PPD, Ch.8 (Group)

The author states that people leave it to someone else to take care of the problem, yet there is no way to avoid being part of the problem. He refers to this as being off the hook because there is no way to avoid being part of the problem, which occurs from denial and resistance of these problems. He states that subordinate groups are on the hook everyday and dominate groups are too but may not realize it because their privilege allows them to deny the fact. However being aware of the privileges that many of us are given will provide a window for each of us to create a solution.
Evidence of denial and resistance surrounds our lives daily, some problems have become culturally accepted and some cause civil rights movements. Johnson states that the easiest way to get off the hook is to deny that it exists in the first place. This seems to be the most prevalent problem is today’s society concerning inequality… Some examples from the book include:
“Racism and sexism used to be problems but they aren’t anymore.”
“The American Dream is alive and well and available to everyone.”
“Affirmative action has actually turned the tables-if anyone’s in trouble now, it’s whites and men.”
When we deny the reality of oppression you also deny the reality of privilege that underlies it. Privilege gives people the opportunity to define other people’s experience for them which minimizes the situation and problem at hand.
Other methods to get off the hook involve blaming the victim and call it something else. People often draw on negative cultural stereotypes of each other. The result of this is that oppression is blamed on the people who suffer most from it. Some more culturally accepted viewpoints come from people who call the privilege something else. This creates the appearance that the person is in touch with reality but believes he/she has nothing to do with the problem. The problem here is that we would not be able to create a solution without first recognizing our privileges, which is no better than causing the problem.