Long Time No Update

Okay, so I'm a little behind in posting for this week. Between writing my paper and doing readings for class, I haven't managed to post. My mind feels it will explode with so many different thoughts and ideas that readings from the past two weeks have brought to the surface.

Since my last post, I've read Chapter 5 (Racial and Ethnic Identity Development) and Chapter 6 (Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity Development) from our Evans, Forney, & Guido DiBrito text. I ended up writing my paper on Cass' model of homosexual identity development (but will hold off discussion on this until we get there in class). I had to actually read through Anthony D'Augelli's and Vivienne Cass' models in our reader in order to actually "get" their theories - what was provided in the text wasn't enough for me to fully grasp them. This disturbed me somewhat and now I'm questioning whether I know enough about Cross, Helms, and Phinney's models of racial and ethnic identity development.

I'm making my way through the course reader as well. The Hardiman/Jackson chapter was great, particularly in the depth and clarity with which they were able to present their model.

For the remainder of our readings this week we can pick two of six articles to read. I don't want to miss out so my goal is to read (or at least skim through) them all.

-I started with Peggy McIntosh' "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." The last sentence is missing from our reader. You can find the full article here: (http://mmcisaac.faculty.asu.edu/emc598ge/Unpacking.html).
She uses her awareness of male privilege to discuss her white privilege - an interesting reflection.
-If you haven't picked your two readings yet, may I highly recommend Judy Rohrer's "Haole Girl: Identity and White Privilege in Hawai'i." It is a great review of available literature up to the time of the article, and she offers a reflection of herself as well. It offers a discussion of the word "haole" itself as well and I found the quotes from the Advertiser's "Haole: Is it a Dirty Word?" that she references to be entirely amusing! You'll have to read it for yourself!
-I skipped over the two Asian identity articles (I'll read those last).
-Cortes' article on intermarriage -> multiracial identity completely spoke to me. I will eventually reflect on this later. But just a quick note - our country is becoming SO diverse, this is something that must become a priority and the concepts she discusses will become increasingly relevant in the coming years.
-I thought Vasti Torres' article on Latino identity was interesting as well. While it's not entirely the same, I'm able to see parallels between the experiences of Latino students and first generation or immigrant students in Hawaii that have a difficult time leaving their family to pursue higher education on the mainland. While Hawaii does have UH, we've still got a low completion rate and a population of students that come from families with a more "collectivist" cultural background. This is something I've witnessed with my friends, and with prospective students I interview locally for Mount Holyoke College: students have a difficult time reconciling leaving their families that have sacrificed so much for them. There may be a pressure to work in the family business, take care of an ailing family member or younger siblings, not to mention that some families feel threatened by the idea of their child leaving the islands to pursue a higher education, "Oh, so you're too good for UH, are you? Well UH was good enough for me. You're going to UH."

Anyhow, that's just an update. I will post more once I make sense of all my scribbles in the margins of these articles.....

P.S. I left my Chickering and Reisser text within reach of my dog. Needless to say, it is now missing part of its spine. :(