Download Privilege & Oppression

Understanding
Privilege &
Oppression
Day 2
Dominant vs.
Subordinate
Dominant, Oppressor:
Subordinate, Target:

Access to power

Disadvantaged

Economic control

Categorized

Provide standards,
“norms”

Differential treatment

Lack power and
influence

Privilege
TECHNIQUES of DOMINANCE:
1.
Stereotypes
 Mental
images that are overly simplistic
and exaggerated generalizations about
social groups;
 Selective
generalizations that attribute
specific traits to groups – not
necessarily true;
 May
be used to spread misinformation
and stigmatize a subordinate group
2. Prejudice
 Arbitrary
attitudes or beliefs and
unfair bias towards or against a
person/group.
 Based
on little or no experience and
projected onto entire group.
 Prejudice
is an individual’s internal
perspective.
3. Discrimination
 Action
based on prejudice. Excluding,
ignoring, avoiding, threatening,
ridiculing, jokes, slurs, violence, unfair
treatment.
 Discrimination
behavior
is an individual’s external
VIDEO
“Housing Discrimination:
Who Should Ever
Have to get Used to
That?”
Social Oppression exists when one
group exploits another for its own
benefits and key elements are present:
1.
Dominant group defines what is
normal,
2.
Differential treatment,
3.
Psychological colonization of target
group leads to internalized oppression,
4.
Target group’s culture is discounted
and dominant group’s culture imposed.
Systematic Oppression
 Embedded
in institutions such as: media,
family, religion, education, language,
economics, criminal justice and in
cultural definitions of what is normal,
real, correct, beautiful and valuable.
 Socially
sanctioned and maintains an
imbalance of power
Cycle of Systematic Oppression
Justification for Further
Mistreatment
(oppress based on the effects
of having oppressed)
Systematic
Mistreatment
of Targeted Group
Misinformation
is Generated
(including no
information)
Society Accepts
(approves,
legitimizes,
normalizes)
Power
Control
Economics
Internalized Oppression
(believe the misinformation
about your own group)
Institutions
Perpetuate &
Enforce
Internalized
Dominance
(feeling/acting
superior, often
unconsciously, to the
target group)
5 Faces of Oppression

Exploitation

Marginalization

Powerlessness

Cultural Imperialism

Violence
Internalized Oppression
Incorporation and acceptance by people
within a target group of the prejudices
against them.
“We hate ourselves because
We grew up
And live in a society that hates us”
-- Michael Denneny
Privilege
“…unearned assets that I can count on
cashing in each day, but about which I was
‘meant’ to remain oblivious… like an
invisible weightless knapsack of special
provisions, maps, passports, codebooks,
visas, clothes, tools and blank checks.”
-- Peggy McIntosh
“I must reach for humility and
be willing to not know.
I may never fully understand
the workings of racism,
as I have been trained my entire life
to perpetuate racism
while denying it’s reality.”
-- Robin DeAngelo
Cultural Competence
A set of congruent behaviors, attitudes and
policies that come together in a system,
agency or among professionals and
enables that system, agency or
professionals to work effectively in cross
cultural situations.
* It’s a lifelong journey!
Assimilation's Ideals
 Elimination
of group-based difference;
treat everyone according to the same
principles, rules and standards. Also
Liberal Humanism.
 Belief
that it maximizes “choice”. People
can develop themselves as “individuals”,
unconstrained by group norms or
expectations
Assimilation Challenged

Group Solidarity: Black Power, Red Power,
Women’s movement, GLBT Liberation

Assimilation implies coming into the game
after it has already begun –

Blindness to difference perpetuates cultural
imperialism

Aspirations to assimilate can produce selfloathing if unable to “fit in”
Identity Politics
 Clarity
of single focus
 Self-examination
& education
apart from dominant group
 Group
bonding
 Visibility
 Collective
Power
Institutional Oppression
 Mission
 Diversity
 Organizational
 Inclusiveness
Structure
 Education
 Consumer
 Opportunity
 Product/Service
 Assess impact
 Personnel
 Attitudes
Diversity
 May
create the illusion of participation,
when in fact there is no shared power.
 Presence
means very little without the
power of decision making, share of the
resources, development of
agenda/plans, policies.
Cycle of Liberation
Reaching Out
GETTING READY
“Waking up”
Introspection
Education
BUILDING
COMMUNITY
CORE
CREATING
CHANGE
Building Communities
1.
What makes me feel connected rather than
alienated?
2.
What makes me feel known and accepted as
who I am?
3.
Where are the places where community is
occurring?
4.
Who is excluded? What barriers are there
to participation?
5.
What are the qualities of an inclusive
community vs. an exclusive one?
VIDEO
“Knowing Who
You Are”
www.casey.org
Action Continuum
Participating
g
g
g
Preventing
Actively Participating
Denying - Ignoring
Recognizing - No Action
Recognizing – Action
Educating – Self – Others
Supporting – Encouraging
Initiating - Preventing
Becoming an Ally
 Comfortable
 Initiates
with own identity,
learning about others,
 Acknowledges
unearned privileges,
 Works
to change privileges into rights
that target members can also enjoy,
 Willing
to take risks,
 Committed
to taking action!
Assessing the Workplace
1.
What is the race, class and gender
composition in your workplace?
2.
Does upper management include significant
numbers of people of color?
3.
Are clients treated with dignity & respect?
4.
Do workers make racial comments about
clients? Is there any discrimination in how
people are served or treated?
5.
Do workers make racial jokes or put-downs?
Committing to Action
 What
action are you willing to take?
 What
resources would you need?
 What
risks might be involved?
 What
obstacles might you encounter?
 What
supports do you have or need?
An Amazing Journey
We are weaving new ties, weaving new visions of being
and living
Visions that breakdown the boundaries…
Visions that open up the possibilities…
Visions that allow us to experiment with new ways of being
powerful and just…
We create spaces here that sow seeds to be carried with
us
We create here spaces to hear and feel stories of courage,
compassion and healing
These spaces, within us and with each other, are spaces of
hope and possibility…
Welcome to an amazing journey…
-- Ratnesh Nagda