Privilege, Power, and Difference by Allan G. Johnson
Main Idea
In this text, Johnson is opening a conversation about the various social injustices America is facing today. He does this by embracing terms that usually elicit defensiveness, acknowledging the relational aspect and reciprocal harms of privilege, and stressing the importance of the dominant group's participation in solutions.
Talking Points
1. Johnson talks about privilege as a relationship between two parties: "Privilege is always in relation to others. Privilege is always at someone else's expense and always exacts a cost." This is an important point because it frames privilege as a dichotomy, one group benefiting while another suffers.
2. Many people in a dominant group are unwilling to acknowledge or talk about their privilege. Johnson says "this is the single most powerful barrier to change. Understanding how to bring dominant groups into the conversation and the solution is the biggest challenge we face."
3. A last important point Johnson brings up is the reaction we have to the language surrounding these issues. Words like racism and sexism elicit a defensive response that often shuts down meaningful conversation and growth. He offers that these phrases be embraced but reframed and refocused on the ideas they represent rather than people they may describe.
