ABSTRACT
In this chapter, a discussion of the cognitive-emotional process that engages racial socialization over the life span within a psychosociopolitical framework is presented. This discussion provides the foundation for understanding the processes that are present throughout the ecological model of racial identity that is subsequently presented (see Fig. 4.1). This model considers the evolution of ethnic and racial identity development in relationship to other statuses. Whereas race and ethnicity are salient aspects of identity in this stratified society (Phinney, 1990), which are historically and geographically defined (Root, 1997b; Waters, 1990), they are coconstructed with other salient aspects of identity, such as gender (Ossana, Helms, & Leonard, 1992; Stoler, 1995), class, generation (Padilla, 1995), and sexual orientation (Allman, 1996; Kich, 1996). The existing psychological models have not explicitly considered the interactive role of geographic history, gender, class, sexual orientation, or generation on the construction of racial or ethnic identity (Root, in press).
