My first quote comes from Chapter Two: "We live in a society that attaches privilege to being white and male and heterosexual and nondisabled regardless of social class. If I don’t see how that makes me part of the problem of privilege, I won’t see myself as part of the solution. And if people in privileged groups don’t include themselves in the solution, the default is to leave it to blacks and women and Asians, Latinos/as, Native Americans, lesbians, gay men, people with disabilities, and the lower and working classes to do it on their own. But these groups can’t do it on their own because although they certainly aren’t powerless to affect the conditions of their own lives, they do not have the power to singlehandedly do away with entrenched systems of privilege. If they could do that, there wouldn’t be a problem in the first place."
This quote in the second chapter titled 'We're in Trouble.' Johnson emphasizes the recognition of privilege and the responsibility that it holds. Johnson addresses societal norms of privileged individuals whether it be race, gender, sexual orientation, or social class. Johnson acknowledges the existence of privilege, giving an example of what he is and what privilege he holds as a heterosexual white man in the middle class. Johnson says self-awareness and self-recognition are important when knowing and learning about privilege, arguing that if individuals don't see their own advantages in society and how they contribute to our society as a whole, then they cannot be a part of the solution to this problem.
My next quote comes from Chapter One: "We live in a society that attaches privilege to a variety of characteristics regardless of social class. If I do not see how that makes me part of the problem of privilege, I also will not see myself as part of the solution. And if people in privileged groups do not include themselves in the solution, the default is to leave it to women and Asians, Latinos/as, blacks, Native Americans, LGBT people, people with disabilities, and the lower and working classes to do it on their own. Although these groups are not powerless to affect the conditions of their own lives, they do not have the power to singlehandedly do away with entrenched systems of privilege. If they could do that, there wouldn't be a problem in the first place."
This quote in Chapter One searches into the different dynamics of privilege in our society, pointing out the problem and the collective responsibility for addressing these systemic issues. Johnson points out that privilege is not just limited to social classes but other characteristics like race and gender to help broaden the understanding of privilege, acknowledging that privilege can be associated with everyone regardless of their social class and I thought that was important to point out before going forward. Johnson then recognizes individual awareness and accountability, using himself as an example. By saying this, it suggests that being aware of personal implications is a big step towards being a part of the solution. Johnson highlights the importance of privileged groups to be a part of the solution because while minority groups aren't powerless, they don't have enough power to "do away with entrenched systems of privilege" because as Johnson says, there would not be a problem if that were the case. Overall, Johnson's message here is for a collective call for action from individuals across all demographics and encourages self-awareness, and asks for the people in privileged demographics to join in on the call for action. I believe this is relevant to the text because there's a common theme of trying to get privileged people to see the issue and why they need to be involved if they want to see a solution and to be self aware and acknowledge these issues
My last quote is from Chapter Three as well as an image known as the diversity wheel: "People's perceptions are difficult to control, however, for they lend to assume that they can identify characteristics such as race and gender simply by looking at someone. We routinely form quick impressions of race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. Sometimes these impressions are based on blanket assumptions-that everyone, for example, is heterosexual until proven otherwise. Or if they look "white," they are white. People usually form such impressions without thinking, and they rely on them in order to see the world as an organized and predictable place from one moment to the next."
Before I go any further, I'd like to explain the diversity wheel which is included in Chapter Three as well, specifically the section of the chapter where my quote also is. The diversity wheel was developed by Marilyn Loden and Judy Rosener. In the inner circle lies six social characteristics and on the outside are other social characteristics but the six in the inner circle are deemed the foundation and anyone can describe themselves using only the inner circle. The wheel can only physically describe you for who you are but does not say much about the uniqueness of yourself, your history, and the content of yourself but it does well at describing your social characteristics which shape everyone's life in impactful ways.
Now with the quote analysis. Johnson addresses the hurdles associated with human perceptions, specifically with race and sexual orientation. He emphasizes it is difficult to control one's perception and states that people tend to make assumptions about a person simply based on their gender or race without speaking a word to the individual themself and as a result, the individual quickly forms a poor assumption of all people of that gender or race. These rapid judgments and assumptions are suggested to be influenced by society's stereotypes of people of different genders and races, which ultimately contributes to biased perceptions. Johnson mentions the existence of blanket assumptions, using an example of assuming everyone is heterosexual until proven otherwise, and these assumptions can carry on stereotypes. Johnson also mentions these stereotypes are generated without any real thought and overall simplify our complex society assuming we are all one but that is just not the case. Overall, Johnson addresses the quick and often ignorant nature of human's perceptions, pointing out how people form quick impressions of other people solely based off of their observable characteristics like race and gender. Johnson ultimately tries to raise awareness of these challenges and basically says that we as a society need to critically think more and challenge these assumptions to create a more inclusive and form a better understanding of diversity
I have included a link from a blog by a professor and students from Hope College about stereotypes which provides a deeper understanding of our society How do we rid ourselves of stereotypes?
I leave this post with a question: Our society has it's own stereotypes for pretty much every demographic and has made these assumptions with little thought or no thought at all. How can we teach our society as a whole to stop having these 2D opinions about people?
