It was around half an hour past 3 in the afternoon. Ann Walker, a psychologist at St Griffins College, was having a lengthy discussion with Mr. and Mrs. Smith regarding the conduct of their seventeen-year old son, John Smith. Unfortunately, the two parties could not reach an agreement as the person of interest, John, chose to remain mum. The meeting was henceforth rescheduled to a day on which John might feel ready to open up his mind and relieve himself of the burden that had been troubling his soul.
Growing up in Michigan City, John always portrayed signs of somebody who will uplift his family from the abject poverty which hit his family. His entire neighborhood was made up of black people who seem to have relied on poverty as their uniting factor. It was unheard of for the black kids to interact with white kids who resided in the posh suburbs. Those who somehow felt they could not avoid playing with age mates from the opposite race ended up facing severe reprimand from their old folks. For this reason, John managed to grow up in a black societal setting which attributed the cause of its suffering to the whites.
Throughout his upbringing, the only social environment that John had known was black. He had a black person to call a close friend, every social event he attended was graced by black people and furthermore, his entire school was dominated by the black race up from the teachers except one, to all the students. During his childhood years, he was known to be a jovial character who was well disciplined thereby placing him the community’s favorite at home. John’s hard work is what led to him being admitted at one of the best schools in the region, a fete that was well welcomed and at the same time proved to a new chapter of none-desirable person.
Unlike in his earlier school and environment, St Griffins College was dominated by the white race. John was among the few black kids whose numbers could be finger-counted at the assembly. Moreover, most students in the institution emerged from the well-to-do families and had cravings for the high end social life. Loneliness soon became John’s companion. He is said to have alienated himself from the rest of the students and was often spotted hanging out by himself. His academic performance and morale significantly declined and he became a pale shadow of his former self. Very often, he was involved in fights with white students who mentioned anything ill against black people irrespective of whether it was meant for a joke.
Several efforts undertaken to correct his behavior met a dead end due to his failure to comply. He simply felt that Mrs. Ann being a white person cannot understand what went on inside him. Consequently, measures by the college administration to send in a group of black students within the school to soften his heart have borne no significant result as he often categorized them with part of the black people who have been whitewashed by the whites. It is in this regard that the school had tried to convene meetings with those close to him, like today’s earlier meeting with the parents in order to establish the right way forward to resolve his racial identity problem.
John’s case serves as an exemplary study that is able to churn out numerous questions on racial identity and acceptance. The following is a list of questions that may trigger thinking on how to address the case;
Is it intriguing to find out to what extent can a person’s racial identity affect his future interaction with people of another race?
What is the ultimate solution that can be undertaken to ensure that this person is able to cohabitate with people from different races?
Another vital consideration is to question oneself on the like hood of the information that somebody grows up being fed with pertaining to a particular group and the probable effect it might impact on such a person. Lastly, having considered all the possibilities of being raised in a culture dominated by one’s race and the negative repercussions it brings about.
This case was motivated by the Cross and Fahgen-Smith’s Model of Black Identity studies. According to Vandiver et al., (2001), black identity development is a psychological process that is anchored on three primary concepts of Race salience, Reference Group orientation and Personal identity. The study highlighted three forms of black identity. First, Nigrescence A whereby a person’s character is influenced by early social experiences mostly revolving around family and the community. Second, Nigrescence B which develops if an individual cannot be able to form a stronger black identity due to lack of the above factors. Lastly, Nigrescence C which refers to the continuation of black identity throughout adulthood.
This theory will enable students to get a better understanding of John’s behavior as it highlights out how a child’s upbringing, especially in the black society, will in turn, influence his acceptance in the future (Sellers et al.1998). The three basic concepts of the theory, that is, Personal identity, Race Salience and Reference Group Orientation ( Vandiver et al. 2002) have all been touched in this case study. This theory will therefore, enable students to understand John’s actions as explained by the theory. Lastly, the theory advocates that the solution to John’s case is by accepting his racial identity following the stages of “pre-encounter, encounter, immersion-emersion, internalization and finally internalization-commitment”.
References.
Sellers, R. M., Smith, M. A., Shelton, J. N., Rowley, S. A., " Chavous, T. M. (1998).
Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial Identity. Personality and social psychology review, 2(1), 18-39.
Vandiver, B. J., Cross Jr, W. E., Worrell, F. C., " Fhagen-Smith, P. E. (2002). Validating the
Cross Racial Identity Scale. Journal of counseling psychology, 49(1), 71.
Vandiver, B. J., Fhagen‐Smith, P. E., Cokley, K. O., Cross, W. E., " Worrell, F. C. (2001).
Cross's nigrescence model: From theory to scale to theory. Journal of multicultural
Counseling and development, 29(3), 174-200.
