Power, Privilege, and Difference by Allan Johnson & S.C.W.A.A.M.P
Argument
In my first response post, I will be focusing on the topics of S.C.W.A.A.M.P and the Power, Privilege, and Difference by Alan Johnson. Information from these two topics focuses on the differences, we as humans, face on a daily occurrence. Differences such as race, gender, and able-bodieness are only a few examples we will be discussing. Alan Johnson also shares his standpoint on white privilege and how it effects our perspectives on society.
Starting with some of the ideologies from SCWAAMP, this handout makes us think of how dominant ideologies affect our community and society. Due to how the “system” of society works, it has developed our visions on how we view these common ideologies. Maleness is one of the dominant ideologies because historically, mostly males of white skin color have been considered leaders. Everything from running our country to being “the man of the house”. These things make woman seem less superior. The view of being heterosexual is also considered normal, historically speaking. People who consider themselves as straight usually don't even give it a second thought because of how mainstream being straight is. On the other hand, people of different sexualities have many ideological obstacles to overcome because society makes us it view as less dominant. Obstacles such as “coming out”. That one obstacle alone can put an incredibly heavy weight on someone's shoulders because it may cause a shift toward a negative perspective with important people in that persons life due to it not being considered mainstream. Whiteness is also considered valued in our culture because of its historical advantages in relation the maleness dominance as I mentioned above.
To elaborate a little further on whiteness with Alan Johnsons work, he talks about white privilege and how it is something you are born with and can’t change. He mentions that whites are less likely than blacks to be convicted of the same crime. And if a white is convicted of that same crime, their punishment is much more likely to have a lesser consequence. Topics like this can lead to uncomfortable conversations due to historical events that shaped our many perspectives.
Hello. I found the information that you included in your last paragraph very interesting and upseting. It is terrible that a person's punishment for a crime may vary due to what they look like. Even though a white person and a black person could commit the same crime the white person could experience less punishment while the black person will have a larger one. This also reminds me of how white people are less likely to be convicted of a crime that they didn't commit than non-white people.
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DeleteHello Edward, I really found the main paragraph of your post very intriging. You brought up some really great points, like the one about prodemtaly white males being considered leaders in history, from countries to the household. I feel like that is something that tends to be overlooked more than not
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