One of my very first thoughts when during the first session, and really throughout my life was, “everyone is human, and their race doesn’t matter”. My naïveté and my effort to minimize the significance of race represents clearly my belonging to this stage. My childlike belief that racism was a thing of the past allowed me to believe that white people, namely myself, have no prejudices or biases. As we have progressed into the third month of the course, I find myself still hovering in this stage, but beginning to shift into the Disintegration stage or recognizing parts of me that may have already been in this …show more content…
I would think how deplorable it was that my father acted this way, but blamed it on the generation before him, and vowed I would never do the same. I was raised in a community that was all white but I never heard of any blatant examples of racism aside from my father. I did not follow in my father’s footsteps, instead I moved through life thinking he was an anomaly, and was blind to the world around me. Recently, because of the eruption of racially charged killings, I am more observant of the racial disparity in the world. However, I do sometimes view those as isolated incidents that are being amplified by the media coverage. Through our reflections, lens checks, and listening to the experiences of classmates, the depths and outreach of racism is becoming more of a reality. On the other hand, I still find myself believing that all men are equal and wondering when we are going to focus on positivity and celebrate the strides being made for equality. This further solidifies my position in the Disintegration Stage, as I am “seeking reassurance from others that racism is not the faults of Whites” (Sue, et al., 2016, p 192). It is deeply disheartening to know that as a future social worker, I fall in the very beginning stages of racial identity