Johnson Chapter 8

In chapter 6 of Privilege, Power, and Difference, Allan Johnson explains some of the mechanisms of how oppression is perpetuated. His thesis is that dominant groups can often have trouble perceiving the injustice they inflict, but when they do they can use a variety of tactics to absolve themselves of blame for the injustice.

The chapter outlines strategies for minimizing privilege and maximizing oppression. I think it would be easier to combine both summary and analysis of the concepts into one section, and comment on the whole of the argument in the following section.

Deny And Minimize – The dominant group refuses to acknowledge that oppression occurs. A good example is on page 108 “Racism and Sexism used to be problems, but they aren’t anymore.”

Blame The Victim – The dominant group puts the responsibility for the injustice on the oppressed group, and uses details of the situation to justify the oppression. I think that the Duke Lacrosse rape case is a shining example; however the victims turned out to be the accused.

Call It Something Else – This strategy is pretty straight forward. I think the “internment” of the Japanese Americans during World War II would fall under this category.

It’s Better This Way – Johnson says that this is a result of denial and calling it something else (pg 112). I think this was in play when American settles pushed the Native Americans further and further west in the period of Manifest Destiny.

It Doesn’t Count If You Don’t Mean It – This is rooted in the misconception that good intentions only have good consequences. Clearly this is the most juvenile of the all the strategies. I have heard people make sweeping generalizations of certain parts of the country, only to inevitably have another say something like “my mother comes from there.” The initiator ends up saying something like “well I wasn’t talking about her.” If you don’t mean what you say don’t say it.

I’m One Of The Good Ones – Like the previous example, this strategies relies on the oversimplification of right and wrong or good and bad. I think that people who have to say “I support the troops” don’t really support the military. I know this does not connect to race, but it does connect the concept of rival groups.

Sick And Tired – The privileged group refuses to acknowledge oppression on the grounds of their own comfort level with the subject. This strategy is a close second for most juvenile. It is ridicules for people to think that oppression doesn’t exist just because they are tired of hearing about it.

The different ways of getting off the hook sounds to me like a political debate I watched a few days ago. The Republicans would say things like we need to lower taxes because it affects the highest number of people, and the Democrats would say that tax cuts are for the rich, because they make more money and the percent change affects them more. I am taken by how closely this is to the strategy of “Call It Something Else” and I really love the way they cherry pick the facts that make them feel righteous. So do politicians use these strategies? I would have to give a resounding yes, but isn’t politics in its very essence a struggle of classes or groups. I think Carl Marx said something to that end in a book he wrote around the turn of the century.

As with all the other chapters I thoroughly enjoyed reading chapter 8. Johnson puts into words some things that we all live with, but do not quite perceive. The parts where Johnson states that the dominant group often doesn’t even perceive the oppression they are dishing out really made an impression on me. The example of the ABC News story True Colors seemed to support his points very well and made me think about the next time I go to the shoe store, among other establishments.