The Privileged and The Oppressed

What is Privilege?

The class discussion on Wednesday was very intense.  When the conversation originally started about "white privilege" I looked around the room at the diverse group of students and thought, "Look how far we've come."  Then the reality of the situation fully invaded my  senses and I was almost moved to tears.  I am one of two black people in this Social Justice class and when I really think about it, I am the only black person in most of my classes.  When some of the students heard that they belonged to this privileged group, they immediately started to defend themselves and make assurances that they were not the "real" privileged as if they personally were the ones who for centuries have been the oppressors.  It was slightly amusing until one of my classmates shared that he thought that sometimes he feels oppressed and he's white.  So, what is privilege?  Adams says that privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they've done or failed to do (p. 16).  Whites are less likely to be pulled over by the police than blacks, less likely to be followed when shoppingvthan blacks, and they certainly don't constantly have to defend the fact that they're white.  In an article Professor G. posted, blacks are even told the wrong chapter to file when filing bankruptcy. If you didn't get a chance to read the article, I am attaching it here http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/business/blacks-face-bias-in-bankruptcy-study-suggests.html?ref=todayspaper.  Even though I know that I am most certainly not a member of this privileged group, I must say that on most days I "feel" privileged.

What is Oppression?

Oppression is the opposite to privilege.  It is the flip side of the coin to term it politely.  Oppression results from the social relationship between the privileged and oppressed.  In order to be considered as having the experience of being oppressed, you have to belong to an oppressed category.  Race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, and class are some of those categories.  Adams asserts that there defining features of oppression.  These are the pervasive, restrictive, hierarchical, complex,multiple, cross-cutting relationships,internalized, and shared and distinctive characteristics of  "ISMS" of oppression (pgs. 21-23).  Often oppression is couched in terms such as discrimination, bias, prejudice, or bigotry.  If we say that there are oppressed groups, we would have to admit the social inequality that exists and that no one wants to address.  Because I  know what oppression feels like, I want to be one who aides in bringing about change and empowering those oppressed group.

What can we do?

I began this blog with "look how far we've come" and that is definitely true.  However, we can always do more.  Proponents of Social Justice often come under fire but it is the answer to the questions we still face.  While I will not discuss the theories in this blog, the theories of Social Justice is what society needs to practice.  As a social worker, I hope to bring these theories to life to help improve my community and society.  My role as a social worker is to help bridge the gap between the privileged and the oppressed.  Through alleviating the negative effect on people through casework, blaming the system not the individual through policy, and reducing social inequality through  education, I can be assured to never perpetuate oppression.

Does Social Work Embrace Social Justice or Encourage Injustice?

As a newcomer to blogging it feels a little strange to be putting my thoughts out into the atmosphere for all to see, but here goes.  Just finished my first reading assignment for Social Justice class and first let me say this, "Bravo Pelton!  I've often wondered how justice is shown as a collective and not an individual end.  I really want to expound on so much but I will address how social work has become associated with injustice.  As a helping profession, I wonder who we are really helping when we serve our clients in this cookie cutter fashion we've grown accustomed to instead of as individuals with different needs and circumstances?  Have we become so hardened and untouched by humanity that we forgot our pledge to treat our clients with the dignity and respect they deserve?  I certainly hope not.  I hope that the new generation of social workers that are being educated today will be true to our mission and strive to benefit each client even in the unjust sytem that many social policies are based upon. While Scanlon and Longres both agreed and disagreed with Pelton, both see Pelton as raising some important questions that must be answered both as a society and as an individual, especially as a social worker.  The heated remarks from Dr. Holody to Scanlon and Longres only suggests that we have a long way to go.

I will close with this from John Solas, "It is important not only for social work to be clear about the type of social justice that it currently advocates, but also to ensure that it is one that the profession seeks to defend and maximize.  If not, what is social work fighting for?

barbara, Jennifer and Lynde are awesome and are considered a part of the FAB 4