Privilege, Power, And Difference Summary
In the book Privilege, Power, and Difference by Allan G. Johnson he talks about the different troubles and issues dealing with privilege, the differences in this society, power, gender and race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social class, and disability standing. He talks about his own experiences backing it up with facts, memoirs, and other documents.
1. In the first chapter of this book, he talks about the proverbial term elephant in the room. I believe that this term to him means that race is always there, but it is a topic that people do not have any interest in talking about or bringing up. People will avoid bringing up this topic at all costs because it is controversial and just plain old awkward. It will always be there and people …show more content…
The biggest thing I learned about was white privilege, what it is and why it is a problem. Before this class, I never knew that white privilege was a thing or a problem. I did not feel like I had any more privileges than other races, I was blinded by it. Over the course of this semester I learned that white privilege is completely unearned, if you are white you have it and if you are not you do not have it. Even if you do not want it and you are white you still have it. I know understand what white privilege is and how it is affecting our world. Why should I be given more privileges just because I am white? This does not seem fair at all to me. There are three different presumptions of privilege that include innocence, worthiness, and competence. Presumptions mean that you know that when something goes wrong around you, you will not get blamed for it. Worthiness simply means that you know you are worthy and you are good enough of a person to get treated correctly. Being treated like you know what is going on around you and understand language is competence. It makes me sad knowing that I have all of these privileges on a daily basis that I take for granted and do not even notice when other people do not get them just because of their race. I think that if people did not believe that privilege did not exist it would not be a problem and not
1. In the first chapter of this book, he talks about the proverbial term elephant in the room. I believe that this term to him means that race is always there, but it is a topic that people do not have any interest in talking about or bringing up. People will avoid bringing up this topic at all costs because it is controversial and just plain old awkward. It will always be there and people …show more content…
The biggest thing I learned about was white privilege, what it is and why it is a problem. Before this class, I never knew that white privilege was a thing or a problem. I did not feel like I had any more privileges than other races, I was blinded by it. Over the course of this semester I learned that white privilege is completely unearned, if you are white you have it and if you are not you do not have it. Even if you do not want it and you are white you still have it. I know understand what white privilege is and how it is affecting our world. Why should I be given more privileges just because I am white? This does not seem fair at all to me. There are three different presumptions of privilege that include innocence, worthiness, and competence. Presumptions mean that you know that when something goes wrong around you, you will not get blamed for it. Worthiness simply means that you know you are worthy and you are good enough of a person to get treated correctly. Being treated like you know what is going on around you and understand language is competence. It makes me sad knowing that I have all of these privileges on a daily basis that I take for granted and do not even notice when other people do not get them just because of their race. I think that if people did not believe that privilege did not exist it would not be a problem and not