Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity: A Personal Reflection

Introduction

Identity is multifaceted in nature: it may be relational and circumstantial, as well as concurrently permanent, changing, and dynamic. Identity development occurs via a process of socialization. It may or may not be self-established. It is, rather frequently, employed in the labeling and categorization of persons believed to possess oppositional or dual differences. Additionally, identity represents a construct applied in creating social orders of dominance and persecution, characterized by some groups being at an advantage in terms of influence and freedom while others, concurrently, are less fortunate (Babbitt, 2013). In this paper, the development of cultural identity and connected issues will be discussed. Moreover, this paper will facilitate an understanding of my own cultural identity through the application of a model of cultural identity development.

GSA Self-Assessment: Dominant and Non-Dominant Identities

The foremost step toward becoming a culturally sensitive and proficient counselor in a multicultural setting is self-examination, which encompasses understanding one's cultural identity, characteristics, prejudices, principles, and views. In the society of which I am a part, my African-American cultural and racial community is regarded as a minority community. With regard to age, I am a part of the dominant age group of adults. Further, I have no disabilities. With regard to spirituality and my religious background, my community is neutral. With regard to racial and ethnic identity, I belong to a non-dominant population — namely, people of color. If one looks at my social class, one will see that I belong to the dominant population of upper-middle-class persons. My gender orientation is also dominant in society, as I am a heterosexual person. With regard to indigenous background-related cultural identity, my own is neutral. As I was born in America, my nationality coincides with that of the dominant population. Furthermore, my gender expression as well as my gender identity lie within society's dominant group — I am male and possess masculine expression. Lastly, while my weight (I am toward the higher end of the body mass index) places me in the non-dominant cluster with regard to body size, my society pertaining to birth-assigned gender is neutral.

Educational level represents one means of identifying the dominant or privileged population in my society, and I regard myself as a part of this educated group. I am fortunate to have graduated from reputable colleges and universities, and the social class to which I belong is not perceived as inferior by society. However, as I am African-American, I consider myself a part of a non-privileged racial community in several ways. Absence of influence and authority constitutes one of the non-dominant population identities with which I identify. Privileged, majority White racial group members are able to avail themselves of numerous benefits owing to their association with the more dominant part of the nation's power system. Meanwhile, those hailing from more marginalized communities — such as myself — find it more difficult to acquire power easily. In addition, African Americans exhibit a greater likelihood of having limited access to well-paid employment and renowned educational institutions. Meanwhile, mainstream White Americans display a greater likelihood of claiming that African Americans primarily struggle with progress in education and career because of unstable households and an absence of excellent role models. White and African-American adults alike who claim that racial background interferes with the ability to succeed are equally likely to cite low motivation as a key reason.

A consideration of my personal identity and status hierarchy leads me to place being an American citizen at the top of the list, bearing in mind my existing standing of great power, prestige, and opportunity when compared to others. This realization further helps me remain mindful of others' disadvantaged situations. It is worth noting that our community boasts the most diverse and richest background among all ethnic groups in the nation and surrounding nations. African Americans' roots may be traced back to several ancient kingdoms, including the Asante, Mali, Songhai, Dahomey, Oyo, Kongo, Kuba, Benin, and Futa Jallon. Virtually all African groups across the globe have been victims of some form of American racism. While individual experiences may differ, every person with African roots has suffered from some form of racial discrimination and persecution (Wong, 2016). With this understanding and perspective, I can begin deconstructing hierarchies in my own social and personal life.

The Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI)

The MMRI is the model applied in this paper. Proposed by Sellers, Smith, Shelton, and colleagues (1998), the MMRI offers a theoretical basis for understanding the importance of race within Black Americans' self-concepts, as well as the qualitative meanings they ascribe to belonging to this racial group. Alongside this theoretical basis, the model puts forward a mechanism whereby racial identity impacts individuals' contextual evaluations and conduct. The MMRI combines two previously separate identity-construction perspectives, described by the theorists as the underground and the mainstream. While the former perspective de-emphasizes extrinsic elements and shifts attention to what being African American means, the latter emphasizes structural variables as well as negative self-concept development as a reaction to structural racial discrimination and similar factors. Furthermore, the mainstream model assumes common racism and race-related features (Sellers, Smith, Shelton, et al., 1998).

Mainstream Approach

According to Allport (1954), residing within a racially discriminative society must negatively impact the spirit and personality of Black Americans. Consequently, Allport believed Black Americans were either coerced into devaluing self-related facets that brought to mind the stigmatization wrought upon their community, or into devaluing mainstream society owing to its bias against the Black American community. This idea of a stigmatized and unwholesome identity is consistent with dominant conceptualizations of Black Americans' self-concept prior to the latter part of the 1960s (Clark, 1965; Horowitz, 1939; Kardiner & Ovesey, 1951). Thus, the major part of initial studies into Black racial identity, conducted from the point of view of the mainstream American population, assumed that self-hate was a major element of Black self-concept (Cross, 1991). To mainstream research scholars, Black racial identity represents one example of such processes. Hence, the mainstream ethnic and racial identity perspective typically revolves around how important ethnic and racial backgrounds are to individuals' lives (Sellers et al., 1998).

Underground Approach

This approach stresses the specificity of Black racial identity. Attention is paid to describing what being Black means — that is, this theory presents identity profiles pertaining to individuals' beliefs and views linked to their belonging to the African-American community. Such profiles can differ based on the development of individual identity or the experience of a conducive, supportive sociocultural atmosphere (Baldwin, 1984; Kambon, 1992). While the mainstream perspective's chief focus is questions concerning the internal validity of identity processes, this perspective's chief concern is examining the predictive validity of identity models (Sellers et al., 1998). As a male member of the African-American community, I chose the MMRI model owing to both its empirical consistency and its natural suitability to my individual situation.

The MMRI comprises the following four dimensions: racial salience, racial regard, racial centrality, and racial ideology.

Racial Salience

This dimension entails contextual facets of a person's racial identity, revolving around circumstantial cues at a given moment in time that individuals interpret (Sellers et al., 1998).

Racial Centrality

This dimension is regarded as stable across various scenarios and acknowledges the hierarchical position of identities within the individual's core self-concept (Rowley, Sellers, Chavous, & Smith, 1998).

Racial Regard

Racial regard denotes individuals' evaluative opinions of their own race, which can be positive or negative. The dimension of private regard may be defined as personal feelings relating to belonging to the African-American racial group. Public regard, on the other hand, reflects a person's view of how African Americans are perceived by others collectively (Sellers et al., 1998).

Racial Ideology

This dimension denotes attitudes about Black American interactions with other members of society and encompasses four viewpoints: nationalist, assimilationist, humanist, and oppressed minority (Shelton & Sellers, 2000). The model's conceptualization of racial identity is that it takes the form of a process through which circumstantial cues work together with consistent dimensions to determine how far one believes race is important at the time of a particular event, and one reacts accordingly (Sellers et al., 1998).

Conclusion

Diversity encompasses incorporating differences in inter-group beliefs as well as in-group differences that move a society forward from rigid, narrow racial identity treatment. In the current age, several individuals continue to struggle with supposedly contradictory ethnic and national identities, a phenomenon that is particularly true in the case of the United States, whose historical experiences have wrought a kind of "double consciousness," as described by W.E.B. Du Bois (Wong, 2017). In conclusion, the topic of racial identity is sensitive in nature, and one needs sufficient self-confidence to confront the diverse consequences that arise as a response to self-related aspects.

References

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