The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3 - 70

Kathy Cook * Dorian L. McCoy

identities. Thus, in this particular inquiry, we
reviewed White racial identity development
models, and the literature on White privilege
and contemporary racism.
Hardiman (1982) first proposed a developmental model focused on White identity as a
"process by which White Americans develop a
sense of racial identity as members of a racially
privileged group in a society that has at its foundation, White racism" (p. 1). Hardiman (1982)
argued that White people exist for much of
their lives unconscious of their Whiteness, and
therefore unconscious of the societal implications of identifying as White. Hardiman's fivestage model that described the development of
racial consciousness among White people was
one of the first to conceptualize a possible progression for White people from unconsciously
White/tacitly racist to consciously White/actively non-racist. Helms' (1984) model moved
the focus away from counseling client's cultural differences/deficiencies, toward a focus on
the counselor's racial consciousness. Helm's
(1990, 1995) White Racial Identity Development (WRID) model explicates two developmental processes: the abandonment of racism
and the development of a non-racist White
identity. Grounded in a Black-White dichotomous framework, Helms' model was the first
to examine how White people develop attitudes
about the racial group to which they belong.
Her model explains how White people develop
consciousness about identifying as White in
juxtaposition to their consciousness and perceptions of Black people.
Partially in response to criticisms of Helms'
model that employed a Black-White dichotomy,
Ponterotto (1988) proposed a stage model of
racial consciousness in which White counselor
70

trainees came to acknowledge and accept not
only their own racial identity, but also those of
People of Color. Ponterotto's model expanded
the scope of racial consciousness development
from a White/Black dichotomy to a White/
Non-White dichotomy. This model acknowledged that White people's racial consciousness
is grounded in their perceptions of themselves
in relation to People of Color. Using a fourstage model, one of the major contributions
of Ponteretto's model is the recognition that
White people cannot develop significant racial
consciousness in all White environments.
The concept of White privilege, introduced
by McIntosh (1992), is an important aspect of
understanding White racial identity development. McIntosh (1992) was the first to explore
specific aspects of the benefits one yields from
identifying as White in the United States and
defined White privilege as:
an invisible package of unearned assets which
I can count on cashing in each day, but about
which I was "meant" to remain oblivious.
White privilege is like an invisible weightless
knapsack of special provisions, maps,
passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools,
and blank checks. (p. 71)
There is considerable agreement about the
essential elements that exist in the social construct of White privilege (Jensen, 2008; Sullivan, 2006; Wildman & Davis, 2008; Wise,
2008c). There are five essential elements of
White privilege. First, it is a system of advantages and benefits that keeps power (economic,
social, and political) in the possession of White
people (McIntosh, 1992). Second, White privilege is invisible and is designed for the beholder to remain oblivious to its existence (Sullivan,
2006). Third, White privilege is deeply en-

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3