this can be a charged and delicate topic many counselors may feel uncomfortable addressing. Sometimes a client may bring up a racial-related issue. Still, the counselor may sometimes sense unexpressed issues in the client’s life and society or the therapy relationship itself. The class provides a basic understanding of racial and ethnic identity development and awareness concepts essential in reconstructing a client’s mind. People as young as elementary school kids are so aware and conscious of race at such a young age. Whether or not a kid’s perception of a situation is accurate, it is important to validate their experience because they have enough experience with racism. The class offered a real transformative experience and knowledge because it helped me envision my perception and awareness of prejudice, discrimination, and racism that exist in our society.
Counseling is expanded beyond working with a client from a different cultural group. It is essential to understand how working with a patient from a different cultural background and how it may affect interactions within the counseling relationship. Understating differences in religion, spirituality, sexual orientation, gender, age, socioeconomic class, and geographical location discussed in the class is essential for understanding the differences between a counselor and a patient. The world is becoming a mixed culture; therefore, the counselor should be informed of issues that might arise in a multiracial or multiethnic family. The educational content of the class, including religious, spiritual, gender, sexual orientation, disability issues, socioeconomic status, age factors, and immigrant issues, would provide an ideal background for a therapist working in a culturally diverse society today (Sue et al., 2019). Particularly, the educational content prepares one to make every effort to see the individual within the group of people to whom they belong and acknowledge there can be differences between the person as an individual and their group.
The awareness continuum is the linear way to help counselors gain cultural competence. As a counselor, I do not expect to achieve mastery as the continuum is designed to be ongoing and revisited throughout my career. Progression allows the counselor to go on to the next level and acquire extensive knowledge of the counseling profession. Still, if confronted by a deficiency in awareness when treating a culturally diverse person, the class offers insight into that aspect of the culture. Key ideas taught in the class include self-awareness, awareness of racism, sexism, and poverty in relation to cultural problems, awareness of individual differences, and skills and techniques related to a multicultural counselor. A high level of self-awareness is essential to understand why I think in a certain way and identify biases in my thinking. Likewise, the experience during the course is essential for examining my beliefs, attitude, opinions, and values to determine areas of potential biases before helping others.
The American culture is a diverse mix of customs and traditions from nearly every region of the world. A therapist should be aware of the diversity of American culture through constant learning to offer efficient services to clients. The study of behavioral aspects of people and their interaction with others from different races and ethnicities allowed me to gain insight into the diverse American culture. Specifically, the class allowed me to comprehend how races and ethnicities make people distinct, yet they have equal social status in society. Similarly, the readings and class discussions were crucial in exploring a society that is color-blind and how the minority copes in my journey toward becoming a better counselor. In addition to the readings and regular lessons, the discussions I had in the groups exposed me to people from diverse cultural backgrounds. The exposure and opportunity to interact with the individuals was a new learning experience of how others view society, racism, and aspects of counseling that need improvement. Finally, the course is an important journey toward achieving the required technical and operational skills to establish a counseling center.
Reference
Sue, D. W., Sue, D., Neville, H., & Smith, L. (2019). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (8th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.