Privilege, Power, and Difference: What Can We Do?

What:
In "What Can We Do?: Becoming Part of the Solution, Allan Johnson explains that "Privilege is a feature of social systems not individuals." (P. 138) Johnson then argues that although privilege and oppression are systemic problems that we can't individually correct or change; we can make a difference as participants in society to help change these systems that oppress. If we end our silence that affirms privilege and oppression and choose to take other paths that set a positive example rather than the paths of least resistance an oppressive society offers us we will contribute to positive change. "Oppression takes many forms, most notably avoidance, exclusion, rejection, unequal access to resources and rewards, and violence." This article is about what we can do to help end oppression, how we can help change the system that oppresses. By choosing to avoid the paths of least resistance that privilege and an oppressive society offer us we can help erode the oppression that is so entrenched in our society.

So What:
Privilege and Oppression cause a great deal of "trouble" in our society. The ongoing Societal Injustice around us provides great motivation to care about doing what we can. On page 168, Johnson explains that "paths of least resistance may perpetuate oppression... Obviously then, working for change isn't a path of least resistance, which raises the question of why anyone should follow Gandhi's advice and do it anyway." Johnson then points out that this is why "subordinate groups have done most of the work for change." People of subordinate groups have the most to gain and are most aware of the injustice and oppression they experience. As a result, people who are oppressed will be the most motivated to work for change.

On page 139, Johnson says: "Although disadvantaged groups take the brunt of the trouble, it also affects privileged groups. It does this in part because misery visited on others comes back to haunt those who benefit from it, especially in the form of defensiveness and fear." I thought this was a very good point. Yesterday, while taking pictures for my final project I was walking on Hartford Avenue surrounded by project housing.

I felt some anxiety because I benefit from white privilege and was surrounded by people who live in poverty and suffer the effects of oppression. Normally, I wouldn't be too concerned walking through this neighborhood on a weekday afternoon, but I was carrying my digital camera taking pictures designed to illustrate some of the ways this neighborhood suffers oppression resulting from white privilege. If oppression didn't exist, there would be no reason for anxiety in this and other similar settings.

However, guilt and injustice also affect the whites when we do nothing about racial privilege and oppression. We lose our "authenticity and aliveness" (170) and contribute to a system of oppression when we silently allow the status quo to continue.

Now What:
Johnson shares a number of ways we can contribute as change agents within our oppressive society. First we need to recognize two myths and avoid being held captive by them. Myth #1 is that "It's always been this way, and it always will" and Myth #2 is the myth of no effect, this myth is "the belief that nothing we do can make a difference" (p.145).

Johnson explains that it hasn't always been this way, that no social system lasts forever and that racial oppression has only been a feature of life for several centuries. He also explains a number of ways we can be part of gradual change. In some ways the change may be so gradual that we may not see it happen, but that doesn't mean that we aren't having an effect. On page 146 he says "we need to develop a similar ability in relation to time that enables us to carry within us the knowledge, the faith, that significant change happens even though we aren't around to see it." Then on page 147 he says "The myth of no effect obscures the role we can play in the long-term transformation of society. But the myth also blinds us to our own power in relation to other people...If we deny our power to affect people, then we don't have to worry about taking responsibility for how we use it or, more significant, how we don't.

Johnson suggests some steps we can take to have a positive effect on the transformation on society. We need to use simple everyday scenarios to avoid going along with a joke that affirms systems of privilege and oppression. "Systems shape the choices people make by providing paths of least resistance. We need to openly choose a different path that will show others both the path of least resistance they are taking and the option of choosing another path." Johnson says, "the simplest way to help others make different choices is to make them myself and to do it openly, As I change my participation within the system of privilege, I make it easier for others to do so as well and harder for them not to." (p.149)

Johnson wants us to admit and talk about the oppression and trouble that occurs in society. He also encourages us to learn how privilege and oppression work and how we participate in them (p.154). He challenges us to see if we can identify "paths of least resistance" and lets us know that the more aware we are of the power of these paths the more easily we can decide whether or not to go down them.

Johnson finally encourages us to take "little risks: Do something." Some of the little risks he tells us how to take include:
Make noise, be seen
Find little ways to withdraw support from paths of least resistance and people's choice to follow them, starting with yourself.
Dare to make people feel uncomfortable, beginning with yourself.
Openly choose and model alternative paths
Actively promote change in how systems are organized around privilege.
Pay attention to how different forms of oppression interact with one another.
Work with others
Don't keep it to yourself and
Don't let other people set the standard for you.

If we take some of these little risks, we will help bring positive Systemic change to our society. We may not see dramatic changes in our lifetime but when we take these risks we will help reduce the oppression and privilege of our systems. Johnson's article is mostly about the "Now What" and applying these principles to our lives. Systemic change doesn't come easily but if we follow Johnson's recommendations we will help put cracks in the dominant system of oppression and privilege that exists in our society.