As a Hispanic male, I found the Black Identity Development Model applied more to my personal experiences. However, I do not feel that this model accurately articulates distinct stages (or phases) for me, rather it helps to describe particular feelings, moments, conversations, and ideas I have experienced. I have experienced on several occasions aspects of the Encounter Phases, at times in a very direct way. I grew up in a large city in Texas where there were obvious and intentional racial divides. As a child, there was an ever present influence on who I should associate with and with whom I should not. I was stereotypes as if they were biological facts. After moving away from Texas, these barriers became less frequent. Almost to the point where
