Although Affirmative Action can help to combat the negative effects of racism within our society, it cannot nullify white supremacist thinking, which has a profound impact on individual development and beliefs. White supremacy is the belief that members of the white race are superior to members of other races, and should dominate non-white people socially, economically, and politically. The white supremacist ideology is omnipresent in American society and dominates media, politics, and even education. Movies and television are dominated by white actors while little representation is granted to people of color. White beauty standards are seen by all, and very few of the historical figures taught in school are anything other than white. The widespread dominance of white culture can have a profound impact on the identity …show more content…
Stage one of white development is “contact”. Here, a person pays little to no attention to their racial identity, has internalized stereotypes, is unaware of white privilege, and has no notion of racism being anything more than a phenomenon affecting others on an individual level. White supremacist thinking causes white people to believe that they are the societal norm, and be completely unaware of inequality and privilege. Many white people stay in stage one of identity development for their entire lives. White Supremacist thinking can negatively impact individual identity development by keeping people from understanding others or can cause people to think negatively about themselves.
The white supremacist thinking in our society has also affected my personal identity development. As a white person, I am currently going through Tatum’s six stages of white identity development. I have already passed stage one of identity development, as I am aware of the existence of racism as a