PPD Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Privilege, Power, and Difference By: Allan G. Johnson

Privilege, Oppression, and Difference

The only thing that surrounds difference is privilege and power. The opening sentence of the chapter, which in fact is absolutely true. Privilege is the only thing that separates different races, and power is gained through this privilege. If you think about it, if everyone was color blinded, everyone would have the exact same opportunities that the most privileged people have. Some whether we like it or not are still born with more privileges then others. This gives them more power then the normal person. However, according to Johnson, difference is not to be at fault here. People are naturally afraid of what they don’t know or understand. Yet, that still doesn’t prove to be the case. We are afraid of what we have learned to think about these ideas in ways that make us be fearful or troubled. If we have been born and raised with the concept of being in a diverse situation, we would not know what it would be like to be segregated. Johnson gives the example of the people in Africa, they know what it is to be African, but don’t know what it is to be black until they come to the United States. They on the other side of the coin, the person from Norway doesn’t know what it is to be white until he arrives in the United States where he is worshiped for being white. He then praises himself for being white and makes sure everyone else knows it too. This is how racism starts and how it gets carried away. To key note a very important quote by Johnson, “The trouble around diversity, then, isn’t just that people differ from one another. The trouble is produced by a world 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.” Johnson right there gives the whole cause for why racism happens. It is how we are taught as we travel our lives through this world, how the world forms into different groups of people who make bias judgements about certain groups of people and how they act. The whole thing about cultural creation is false, it is made up and it is how we experience the world around us. All types of racism is all relative to our situation and stance in the event. We might not think someone is fit for a task based on their skin color or heritage, but that is just based on what we have prior knowledge on with their race or heritage, but is not always true with the individual. For instance Irish people are know to always drink a lot, but for instance you will find someone that is Irish that doesn’t like to drink. It is just a stereotype about a certain culture that is not always true, this is the basis for racism and how it effects our lives and lifestyles.