This weeks class discussion and readings were good. It was interesting learning about White Identity Development. It is even more interesting reading these the Tatum book a second time and also reading Helms model again. I remember the anger and frustration that reading Helm's model caused 5 years ago in grad school but more importantly the discussions that friends and I had. Reading it today I have a lot less anger and frustration and more of a critical lens of the white identity development. I struggle with this because while I dont find myself fitting into an ethnic development model but rather the white model even though I identify with Hispanic. I understand the reasons why I feel this way, however still have frustration with Helm's model.
This frustration and internal stuggle is where my questions come in and also came up in some of our dialouge in the small groups. While I can appreciate it more now having a full understanding of racism and what it means to be racist, I still believe (even after class discussion) that Helm's model does not incorporate an immersion experience in understanding who one is in ethnic terms but rather has an experience of understanding one's place and role in a productive idealist society that we all hope for.
I am enjoying the readings that we are doing and am thoroughly enjoying the class discussion. This is the first time that I have not dreaded going to class and dreaded everything about it. Maybe this is partly due to my maturation but maybe it has something to do with the way the class is being taught and the topic and my comfort with it. I am enjoying reading models over again and understanding them with a deeper meaning and more critical eye.
This week I haven't really thought about my own identity but rather my place in society. One of those has been in CNNs growing coverage of Racism vs Sexism. This is an interesting topic and I think they are having a field day with it and playing it up, but also they are bringing some important issues up. The question they are talking about is Sexism more acceptable than Racism. No one wants to be labeled a racist but being called sexist is more of a joke. A very interesting dialouge and one that I hope continues for a long time and actually has some productive results.
