Privilege, Power, and Difference Reflection

Privilege, Power, and Difference Reflection

Argument Statement: Alan Johnson argues that the way in which our society has been built over time and throughout history has been created to benefit certain groups and harm others.

Talking Points:

- "We all like to feel that way: accepted, valued, supported, appreciated, respected, belonging.  So you'd think we'd go after it... Apparently, something powerful does keep us from it, to judge from all the trouble there is around issues of difference -- especially in relation to race, gender, sexual orientation, and class.  Something powerful keeps us far from anything like a world where people feel comfortable showing up and feel good about themselves and one another.  The truth of this powerful force is everywhere, but we don't know how to talk about it, and so we act as though it's always somewhere other than here and now in the room with us." (Johnson, page 7). 

-"As Peggy McIntosh describes it, privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they've done or failed to do."  (Johnson, page 23). 

-"Privilege grants the cultural authority to make judgements about others and to have those judgements stick.  It allows people to define reality and to have prevailing definitions of reality fit their experience.  Privilege means being able to decide who gets taken seriously, who receives attention, who is accountable to whom and for what." (Johnson, page 33). 

Connections:

I found this article that relates to white privilege and I found it connects well to this week's reading.

Click here to read more: https://www.nationalseedproject.org/key-seed-texts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack 

  

Personal Reflections:

While reading this article, it made me think of the biases and judgements that people have based on differences among groups.  In different instances throughout my working experience, I have noticed that when people of color have a great contribution that they made, that it does not always get celebrated and praised as they should.  This reading also made me think of a professional development I went to that taught about our unconscious biases that we have.  We may not even know we have these unconscious biases without unpacking them and really digging deep, and grappling with different scenarios.  During this pd we had to grapple with different scenarios and perspectives to determine the different opinions we may have about certain groups.