Power, Privilege, And Oppression

The term “privilege” is when a person has the right or confused with having the right to do something. For example, for someone to advance their education is not a privilege perhaps it is a right. In some cases during certain situation person can be granted the privilege. White privilege is a word greatly used in social rights that advantage individuals to be acknowledged as white in Western countries, afar what is frequently proficient by non-white individuals in the same social, political, or economic conditions (Rothenberg, 2016). However, when a certain race color is treated more superior than another race is giving the advantage or benefit to have the opportunity to do anything they want without anyone trying to stop them.

White privilege is an advantage in society that is unmerited. Though it is practiced in every day life (whether it’s subtle or not), the majority views it as “absurd” and “non-existent”. It is a taboo that creates feelings of guilt, hostility and anger, but it must be addressed and understood in order to be eradicated. It is necessary for white people to acknowledge their part in maintaining and benefiting from a society that has thrived on racial hierarchy and white supremacy for centuries. White privilege is essentially the flip side of racism; racism does not only disadvantage people of colour, but grants white people power and dominance in our so-called “post-racial” society (McKintosh, 1). In this essay, I will argue that positive and widespread representation and implied acceptance are the most important features of white privilege. Widespread representation is the most important feature of white privilege because we live in an age where the media not only reflects, but also controls our real worldviews and attitudes. The second most important feature of white privilege is adequate housing opportunities and implied acceptance and respect. It is necessary to eliminate this system that puts people in power based on their skin tone and these two aspects are crucial in order to reach that.

At its core, white privilege is described to be an “invisible package of unearned assets” (McIntosh, 2002, p. 33) for white people. There are many layers explaining the manifestation of white privilege and even more explanations pertaining to its dominant presence in today’s world.

Racial diversity is something that is often discussed on college campuses. As a student who self-identifies as a minority in more ways than one I often feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the subject of racism and race. However, often times when these issue are discussed I learn something new; this was the case when reading the articles this week. This week’s articles examined the issue of race from different perspectives. This allowed me to re-examine the issue in a fuller manner; it also allowed me to question some of my own notions that I hadn’t really challenged before.

Privilege and oppression are concepts that provides clarification on people’s experience. They both contribute to intersectionality which explain notion that people’s perspectives and experiences differ in term of the categories of identity. Each person may experience privilege and/ or oppression from institutional structures depending on their situations. It mean that systems of privilege and oppression can intersect and a person could experience privilege and oppression simultaneously. These systems are influence by the micro level and micro level of people’s lives and experiences. Privilege, oppression, and intersectionality affect people’s experiences of key social issues, such as rape culture and beauty norms and appearance standards. These issue will be discussed in this essay.

In her 2012 TEDx Talk, “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion”, Peggy McIntosh discusses how race is a privilege system and how white people are given an advantage without even realizing it. In her lecture McIntosh says, “These privilege systems, which locate us above and below the hypothetical line of social justice, were invented and we were born into them. And we all know both sides and that is the reason for compassion, about the sadness of having been born into systems that gave us such… such different ‘politics of location’”. Here, it seems that McIntosh’s main goal is to inform people that we are born into a privilege system because of our skin color and the only way that we can prevent a social hierarchy we must be able to recognize that we are all different. I think that the human population should be able to identify that people are different and have compassion for the differences in society our world today could have little to no race issues. After listening to McIntosh’s arguments, I support the ideas she makes throughout her works and I find that privilege systems are still prominent in today’s society.

The goal of a social worker is to help others in tackling whatever problems they are currently facing and pairing them with the appropriate resources needed so that they can lead a productive and healthy life. A social worker lives by a strong value system that is referred to as social justice. According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), “Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities,” (2015, para. 2). Paul Loeb, author of the book Soul of a Citizen, writes moving stories of ordinary people who inspire others to want to be better citizens. This paper will be a reflection on how the book made me feel, the affect it has had on my formation as a social worker, any experiences I have had in social justice advocacy and what vision I have of myself as a social justice social worker.

“Racial profiling describes the practice of targeting or stopping an individual based primarily on his or her race rather than any individualized suspicion” as illustrated by Warren of Sage journals. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as reasons for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. African-Americans have been fighting what seems to be a never ending battle against oppression and racism. Over the years 2012-2015, reports of police killing unarmed black men in America have been alarming.

In Allan G. Johnson’s, “What It has to Do with Us,” he writes that doing something about oppression and privilege requires talking about it. He believes that individualism does not help the fight against oppression and privilege. Individualistic thinking leads to trying to find someone to blame, and it hides privilege. The solution is not looking at oppression and privilege in an individualistic way, but looking at the system and see how both the system and individual people participate in it (Johnson 67). In order to do this, there must be an “understand[ing of the] dynamic between people and systems of privilege” (Johnson 68). Johnson defines this dynamic being between the way participating in systems shapes us and in how participating in a social systems, we allow it to happen (Johnson 68). He writes that by existing in social life, we are socialized to learn how to participate in social life, and “develop a sense of personal identity” (Johnson 68). This being how society or we perceive ourselves. The relation between people and systems “produces patterns of social life”

This research paper will outline the causes and traits of oppression in America. Dynamics such as the social, historical, and psychological systems that serve as vessels of oppression will be addressed. Using academic research, the goal for this essay will be to discuss the characteristics of oppression and how those characteristics are connected to its origin. The research will develop major themes that will serve to define agents, including classism, discrimination, and the intersectionality of different types of oppression. Discussions on strategies for addressing and ending the current oppression in America and recommendations for the future will be highlighted as well.

A Social Worker’s reflection on Power, Privilege and Oppression, this is the title of Michael Spence’s article, but what really does that mean? Spence talks about his personal experiences in life that dealt with all three of these aspects, power, privilege and oppression. In this paper this writer will also talk about power, privilege and oppression in regard to Spence’s outlook on the topic. What is power? How does it relate to Social Workers and social situations? Is privilege really something that can be given to you just based on race and where you grew up, or how you were raised? Lastly Oppression, what causes one type of social group to be oppressed?

I am stating the Five Faces of Oppression based on my understand after reading Shaw & Lee. The first face is Exploitation. Exploitation is, “A process that transfer the results of labor of one social group to benefit another.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) An example of exploitation is sweat shops. Children in many parts of the world are making clothing items such as Nike for pennies a day. While these children are underpaid people who aren’t sweat shop workers’ pay multiple dollars for the items made. Marginalization is the next face, Margination is described as, “The expulsion of an entire group from useful participation in social life.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) A group that fits this category are the homeless. Homeless people were unable to pay their bills therefore, they’re without a home. Powerlessness comes next and is described as, “lack of respectability.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) An example of this would be minority groups. In the media you see many videos of white people disrespecting minorities for being “different.” Cultural Imperialism is the fourth face. Cultural Imperialism is, “Recognizing the dominant group experience and culture as the norm.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) An example of this is white culture in America. In America it’s the norm for mothers to be stay at home moms while the husband is the sole bread winner for the family. The last face of oppression is violence. Violence is described as, “Members of a subordinate group who live with the threat of violence.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) Transgender individuals live with a lot of fear and violence. Many people don’t understand or support the trans community and tend to thing in order to solve the “problem” they must hurt and kill trans individuals. Iris Young said described the acts as “Using people’s labors to produce profit while not compensating them fairly.”

The aim of this essay is to address the problem of inequality and oppression through three separate texts, The Second Sex, The Death of the Profane and Killing Rage. The Second Sex focuses on the woman and her role compared to man. The Death of the Profane and Killing Rage are both texts that describe experiences about the constant racism felt by blacks. To thoroughly examine these texts and how they are related to oppression and inequality it is important to first define what each mean. Oppression and inequality each have different definitions but they go hand in hand. Oppression is the state of being subject to prolonged unjust treatment. While inequality is defined as lacking equality, equality is the state of being equal especially in status,

Sociologists view power as a system of stratification that is based its ability to direct another person’s behavior, honor and prestige, which most of the times leads to patterns of social inequality. From this perspective, inequality means who gets what, how they get whatever they need, and why they need it in the first place (Diez, 2013). Power can either lead to social equality or inequality. In order to explain this in detail, the author of this paper explains two incidences, the first one in which the author was in power and the second one in which the author was a perpetrator of discrimination.

Yet, the most significant flaw in this essay can be seen through the author’s simplistic view of the scope of racial injustice. Remarkably, the author only refers to white privilege in terms of its impact on what she calls “the problems facing Black America.” She fails to acknowledge or perhaps has no insight that white privilege involves the preference for ‘whiteness’ over all persons of color. Every non-white group is impacted by individual and institutional racism. Every non-white group grows up with the knowledge that their white peers have certain automatic privileges. Every child of color has to learn to navigate through the floodwaters of racism