Johnson Discussion Points

Privilege, Power and Difference

By: Allan G. Johnson

Argument Statement:

The author Johnson argues that for us to be a part of the solution to fix the trouble we are in with privilege, power, and difference than we must first be willing to admit that privileges benefit some groups at the expense of others and continues to divide society in terms of income, wealth, dignity, safety, health, quality of life and education. Furthermore, this divide promotes fear, suspicion, discrimination, harassment, and violence within the social categories that are oppressed.

Talking Points

1. Johnson states that, “How we as individuals are connected to ‘it’” ( the problem) often triggers people to feel as if they have done something wrong, especially if they identify as white, male, or heterosexual or a part of the privileged class. Johnson states that, “if “we '' don't use words like white privilege, racism, white racism etc then it will be impossible for us to discuss what is going on, see the problems that are evident, and then we can not make ourselves part of the solution. Prior to my learning, I often found myself feeling such feelings. I have always loved history. I enjoy learning what has happened prior to us being on this earth and I am often reading from a reflective lens: asking myself what can I learn from our ancestors' mistakes? I believe that the more we learn about how we got to where we are at and the more we are open to listening to everyone's lived experiences we will begin to build bridges, understanding, and empathy for those who are often oppressed. Over the past couple years,. I have heard, “you’re just another white female teacher teaching children who you can’t identify with.” Although that may be true to an extent, I can learn about their lived experiences, their family cultures, and dedicate building a relationship with my families. 2.Another interesting idea is this one of human nature: people can’t help but fear the unfamiliar. Johnson goes on to explain that this is a myth. In fact, humans are curious by nature. For me, the unfamiliar excites me and makes me want to learn more. 3.Issues of race and gender shape our lives in dramatically different ways depending on what we are born as. On page 8, Johnson is describing his experiences vs. those of a colleague whom he is preparing to teach a class on gender and race and he describes how different the legacy of racism and sexism shaped their lives in different ways. He describes how she can’t go for a walk alone at night without thinking about her safety a lot more. I can relate to this so often. Walking out from class late at night, going for a walk on my lunch down Promenade street near valley, looking over my shoulder just to make sure that, going out for a run and making sure I have my pepper spray in hand. I wish I felt safe enough to go out into nature without my phone. I simply do not. He continues to talk about, “Her misfortune is connected to my fortune: the reality of her having to deal with racism and sexism everyday is connected to the reality that I don’t. I didn’t have to do anything wrong for this to be true and neither did she. But there it is just the same.” Why is it like this? How do we break this cycle without putting blame on one particular group? How do we move forward using an education lens and shift mindsets? How can we help others to see this connection without blaming others for the mistakes of our predecessors? 4.Live in a society that attaches privilege to being white, male, heterosexual regardless of social class. Need the privileged group to be a part of the solution because without them the other groups don’t have the power to change the entrenched systems of privilege by themselves. Words like sexisim and privilege point to something difficult and painful in our history that continues in everyday life in our society. It is because of this that when training has to be held within work settings, focus is on tolerance and appreciating differences. These are totally different than talking about racism, sexisim, and privilege. Due to the uncomfortable nature of the words and don’t cover the true issues within the -isms because they want to avoid making anyone in power feel uncomfortable or defensive. We need to reclaim the words to that people are more comfortable with naming and owning them. 5. Diversity: Trouble isn’t that we are different from one another. On page 19, Johnson states that, “The trouble stems from a world that is organized in ways that encourage people to use “difference to include or exclude, reward or punish, credit or discredit, elevate or oppress, value or devalue, leave alone or harass.” The characteristics in the center of the diversity wheel are impossible to change and are some of the most significant forms of diversity and oppression. 6. On page 22, Johnson discusses the “Social Construction of Reality: Baldwin tells us that races and all of the categories within it have no significance outside of systems of privilege and oppression. These systems that create them.” The definition of different races has changed historically: Ex. Irish, Italians, jews were considered part of the “non-white” group by the anglo-saxon protestants of England and the U.S. 7. Individuals experience privilege, but the individual isn’t what is actually privileged. Privilege is the relation to a group or social category. You can lose privilege if people believe you do not belong in a particular group. Therefore, the consequences of this paradox is as follows: privilege is rooted in society and organizations as much as it is rooted in one's personality; privileged without feeling privileged; Only people can be the recipients of oppression because it is the result of the relationships between social categories. It is not possible to be oppressed by society because it doesn’t arise from being on the losing end in a system of privilege.