Argument Statement
Johnson argues that privilege must be explicitly faced and directly confronted to dismantle oppression.
Three Talking Points
1. In his short book, Privilege, Power, and Difference, Allan G. Johnson discusses the idea that groups of people are afraid of each other due to their differences. However, Johnson says, “it isn't what we don't know that frightens us; it's what we think we do know. The problem is our ideas about what we don't know- what might happen next.” (pg 14) According to Johnson, “it keeps people from looking at what's going on and makes it impossible to do anything about the reality that lies deeper down, so that they can move toward the kind of world that would be better for everyone. “ pg 15. I want to expand on this by saying that I think shame and guilt are also powerful emotions that can be a hindrance, especially for white people in relation to privilege over Black and brown people. It’s not the feelings themselves; often white people do need to confront the shameful things we’ve done, even unconsciously or inadvertently. Guilt might also be an appropriate emotion when confronted with the ways we as white people contribute to oppression. In this case, the Emotions aren't the problem. The problem is that we frequently don't know what to do with the emotions of shame and guilt. We are not often taught how to be accountable, and it is not frequently modeled for us by other white people.
2. “It's much harder, however, to do something about power and the unequal distribution of resources and rewards. This is why issues of conferred dominance and the stronger forms of unearned advantage get much less attention, and why, when they are raised, they often provoke hostile defensiveness, especially from those who struggle with a lack of class privilege. Perhaps more than any other factor, this reluctance to come to terms with more serious and entrenched forms of privilege is why most diversity programs produce limited and short-lived results.” (pg 17) White queer people can frequently cause harm to Black and brown people by believing that facing the oppression related to queerness absolves them from being oppressors. This frequently happens when a white queer person is confronted about a racist microaggression and immediately gets defensive, leading to outright aggression, followed by running away from the conversation.
3. I appreciate that the author listed the Privileges people experience instead of what we frequently see, which is the impact of Oppression on marginalized people. This puts the onus of change on the people with privilege and makes very clear where the responsibility lies. One example of white privilege that Johnson uses is related to sports. “Although many superstar professional athletes are black, in general black players are held to higher standards than whites.” (pg 28) To me, one of the most glaring examples of this is Caitlin Clark in the WNBA. There are numerous examples of how Clark is upheld, coddled, and overhyped by her frequently overtly racist fans. Most recently, Clark flopped on the floor during a basketball play, and another player, who is a vet and who plays hard, landed on Clark, and her hand slipped and touched her neck. The entire incident from the time Clark threw herself on the floor to the other players leaving to go after the ball was all of two seconds, but the media zoomed in on Alyssa Thomas's hand on Clark's neck and ran with it. The image has been blasted on Good Morning America, ABC News, as well as all over social media. Alyssa Thomas and her wife have received a tsunami of racist threats and death threats due to an accident ( yes, it was a foul, but it wasn't intentional). Many of Clark's fans are saying that Clark should leave and that the WNBA would be nothing without her. In reality, the W was built brick by brick, primarily by Black women. Also, Clark is an intentionally dirty player who frequently does things like slap other players in the face rather than use an actual basketball defense. And her MAGA buddy, Sophie Cunningham, committed an assault on another player during a game. Cunningham’s actions were labeled as “funny” and normalized, if even discussed on social media and mainstream news.
Instead of spreading the racist images, I want to share a speech that Paige Bueckers, a white UCONN (now WNBA) superstar player, gave when she accepted her ESPY award for best female college athlete. Her speech acknowledged her privilege, highlighted incredible Black basketball players, and called out sports media for ignoring Black players.
"The Shot" Teresa Weatherspoon
Dunking Lisa Leslie and others
