The Poston Biracial Identity Development Model

The stage that most accurately describes me will be integrative awareness. Integrative awareness has developed a secure, confident sense of racial/cultural identity (Sue , 2001). The reason why this cultural identity describes me is because I do commit to supporting and appreciating all oppressed and diverse groups which also wraps around integrative awareness too. The reason why is because I like to treat people equal and I like being fair to everyone because that’s how I was raised. I’m very open to all types of different t cultures diverse groups because we are all people at the end of the day. Integrative awareness also wraps around being multicultural and for me it doesn’t matter what race, cultural, and religion you are because I don’t

When addressing self-identification, some multiracial or biracial individuals do identify as being two or more races. Some identity as just one, or that they feel closer to a certain racial group. About 69% of Multiracial adults with a black background considered themselves as black/African American (experiences, social interactions that align them within the black community). While Multiracial Asian adults, with a white and Asian background, feel more connected to the white community than to the Asian community. Another group of multiracial individuals, are those that are white and native American, and around 22% say they have a lot in common with the in the US that is native America. And 61% say they have a lot more in common with the whites.

I am a Hispanic woman who if I am honest have a lot of self hate for myself and my culture. “Internal racism has been the term used to describe the process by which persons of color absorb the racist messages that are omnipresent in our society and internalized them” (Sue, 2016). I grew up in a small border town where stereotypes are made. I never experienced much racism because we were the majority. However, looking at it now I have a lot of self hate, and I always identified as white growing up, because I am light skinned I still believe I can pass for white at least until I moved to Georgia. Living here has taught me that I miss my culture I miss the cooking, the camaraderie, the unity that Hispanics have. The other day I was asked at

The Helms White Racial Identity Development Model identifies six racial identity statuses (Sue & Sue, 2016). These statuses include contact, disintegration, reintegration, pseudo-independence, immersion/emersion, and autonomy. Each of these statuses identifies characteristics that individuals in these statuses have. I traveled through theses statuses and believe I am currently in the immersion/emersion status. During different points in the model, I learned about race and myself that allowed me to move through each status, and currently working towards entering autonomy.

The Racial/Cultural Identity Development model (R/CID) is an expansion of the Minority Identity Development model. The R/CID model encompasses a broader population and removes the term “minority,” which can be disempowering to individuals. This model works to aid therapists in assessment and intervention of culturally diverse clients. It has five levels of development that individuals undergo to understand the dominant culture, their own culture, and the relationship between the two cultures, which is often oppressive. The first level of development is the conformity phase.

My pre-adolescent years were spent in a community thick with diversity. My friendships were as diverse as the environment in which I lived. It never struck me that racial and ethnic ideals separated people in society. However, upon moving to a predominately white upper-class community I began to question such racial and ethnic ideas. From my adolescent years through today I began noticing that certain people are viewed differently for reasons relating to race and ethnicity. As a result, the most recent community I grew up in has kept me sheltered from aspects of society. As a product of a community where majorities existed, I found myself unexposed to the full understanding of race and ethnicity. Prior to the class I had never fully dealt with issues of race or ethnicity, as a result I wondered why they would be of any importance in my life.

Even though I believe to have a strong cultural diverse upbringing that differs from many of the lifestyles of my white friend, I never experienced any self-depreciation and oppression regarding my culture. I do believe I have undergone cultural development in terms of acculturation, but considering I have never experienced the need to abandon my cultural values, I feel it is appropriate to refer to the white racial identity development model rather than the racial/cultural identity developmental model. As a white female, I have certainly benefitted from white privilege, and it is my responsibility to acknowledge that aspect of my racial identity.

Having knowledge of the Racial/Cultural Identity Development Model will help counselors to become more culturally competent. Although we know these phases, one must be aware of the cultures that counselors will be working with and how one’s beliefs can hinder the process. The five stages of the Asian-American Identity Development Model, developed by Sue and Sue, are: The ethnic awareness stage, White identification stage, the awakening to the social political consciousness stage, redirection stage, and the incorporation stage. Asian-Americans prefer crisis-oriented, brief, and solution oriented approaches, and they are influenced by their families and culture. The fear of losing face to their peers by seeking therapy will lead them to early termination of therapy. Asian cultures are typically high context cultures in which gesture, body language, eye contact, pitch, intonation, word stress, and the use of silence are as important as the actual words being spoken in conversation. Asians are typically polite in social encounters whereas Americans, being very low context communicators, are comfortable with very direct questions and answers and often seem abrupt to people from high context cultures. The five stages of the Black Identity Development Model, originally developed by Cross, are: The pre-encounter stage, encounter stage, immersion-emersion, internalization, and internalization-commitment. African-Americans will diminish counseling,

Identifying with race in my opinion is synonymous with accepting yourself and accepting community responsibility of productivity, positivity, and pride. Race matters. Especially in my life. I identify as African American but nowadays if I don’t listen to the latest rap, have a loud personality, or I’m not failing my classes, my fellow African American peers will see me as trying to be white or better than they are.

Identifying the type of racial identity that one person is can be difficult for some people. I became aware of my racial identity when I was still in elementary school. When I was younger my hometown in a racial aspect was generally people of white descendants, but we had neighboring towns that had

For myself, I think I identify the best with the White identity (Helms). I selected this model because I personally believe that it reflects my identity the best, and I do not see myself, even possibly, identifying with any other models. This model includes two phases, the abandonment of an individual’s racist ideas, and then defining a non-racist identity. There are also six stages that an individual will go through within this identity.

My mother is Polish and Italian but my father is African American so growing up as a biracial person was always somewhat of a challenge. My relatives my my mothers side always saw my siblings and I as somewhat outsiders because we bared many physical differences from many of them, whereas when I encountered my fathers side of the family it always started out that I was more similar to them but I ended up not being like them enough to be fully accepted as one of them either. It is interesting because some see me as belonging more to a “white” culture and some see me more associated with “black” culture making me feel as though I never really belonged to either. It impacts my identity because at times it can make me feel as though there is not

This paper examines how and when I realized my identity of how I saw myself and how others saw me when I was a child. I examined my identity by my gender identity, racial identity, and my ethnicity identity. I describe my earliest memory of realizing my gender identity by remembering when I realized I was a woman. I discuss how I became to learn about my racial identity and ethnicity identity by going to school with various people. I then describe how the aspects of my gender identity and racial identity did and did not influence my leisure and life pursuits. My racial identity and gender identity did not influence much of my leisure and life pursuits in my life, I was mostly influenced by my upbringing.

My racial identity has grown in ways. I am more aware of the impact of Jewish history on my identity. My white racial identity has not been changed from being in this class. I have grown and I believe that it is not stagnant or a zero sum transition or I could be in overlapping stages.

My earliest realization of me becoming aware of my racial identity would be in elementary school or maybe earlier. I cannot recall much when I was younger, but I think that when I was little I would ask questions about why we spoke a different language.