Privilege, Power, and Difference

Privilege, Power, and Difference 

by Allan G. Johnson 

Talking Points

"In some ways, for example, the social advantage of being white will tend to be more

significant for lower- and working-class whites than it will for whites in the middle

and upper classes"

            I just found this interesting because I didn't know this or considered it much...

Maybe they lean more on economic privilege and their white privilege isn't as

significant 🤷

"if they went to school and worked hard... race would no longer be an issue"

I think under our capitalist society, most people can relate to this quote of

doing everything their system or “people” in charge told them to do, and it

still not being enough. I would hope this would join us together and not

be something that separates us.

"A tornado didn't blow through town and level her house while leaving mine alone.

No, her misfortune is connected to my fortune"

I like this quote and how it frames the responsibility of others who aren’t

experiencing an “isms” that we do have to listen and think critically about the systems

in place and who benefits from them. 

Argument statement-

Johnson argues that racism, sexism, etc., shouldn't be viewed as problems that only belong to those groups affected. It involves both parties, the people who are experiencing the oppression and those who benefit from that oppression. The elephant is the refusal to acknowledge the connection that those who are oppressed share that problem with their oppressors.