Skin Deep Response

Jasmine Cardenas October 17, 2012 English 1000C Professor Bell Skin Deep 1. Since a young boy Dane was not taught about any other races than that of his own. Dane’s family raised him to believe he was superior over other races. His grandfather and great grandfather both fought in the Confederacy and were both very racist Caucasian men. Dane states directly to the other teens in the group, “no way I can step back and change that,” meaning his grandparents that were involved in the Confederacy.

Because Dane was raised in a mainly racist family and dominantly white neighborhood he was brought up to think he was better than those children and teens of other races. He was raised to believe that everyone in mankind has struggles in their own way but does realize that minorities have a harder time with these everyday struggles. Dane states in one of his conversations with other college students that, “life is rough” and that should be able to handle their situation on their own.

This is a connection I made between Dane’s early life experiences and his struggles to make sense of his own racial identity. I feel as though Dane’s early life at home impacted his views of interactions with other students at the workshop. 2. Tammy was raised in an all white neighborhood but at the same time realized the struggles and racism toward minorities. I feel as though Tammy is in the Pseudo-Independent stage of Beverly Daniel Tatum’s “Racial Identity Development” model.

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I think Tammy’s in this developmental stage because she was very aware of the conflicts that minorities faced in that time period; she was also very concerned and wanted to learn more about the feelings of those from other cultures. She doesn’t believe that Whites are “superior” to any other race and she wanted to make a change in herself and in her neighborhood. Tammy wants to connect with those of other races but others don’t take to it well because she is white and many young minds believed that all Caucasians were racist.

It was very difficult for Tammy to get her point across in group discussions because she felt so strongly about the subject. Tammy stated, “my family taught me an honest day’s work, and honest day’s pay…but I’ve come to realize that for some culture’s in our society that’s not true they have to work twice as hard and are being taught they can’t do something. ” This quote really set it apart for me in figuring out which developmental stage Tammy belonged in.

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