Personal Reflection Paper On Diversity

When I reflect on the concept of diversity, I realize that it is not something I actively consider on a regular basis. Diversity for me is typically noticed subconsciously by thinking a person is different from me in one way or another. Growing up being in the racially dominant group where the city itself was predominantly Hispanic gave me a unique experience with racial relations. When I was a child, I had no idea that racism existed. As I grew older however, I understood the societal restrictions on those who were not white. Even though I lived in a diverse city, it is not without difficulty to separate my own prejudices while working with other people. Sometimes I struggle to admit that white privilege has significantly helped me in my life, though on some level I recognize it has. This struggle will certainly affect my social work practice when I have wrong information …show more content…
Because of my unique experience with race, I do not think I was ever on the contact stage of the white identity development theory, instead I think that I was on the pseudo-independence stage where I had increased experience with people of color and knew of the existence of racism. I think that after I realized how other white individuals treated minorities, such as the police officer, I moved to the immersion stage and started to think of ways to address the privileges I have that others do not (Helms, 2014). I noticed that when I am at the store, I am not followed closely around to make sure I will not steal anything. There is a higher level of trust placed on me based on the color of my skin alone. Anything bullying I faced was superficial compared to the level of societal prejudices placed on people of color. No one is surprised when I am articulate, I will never have to worry about the law enforcement, I will not be just a statistic used to back up some political