Essay On Intraracial Identity Conflict

In 1971, William E. Cross, Jr., Ph.D., a Black psychologist and prominent researcher (specializing in Black psychology) developed a framework for assessing how black Americans come to understand what it means to be Black. Dr. Cross introduced his ideologies as the “Nigrescence Model of Racial Identity Development“. He asserts that every black American must undergo a series of identity stages to develop a healthy and balanced understanding of the Black experience and become well-rounded in our global society. This model encompasses five stages of identity development, which Dr. Cross emphasizes, must be performed in order to successfully accomplish this goal.

Slavery, often called the “Peculiar Institution”, was an integral part of the United States economy. Prior to the civil war, the economy of the south was based on the use of slave labor for cotton. Even though the North did not have as many slaves, it relied on cotton from the South, which was the biggest import from the United States. Slavery became an important part of the culture of the south. Plantation life became an idealized way of life. Many whites came to view blacks as inferior and uncivilized. The United States was one of the last countries to abolish slavery and many of the ideas of white supremacy still exist today. For example, in The Growth of The American Republic by Samuel Eliot Morrison and Henry Steele Commager, a textbook used from the 1930’s until the 1960’s, the authors wrote about slavery having been beneficial for everyone, even the slaves. They wrote about how slaves were happy to be slaves and treated well. They claimed that slaves became devoted to their masters and were faithfully obedient. They wrote that slaves worked less than free workers of the North. Contrary to what Samuel Eliot Morrison and Henry Steele Commager thought, slaves were not treated well, content, or devoted to their owners, and suffered from overworking and terrible conditions.

Slavery was a cruel and devastating trade that ravished through the world during the Antebellum Era. For both men and women slavery destroyed their entire lives. They both were ripped form their birthplaces and families and forced to endure exhausting physical tasks day in and day out. Along with the taxing physical responsibilities, slaves men and female were deprived of basic human rights and were subject to physical and psychological humiliation. Slaves in the Antebellum South were beaten, starved, and degraded regardless of their sex and were not seen as people but objects to hold and purchase. However, as slavery progressed gender roles became to form clear gender roles and separation of the sexes. The experience of slavery was gender separated through the work the slaves were assigned, the treatment of their masters, and how their gender affected their value and their sale as property.

Michelle Alexander in her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, discusses the preservation of racial subordination in the United States. While the abolition of slavery following the American Civil War freed all slaves, the institution left an enduring impact on society, especially the impression of white male supremacy. Consequently, the development of Jim Crow Laws preserved the racial segregation of former slaves under a more “civilized caste system.” After nearly a century of fighting against the new system of subordination, African Americans were freed again upon the lift of the Jim Crow Laws. Despite the hundred years since the abolition of slavery, white resentment and wrath still remained which helped

The peculiar institution, also known as slavery, has perpetuated the slave’s mentality amongst black Americans . Before becoming enslaved and dehumanized in America, they black slaves were people. African people. Slave masters first had to enslave the minds of the African people to create slaves. This process was so potent that it became hereditary in the generations African American to come in one way or another. In 2014 America, blacks now internalized a worker’s mentality rather than an owners mentality. From a very young age black youth know that they have to get a good job for survival. America impresses an idea, and young black people accept the idea, that success comes through the hard work and enjoyment of the labor that accompanies the inferior success standard given. This

African American were enslaved over 200 years ago. During this time, blacks were not even considered to be humans. Their lives was not important to anyone, and they were not considered beautiful, or to have any beauty whatsoever. Beauty was only favored in white supremacy. During this time in the 18th and 19th century the black female slave began to get raped by their masters, producing mixed-raced children, who had lighter skin. Even though they were half white, they still didn’t receive the same luxurious treatment as other whites, but because of their skin, they were put above their darker skinned relatives. The darker skinned were forced to stay out in the field and work all day, while the light skinned slaves were promoted to house slaves (ABC News). This created the separation for African Americas. It is believed this idea to separate the slaves by their complexion came from a man named Willie Lynch and his ideas in the Willie Lynch letter. In his letter he explain that he had a plan to control all of the slaves, and that if you installed his method the correct way it will control African Americans for 300 years. His method was to separate all African Americans simply by their difference and make theirs differences seem bigger than they actually are. According to Lynch, his method was to separate “old black male vs. the young black male, and the young black male against the old black male. You must use the dark skin slaves vs. the light skin slaves, and the light skin

The social identity theory is a theory developed by Henry Tajfel, in which Tajfel believes that who we are socially determines how many positive feelings we have towards ourselves. Basically, if we like where we stand socially, then we will like who we are and display happiness. In this theory, Tajfel labels the “in group” and the “out group” and says that we will always compare our “in group” to another’s “out group.” By comparing these groups, we develop a better personal view on ourselves (King, 2009). A big factor of the social identity theory is that the groups will tend to critique the differences of the groups, and overlook the similarities. A modern day example of the social identity theory would be your everyday high school cheerleaders versus band members. The cheerleaders think of themselves as the queen bees of the school,

The institution of slavery was meant to be a permanent condition for Black males. This condition lay the historical outline for structural and societal racism resulting in a degrading formation of identity within Black. Africans were imported to the United States as purchased goods beginning around 1620. By 1770, almost 700,000 people, nearly 18 percent of the Americans were slaves. By the time of the Emancipation Proclamation, that number had exploded to over 4 million Davidson, J., DeLay, B., Heyrman, C., Lytle, M., & Stoff, M. (2011). Blacks were systemically dehumanized for hundreds of years, a practice that had unique social and psychological effects on men. They worked and were whipped in fields like animals. Any resemblance of pride, any call for justice, and any measure of manhood was tortured, beaten, or sold out of them. Most were forbidden from education, which included learning to read and write Davidson et al. (2011).

Prideful Black identity socialization, per Allen (2015), is an essential element of success and resilience. Researchers have created, recreated, and scrutinized many Black identity models, but William Cross’ (1971, 2001) theory is regarded as the most accurate and beneficial (Constantine, 1998). Cross created a Black identity development model that observes three patterns (Cross et al., 2001). First, Nigrescence pattern A is the process by which individuals have formative Black socialization experiences throughout their lives. Next, Nigrescence pattern B is the process by which individuals who were not socialized toward Blackness, or those who do not have a healthy Black identity

Throughout history, African Americans both free and enslaved were not treated equally nor permitted with the same rights as white men. African Americans were enslaved and not allowed to vote or hold public office. Since the 15th century, African Americans have been treated less than human, some even experienced brutal punished for justifiable mistakes. The use of African American slave labor was an enormous contribution to agriculture and labor. It became a part of southern state’s economy within America. Additionally, African Americans were forced or born into slavery where they endured harsh working conditions with zero pay and often times were punished by their masters. Even slaves that became emancipated or paid for their freedom were also treated differently than whites. Notably, blacks did not have the same privileges as whites and were forced to carry a “freedom card” wherever they went. Failing to do so would lead to severe consequences, such as being forced back into slavery. Once African Americans were considered free, they faced additional discriminations such as not being able to vote or serve as a figure in public office. Due to this and additional factors, African Americans were almost entirely incapable of defending themselves against whites. Since the start of the 17th century, African Americans, free and enslaved were punished for their skin color and were considered the lowest scale by not being allowed to the same opportunities and rights and white men.

In 1492 Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue. Everyone knows the story of Christopher Columbus; they are taught it in grade school if not before then. When he landed in America by accident, he had no idea that he would be creating the world's largest Melting Pot. This "melting pot" provided means for a new country, made from a mixture of many cultures and beliefs, thus creating a new country with a new and ever-changing culture. One complication with a Melting Pot is that you cannot put people of different race and ethnicity together without conflict.

This essay will be looking to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the social identity theory with studies to support.

For many years now the people in power or “whites” have passed laws so that other racial groups are kept at the bottom of the social hierarchy. These racial group that are kept at the bottom become racialized and oppressed therefore they become unequal to the people that are at the top of this hierarchy. The racial groups that are kept at the bottom vary from the Native-Americans to the Mexican-Americans and obviously the African-Americans. In this essay I will be comparing how the racialization process has been similar and different between these racial groups. I will also define race and racialization. Furthermore, I will explain how class, gender, sexuality, and citizenship has impacted the racialization process within these groups.

Intergroup conflict is when members of a group have hostility towards one another. This can be seen in the cases of juvenile delinquents within a detention center who are also members of active gangs. They all have one thing in common – they are part of a group (the detention center) and are part of smaller groups (their individual gangs). These differences cause the intergroup conflicts.

Social identity theory, it is a person’s sense that is based around the group they are in, either by their personal identity or with different kinds of social identities. That is, people will try to improve their own image of themselves. The theory was proposed by Henri Tajfel. People can increase their self-esteem by both their own achievement and interaction with a successful group of people. This shows the importance of social belonging. This theory is based around three mental processes, social categorization, social identification and social comparison.