MIDI -Black People

Black Identity Development Scale

This scale is a modified version of Helms and Cross' Black Racial Identity Attitudes Scale* (BRIAS). It is a personal assessment tool developed to assist you in the process of identifying which stage you are at in the Cross model of Minority Identity Development (MID). The inventory consists of 44 statements. Some of these statements communicate concrete action, some are descriptive terms, and others are statements of personal values and beliefs.

Directions

As you read each statement, decide to what degree that statement is characteristic or descriptive of you. Use the following scale to make your assessment:

5 - Highly Characteristic of Me
4 - Very Characteristic of Me
3 - Frequently Characteristic of Me
2 - Somewhat Characteristic of Me
1 - Not at all Characteristic of Me

Select the appropriate numerical response for each item. Record the response in the blank space provided. Reflect on each statement, but do not spend too much time on any one item. In general, your immediate response is the best one. Please give a response for each item.

1.		When I am with Black people, I pretend to enjoy the things they enjoy.
2.		Black people who have any White people's blood should feel ashamed of it.
3.		I believe that everything Black is good, and consequently, I limit myself to Black activities.
4.		The people I respect most are White.
5.		I believe that White people are intellectually superior to Blacks.
6.		I feel excitement and joy in Black surroundings.
7.		I feel an overwhelming attachment to Black people.
8.		I feel that Black people do not have as much to be proud of as White people do.
9.		I believe that a Black person can be close friends with a White person.
10.		I constantly involve myself in Black political and social activities (greek letter organizations, clubs, student government, parties).
11.		I feel very uncomfortable around Black people.
12.		I feel anxious when White people compare me to other members of my race.
13.		I believe that certain aspects of the Black experience apply to ma and others do not.
14.		I involve myself in causes that will help all oppressed people.
15.		Most Black people I know are failures.
16.		I believe that because I am Black, I have many strengths.
17.		I feel good about being Black, but do not limit myself to Black activities.
18.		When a stranger who is Black does something embarrassing in public, I get embarrassed.
19.		Being Black just feels natural to me.
20.		I believe that the world should be interpreted from a Black perspective.
21.		I find myself reading a lot of Black literature and thinking about being Black.
22.		I have a positive attitude about myself because I am Black.
23.		I can't feel comfortable with either Black people or White people
24.		I believe that large numbers of Blacks are untrustworthy.
25.		People, regardless of their race, have strengths and limitations.
26.		I believe that Black people should learn to think and experience life in ways which are similar to White people.
27.		The most important thing about me is that I am Black.
28.		Other Black people have trouble accepting me because my life experiences have been so different from their experiences.
29.		I speak my mind regardless of the consequences (e.g., being kicked out of school, being imprisoned, being exposed to danger).
30.		I feel guilty and/or anxious about some of the things I believe about Black people.
31.		I have changed my style of life to fit my beliefs about Black people.
32.		In today's society, if Black people don't achieve, they have only themselves to blame.
33.		I believe that being Black is a positive experience.
34.		Sometimes, I wish I belonged to the White race.
35.		I know through experience what being Black in America means.
36.		I believe that to be Black is not necessarily good.
37.		I frequently confront the system and "the man".
38.		I feel unable to involve myself in White experiences and am increasing my involvement in Black experiences.
39.		I believe that White people should feel guilty about the way they have treated Blacks in the past.
40.		I believe that White people look and express themselves better than Blacks.
41.		White people can't be trusted.
42.		I am determined to find my Black identity.
43.		I often find myself referring to White people as honkies, crackers, racists, etc..
44.		A person's race has little to do with whether or not he or she is a good person.

Scoring the Inventory

Your responses have been totaled and transferred into the table below. The question numbers are listed in parenthesis below the Identity Development Stage.

Identity Development Stage (question #'s)	Description of The Stage	Score
Pre-Encounter (4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 15, 18, 24, 26, 34, 40)	Identifies with White culture, rejects or denies membership in Black culture. Atkinson's version is called "Conformity".
Encounter (1, 13, 21, 23, 25, 28, 30, 32, 36, 38, 42)	Rejects previous identification with White culture, seeks identification with Black culture. Atkinson's version is called "Dissonance".
Immersion/Emersion (2, 3, 10, 20, 27, 29, 31, 37, 39, 41, 43)	Completely identifies with Black culture and denigrates White culture. Atkinson's version is called "Resistance".
Integration/Commitment (6, 7, 9, 14, 16, 17, 19, 22, 33, 35, 44)	Internalizes Black culture, transcends racism, fights general cultural oppression. Atkinson's version is called "Synergetic Articulation and Awareness".

Each of the four stages we discussed in class is listed in this table. Based on the information that you provided about yourself in the inventory, the total scores recorded are an indicator of which stage you might be in. A high score (between 45 and 55) in one or more of the four stages means that you have described yourself as having characteristics highly consistent with that stage. These scores, however, are only intended to help you think about your own minority identity development and help you write about it for this class' mini-project. As you write your two-page response paper, please feel free to challenge, to disagree with, or to affirm the results of the inventory as appropriate.

* Helms, J.E. and Parham, T.A. (1990). Black racial identity attitude scale (Form RIAS-B). In J.E. Helms (Ed.), Black and White Racial Identity (pp. 245-247). New York: Greenwood.