Helms Powerpoint

This document outlines an intervention activity called "My Plate" aimed at first year students. The goals are to develop personal racial identity awareness, understand diversity in perspectives and experiences, and explore racial identity complexities. Students build their plate by assigning M&Ms of different colors representing races to 11 important people in their lives. They then discuss their plates individually and as a group, reflecting on surprises, struggles, and takeaways about themselves and their classmates.

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Helms Powerpoint

Uploaded by

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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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Presented by: Leah Sadoian, Genola

Thomas, Pie Williams, & Cristie Granillo

Settings & Target Group

1st Year Students

Alpha Leaders

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Race is defined as being socially constructed

and not a function of biology.
Four tenets of Critical Race theory
1.
2.
3.
4.

Racism is a part of everyday life as an American

Voices of communities of color are legitimate
The dominant culture will concede to advances of people of color only when there is also a
benefit for them (Interest convergence)
Notions of color blindness and neutrality must be challenged

White Identity Model

Helms theory focuses on two sequential
phases of white identity development

Aba

m
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c
a
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ndonm

Contact- Denial, obliviousness or avoidance of

anxiety evoking racial information
Disintegration- Disorientation, confusion and
suppression of information
Reintegration- Distortion of information in own- group
enhancing manner

Evolution of Nonracist Identity

Pseudoindependence- Reshaping racial stimuli
Emersion/Immersion- Reeducating
Autonomy- Flexible analysis and response to
racial material

People of Color Identity Model

Abandonment of Internalized Racism
Conformity- Denial, selective perception
Dissonance- Anxiety, disorientation
Immersion- Hypersensitive and dichotomous
thinking
Emersion- Vigilance and collectivism

People of Color Identity Model Continued

Internalization- Intellection and abstraction
Integrative awareness- Flexible analysis and
response to racial stimuli

Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack

I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of
meanness, not in invisible systems conferring
dominance on my group" - Peggy Mcintosh
Example:

I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my
skin.

The Intervention: My Plate

Goals of the Intervention

Development of personal racial identity

- visual image, hands-on exercise
Awareness of other students racial
identities
- Diminish stereotypes/assumptions
- Understand diversity in
perspectives/experience
Explore racial identity complexities
- multi-racial identities
- nature vs nurture in identity
development

The Intervention: My Plate

Building My Plate
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Mother
Father
Mentor (if you have one)
Pastor (if you attend Church)
Childhood best friend
Next-door neighbor growing up
High School Principal
Favorite Professor
Favorite Singer/Musician
Favorite Athlete
Favorite Actress/Actor

M&M Key
Blue: White
Red: American Indian/Alaska
Native
Yellow: Hispanic
Brown: Asian
Orange: Black/African American
Green: Native Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander

Debriefing My Plate
- Is your plate majority one color? Or very diverse?
- Looking at your own plate, what did you notice that
surprised you?
- follow up with CLARIFICATION questions
- What did you see when you walked around? What
surprised you?
- Did anyone struggle with placing an m&m for a particular
individual?
- What did you learn about yourself and your classmates?
What is your takeaway?