Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 12-2004 Intersections of Race, Identity, and Co-Cultural Practices: A Qualitative Content Analysis of a 'White Black Woman' Tammy Lynn Jeffries Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons Recommended Citation Jeffries, Tammy Lynn, "Intersections of Race, Identity, and Co-Cultural Practices: A Qualitative Content Analysis of a 'White Black Woman'" (2004). Master's Theses. 3869. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3869 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INTERSECTIONS OF RACE, IDENTITY, AND CO-CULTURAL PRACTICES: A QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS OF A 'WHITE BLACK WOMAN' by Tammy Lynn Jeffries A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Communication WesternMichigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan December 2004 Copyrightby Tammy LynnJeffries 2004 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Testament to the power of prayer and, in loving memory of my Grandfather, Robert Lowell Goens 1906-2003, whom I love and miss very much. Tammy Lynn Jeffries 11 INTERSECTIONS OF RACE, IDENTITY, AND CO-CULTURAL PRACTICES: A QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS OF A 'WHITE BLACK WOMAN' Tammy Lynn Jeffries, M.A. WesternMichigan University, 2004 Notes of a White Black Woman by Judy Scales-Trent (1995) was the text used for this analysis and offered insight to the process of identity development, and the co-cultural communication practices of an AfricanAmerican woman whom others mistake as European American-a 'White Black Woman.' The basis for this body of research was embedded in the premise that co-cultural communication practices are intrinsically linked to the normal communication of the White Black person's identity development negotiation process. The initial exploration of this study began with explaining Kich's (1992) bi-racial identity model froma mono-racial perspective allowing for new interpretations of this particular model. The second phase of this analysis linked Kich's (1992) biracial identity model to the co-cultural communication theory (Orbe, 1998c) which provided a theoretical frame for contextualizing the various stages of the model, this allowed fora simultaneous exploration of spoken words and the identity stage. This study also serves to prepare a foundationfor future inquiry into this phenomenon and significantlycontributes to the development of the WhiteBlack identitynegotiation model (see Gilroy, 2000; Haley, 1976; Jeffries, 2002). TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 1 Background Information...................................................................... 2 Description of Study ... .. ... ..... .. ..... .. .. ... ... ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 Rationale.............................................................................................. 4 Using a Biracial Model as Frame forthe Text............................. 7 Overview of Remaining Chapters .......... ................. ........ .............. ...... 9 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE..................................................................... 12 Issues of Identity and Labels: Deconstructing the Phenomenon of Race................................................................................................. 12 Cultural Identity and the Politics of Naming for Blacks/African Americans ... .. .... .. ... ... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. 15 The Complexities of Color among Blacks/ African Americans.................................................................................... 18 The Social Privilege of White Skin .... .. .... .. ....... .. ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .... 19 Identity Development ..................................... ..................................... 21 Kich's Model of Biracial Identity Development.......................... 22 Stage One: Awareness of Differentnessand Dissonance............................................................................ 23 Stage Two: Struggle forAcceptance ................................... 25 Stage Three: Self-Acceptance and Assertion of an Interracial Identity................................................................. 26 Co-Cultural Communication Theory................................................... 28 Ill Table of Contents-continued CHAPTER Overview and Key Components of the Co-Cultural Communication Theory ............................................................... 32 Outcomes .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 3 Approaches ................................. :......................................... 34 Practices................................................................................ 35 Summary and Research Questions ...................................................... 36 III. METHODOLOGY...................................................................................... 38 Qualitative Content Analysis Explained ............................................. 39 Description of the Text........................................................................ 40 Managing the Text for This Analysis.................................................. 41 Definingthe Themes and Concepts to be Used for This Analysis........................................................................................ 42 Analyzing the Text....................................................................... 43 IV. ANALYTIC RESULTS.............................................................................. 46 White Black Applications of Kich's (1992) Biracial Identity Development Model ...... .. ...... .. ........ ... ..... ... ...... ... ... ... ......... ................. 4 7 Making a Case for White Black Identity Exploration.................. 48 White Black Applications of Stage One............................... 49 White Black Interpretations of Stage Two ........................... 52 Applications of Stage Three ................................................. 55 Proposing a Stage Four: Broadening the Lens..................... 61 Co-Cultural Communicated Practices of White Black Woman......... 63 Finding Meaning in White Black Practice Selection................... 66 IV Table of Contents---continued CHAPTER Censoring Self and White Black Identity Negotiation................. 66 Confronting Society as a White Black Person............................. 67 Educating Others on the White Black Experience....................... 70 Co-Cultural Communication Practices and Perceived Dominant Group Member Guilt........................................................................... 72 V. DISCUSSION............................................................................................. 75 The Future for White Black Inquiry .................................................... 75 Expanding Kich's Model............................................................. 78 Broadening the Lens .................................................................... 80 White Black Identity Negotiation Model and Perceived Dominant Group Member Guilt.......................................................... 81 The Future for White Black Identity Negotiation Research................ 82 Conclusion........................................................................................... 82 APPENDICES A. Appendix A, Table 1 ................................................................................... 85 B. Appendix A, Table 2 ................................................................................... 87 C. Appendix B, Table 1................................................................................... 91 D. Appendix B, Table 2................................................................................... 149 E. Appendix C, Table 1................................................................................... 190 F. Appendix C, Table 2................................................................................... 193 G. Appendix C, Table 3................................................................................... 199 H. Appendix C, Table 4................................................................................... 209 V Table of Contents-continued APPENDICES I. Appendix C, Table 5 .................................................................................. 216 J. Appendix C, Table 6................................................................................... 226 K. Appendix C, Table 7 ................................................................................... 233 L. Appendix D, Table 1 .................................................................................. 248 M. Appendix E, Figure1 .................................................................................. 250 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 252 VI CHAPTER! INTRODUCTION If I don't look Black