Racial Identity And Employee Identity

The peer reviewed article “Ethnic and Racial Identity During Adolescence into Young Adulthood: An Integrated Conceptualization” is a well written article on the struggle that people of color face when coming face to face with their identity in social situations. Umana-Taylor, Quintana, Lee, Cross, Rivas-Drake, Schwartz and Seaton (2014) analyzed ethnic and racial identity or ERI and how it relates to important developments and issues from early childhood well on into young adulthood. They worked to find the most important milestones during the development or ERI as well (Umana-Taylor et. al 2014). This paper will consist of the information given from the article and how I’ve dealt with my own ERI.

One of the most promising approaches to the field of multicultural counseling/therapy has been the work on racial/cultural identity development among minority groups. This model acknowledges within groups differences that have implications for treatment. The high failure-to-return rate of many clients seems to be intimately connected to the mental health professional’s inability to assess the cultural identity of clients accurately. The model also acknowledges

To many people across a variety of different nationalities and cultures, race has been proven to be a key factor for how society views you in the eyes of those who are prominently in charge. The term race has been brought up in recent years, to be considered a form of identification, as the word race is used to describe physical characteristics such as a person’s color of skin, hair, and eyes. When in reality, the correct term they should be using is Ethnicity. As a result, the term race is used to separate people into sub-categories based on the color of their skin. This type of classification, is a man-made creation used by society to classify certain groups of people into lower classes, while keeping the predominate group in charge at the top.

Each and every person on this Earth today has an identity. Over the years, each individual creates their identity through past experiences, family, race, and many other factors. Race, which continues to cause problems in today’s world, places individuals into certain categories. Based on their race, people are designated to be part of a larger, or group identity instead of being viewed as a person with a unique identity. Throughout Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Richard is on a search for his true identity. Throughout Black Boy, one can see that Richard’s racial background assigns him with a certain identity or a certain way in which some

In his essay, “Racial Identities”, Kwame Anthony Appiah addresses the topic of racial identification. He describes how and why it’s hard not to identify someone based on their race. Today in the United States, racial identification is quite relevant. People judge and stereotype others based on race. Classifying people based on their looks isn’t bad, it’s the negative attitudes and labels that come with it. Racial identification is hard for most people to avoid, is detrimental due to the bad attitudes people have, negatively affects people’s lifestyles, and divide people.

James McBride can tell you firsthand about man verse racial identity. Journalizing his experience in his New York Times Bestseller novel the Color of Water simply outlined his struggles of finding who he was. His upbringing included a black father and a Jewish white mother. His background made it hard for him to understand why his home was different than others on the street. Although McBride experience shows an older outtake of racial identity, some may say this still is a problem today. Offspring feels the need to pick a race in society to succeed in the generation and it may be the step to understands them more. Notice in the subtitle of the book "A black Men tribute to his white mother" he label himself as just black as if there was a barrier between his mother and himself because the so different. Today we need to not let racial identity become a big part of our lives.

What is the best way on how an identity can be affected? Well, as people have made many decisions in life without noticing who they affect. Racism is the believe that all members are part of that particular race. In racism people can face discrimination, bullying and all those committed actions can lead up to deaths. People who commit racism affect other’s identity and personality. Personality is what makes a person their own to be themselves, what makes them be different than the rest by their qualities. Racism most greatly impacts on individuals identity because they can be affected by their goals, poor thinking of themselves, and can change behavior.

One of Beverly Tatum's major topics of discussion is racial identity. Racial identity is the meaning each of us has constructed or is constructing about what it means to be a white person or a person of color in a race-conscious society. (Tatum, pp Xvii) She talks about how many parents

Everybody in the society has an identity. No one is born with identity. People work hard, gets education, gets job and by contributing to the society, they create their own identity. It is the self-image of who one is. As an example, if a person is helping the society by providing education in schools, he or she has an identity as a teacher. This identity does not just belong to them automatically. Their motivation of working hard, education status, having the dream carrier and dedication to the world defines themselves to the society. But if someone gets eliminated from all these opportunity to prove themselves in the society just because having a different ethnic name, it becomes hard to achieve the success and creating identity. When a baby is born, its' parent want to name their baby according to their ethnicity, culture and religion, so that, their culture can be passed to further future. They might stay unaware about the fact that, having an ethnic name in the United States may eliminate their child from his or her future. The way identity is shaped in such a way today by culture, society and environment that if a person has an ethnic or black sounding name, he or she faces a lot of impediment situations. This is because their name highlights or marks them in different identity, which creates barriers; despite identity and its marks it is hard to achieve total personal and professional success.

Blacks and whites have different experiences throughout their lifespan. When it comes to job hiring process, it is even harder for blacks because of their names. Previous studies have found that black names are viewed negatively by others (Busse and Seraydarian, 1977). “There are large disparities between Blacks and Whites in the United States on many indicators of social and economic welfare including

I totally agree with the assertion of A. Blemenfeld that those identification aspects that capture my attention are the targets of others people’s attention that is reflected back to me (Blumenfeld, 2010). Even though, I was always open-minded and had a friendly relationship with almost anybody, I felt that my racial identity was a part of a problem. As I was the only student of color, I felt alienated sometimes.

Race is a mechanism put in place by the majority population to control the minority group depending on the skin color. Race has been used as the main point of human identity, which started in the 17th century. Baldwin’s notes that human have been known to avoid interaction with the “alien” group of people, thus started the issues of race witnessed in today societal settings, in his book Notes of Native Son. To be identified as being someone, you need to belong to a particular race known in the world. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, used his identity to plead with the blacks to stop the protests, instead, should seek justice through legal means.

In a recent South Park episode, titles “The Cissy”, in order for his own personal gain to use the girls’ bathroom and later to receive his own bathroom, Cartman dons a pink bow on his head to become “Erica.” Meanwhile, Randy Marsh (as known as Lorde to most and Stan’s dad) must battle with his gender identity and that of his music as women at his work are uncomfortable with sharing a bathroom with him, therefore he must receive his own against his wishes. While both Cartman’s and Randy Marsh’s struggles with their gender identity revolve around the use of a bathroom, through the juxtaposition of the actions of shooting a school and becoming transgender, the symbolism of the “executive bathroom,” and the final scene of Stan singing in the bathroom designated for “Cissys’” reveal society’s inability to comprehend gender- identity struggles, thus exposing the uselessness of gender- labeling.

How you do in school, your social ability, and your awareness of others are all guided by how you identify. Identification in one’s gender, race, religion, social class, and ethnicity are all driving forces behind your future self. Identity is a crucial part of who you are, and in recent studies and experimentation researchers have been trying to identify new, untested factors that influence behavior in people. Although, in the past there hasn’t been a strong focus on the positive and negative effects of race and ethnicity, the conversation is now shifting to align itself with the current times. With America becoming increasingly more ethnically and racially diverse, we must take the time to see how certain factors, specifically race and ethnicity, impact a person’s development and behavior.

“If we don’t fully understand our individual and collective roles in maintaining a system of white superiority, our relationships with people of color remains superficial, our ability to work in diverse workplaces is greatly diminished, and we fail to create a just world in which everyone has an equitable opportunity to contribute and thrive” (Kendall, 2013, p. 1). This paper discusses who I am as a cultural person and how I have come to be this way. The first section of this paper discusses my cultural background and my cultural identity. I address the factors that make up my cultural identity and the challenges that I have faced because of my cultural identity. The next section discusses my White racial identity development and the events in my life that have led me to become the person I am today in relation to my racial identity. The final section of this paper outlines the implications my own racial and cultural identity will have on my career as a clinical mental health counselor.