Lizbeth Ramirez

December 18, 2014

Psychology 672
Summary Evaluation
This class and these workbook entries have been eye opening and overall I have had an
interesting experience in this class. When I first started this class I honestly felt it was
unnecessary for me to take this course. I thought to myself that it was unfair for this to be a
requirement for me since in my mind I was obviously culturally sensitive and did not have any
biases. After all, how could I be biased? As a Hispanic female in a graduate program there was
no way I could have any resistances since I know what it is like to experience discrimination and
stereotyping. I am a minority in more than one way and in my mind this could only mean I was
culturally sensitive and open to working with all people.
Imagine my surprise when realizing I indeed have biases. I found out that biases and
preconceived notions about certain groups that I thought I had shaken are still lingering without
me even realizing it. I also found out about biases I did not even know I had. This class was
tough for that reason. I think it is difficult for anyone to realize they are biased or culturally
insensitive but it is especially so for someone who was convinced they have no biases. As
reluctant as I felt going into this class and as unpleasant as I found it to discover my biases, I am
very glad that I did. Being aware of what can cause a strong reaction in me will help me further
understand my biases and work on them. Without this course I would have gone on thinking I am
a culturally sensitive, biased free person.
Growing up a daughter of uneducated parents who left their home country for a better
opportunity, I never really had much. Because my parents lacked an education and are

immigrants they never held good jobs and in fact had to work a lot to support my siblings and I.
Even with how hard they had to work we were only able to afford basic necessities. This was not
a huge problem when we lived in a poor neighborhood in Los Angeles. When we were in Los
Angeles our neighbors and my classmates were all of the same or similar socioeconomic status
and I never really thought about how little we were surviving on. As I got older and I understood
things and people around me better I started to see how much more others had and especially
how many more opportunities were available to them. The disparities became even more
apparent after my parents moved us to Lancaster in search of a nicer place for us to live.
When we lived in Los Angeles everyone was either African American or Hispanic and
thus Caucasian people were either our teachers at school or only seen on television and movies. I
was surprised when I moved to Lancaster and realized that a lot of the kids there were Caucasian.
Not only that but most of these Caucasian kids had parents who could afford to buy them
expensive clothes and had to work only a 9-5 job to support them. The way I saw it these kids
had it all, wealth and time with their parents. I remember my parents being gone all the time
because they had to work and sometimes my siblings and I had to join them in their work
ventures. Even with all the work my parents did, we still lived in a small older house in a not so
desirable neighborhood. I remember being embarrassed of where I lived and the fact that my
parents did not speak English and so I kept to myself to avoid introducing any friends to my
family or inviting them to my house. I especially made sure not to make Caucasian friends
because somehow my low socioeconomic status meant I was inferior to them. This idea of
inferiority turned into a bias against middle class Caucasian people as I got older.
From my early twenties and up until I took this class I developed a strong resentment
against privileged, middle class Caucasian people. In my eyes they have so many opportunities

and it used to frustrate me when I heard complaints about the work we had for school or having a
bad or hard teacher. I always thought there were so many obstacles I had to overcome to be
in school such as figuring out how to pay for school and having to balance school and work that
to me their complaints sounded like fits. I thought that just like I was, they too should be grateful
to even have the opportunity to be in school. This class really helped me see how much
resistance I would have working with members from this group. I am sure if I were to work with
kids from middle class families I would be reluctant to believe they are struggling as I do not
understand their struggle. When working with these kids I would probably compare their
struggle to that of the struggles I faced myself growing up or the struggles I saw other poor
minorities suffer. This will likely lead me to minimize their concerns and that would be harmful
to my clients. I see this is a problem and I must work on it. One thing I plan to do is to always
keep in mind that everyone has a different journey and that to some people their struggle is very
real regardless of whether or not it seems so to me. I think working in Oroville this semester has
also helped with this resistance because I have met with so many Caucasian kids. Some from
middle class homes and some from low SES homes but in every case these kids are facing some
real issues and difficulties and are need of support. If it is the case that I am unable to overcome
my resistance with a given client then I would refer the client to a colleague in an effort to ensure
s/he gets the help s/he needs.
Learning about this resistance led me to see that I am biased toward working with low
SES Hispanic students and their families. I have always been reluctant to embrace my culture
and yet I find myself really wanting to help members of my cultural group. I think knowing the
struggle I faced with understanding my identity encourages me to want to help other kids who
may be facing the same struggle. Also, because I know that Hispanic students from low SES

families are often disadvantaged and lack opportunities, I want to help them achieve in school
just like I got help from some wonderful teachers. Of course I can see now that I do not have to
help any group exclusively and that people from all cultures face issues that they may need help
working out. The most important thing I have to keep in mind is that everyone struggles from
time to time regardless of their ethnicity or social class. By remembering this I will be able to
remain compassionate and minimize my bias when helping others.
Another thing I learned about myself in this class is that much to my dismay I still hold
on to some negative stereotypes about African American people. As I talked about in previous
entries I had many negative experiences with members of this group when I was growing up in
Los Angeles. However, when I moved to Lancaster I started to find comfort in hanging out with
African American and Hispanic people. Because of this I thought my bias against members of
this group were gone and yet I still find myself thinking some negative things from time to time.
One thing I know I do is, I experience some fear if I walk by an African American male at night.
It saddens me that some of my old ideas about African American people are so deeply ingrained
that even though I thought I had overcome some of my prejudices, some still exist in my mind. I
think only through time I will completely shake these negative things I associate with African
Americans. It is great that I discovered I have not completely overcome the negative stereotypes
I grew up with about African American people. This is the first step to working on my prejudices,
resistances and biases. Were it not for this class I would still be convinced that I no longer hold
any negative ideas about African Americans.
I am so grateful I got to take this class because as unnecessary as I initially thought it was
for me as a minority I learned so much. Not only about me but about other cultures and about
how Caucasian people view minorities. I loved hearing from different people and different

perspectives about being White and any privilege attached to that. I really liked learning that
there are actually many Caucasian people who acknowledge their privilege and actually want to
advocate for those who may not have the same privilege. This class also prompted some
interesting conversation with my peers (those in my cohort) outside of class and that was a
wonderful experience for me. I got to share my story with a few of the people in my cohort and it
is a nice feeling to help them see that I can share some stuff that is perhaps a shared experience
with other members of my culture of origin but that also as a bicultural person there are many
values I shared with them and of course some values and customs that are unique to me. In the
process of writing these workbook entries I learned so much about myself and I gained some
appreciation for my culture. I also started to understand that my Caucasian peers are actually
quite accepting of me and that has definitely been an area of growth for me. One year and a half
into this program and I am finally feeling like I can be myself around most of them. The
inferiority complex that I have carried with me for most of my life is slowly dissipating.
Four months ago I could have never guessed that I would benefit so much from this
course. I learned not only about my biases, values and beliefs but also about ways I can combat
any resistances I encounter. All this knowledge will help me in more ways than one when
coming up with interventions. For example, if I am counseling someone with a similar
background and experience as mine I might be able to better understand their struggle and
attempt to come up with various ways to help them. However, having learned about what my
resistances are is extremely helpful too as it will allow me to understand what the source is for
any strong reaction I may have to a client. This will help me identify if that reaction is something
I can overcome and still do some productive work with the client or if the reaction is too strong
and I must refer my client to someone else. Either way this class has taught me so much about

myself, my culture, how others perceive me and the fact that there are some universal
experiences that affect most people regardless of ethnicity, gender, culture or SES. I think as I
become more comfortable in who I am I will be able to have more open dialogues with members
of other cultures and learn about their values, customs and beliefs. I could see the beginnings of
that this year. As I mentioned before some of the members of the cohort and me actually had
some interesting conversations that were prompted by this class and for that I am extremely
grateful. Being able to have respectful conversations about culture, race, gender and ethnicity is
extremely valuable in helping us understand people who are different than ourselves which will
lead one to be more culturally sensitive and thereby a better cross-cultural counselor.