White Identity Development Theory

Define: The White Racial Identity Model provides a conceptual framework for White individuals to consider their racism the model follows a theme of rejection of the concept of racism and focus on shared humanity, to a rejection of White racists, to the development of a positive anti-racist white identity.

Apply: A community organizer is attempting to build a coalition of neighbors to protest against a racist voter ID policy. She approaches members of a predominately White community and instead of immediately asking them to join in the protest she takes time to assess their developmental readiness to have conversations about their privilege or racism. Determining that many of the individuals are not developmentally ready, she decides to first invest in a community building and dialogue facilitation about the lived experience of Black individuals in the larger community and encourages them to consider racism more deeply. With appropriate challenge and support the community develops towards an understanding of anti-racist work and joins in the larger coalition to protest the voter ID law.

Adapt: A professor teaching a history course on the 1960s and social activism notices that his white students are reluctant to talk about their privilege and are not engaging as meaningfully in the class conversation. So the professor assesses their understanding of white identity and determines that they need more time considering their own privilege. Since class discussion is not the appropriate place to come to these realizations, he gives the students a journaling assignment that includes additional reading on white privilege. He asks the students to identify the way privilege effects their lives and encourages them to meet with him to talk through the process as they come to understand what it means to be white.

Source:

Helms, J. (1990). Black and White racial identity: theory, research, and practice. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.