1. Understanding Privilege & Oppression
Day 2

2. Dominant vs. Subordinate
Dominant, Oppressor:
Access to power
Economic control
Provide standards, “norms”
Privilege
Subordinate, Target:
Disadvantaged
Categorized
Differential treatment
Lack power and influence

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 3. Discrimination
Action based on prejudice. Excluding, ignoring, avoiding, threatening, ridiculing, jokes, slurs, violence, unfair treatment.
Discrimination is an individual’s external behavior

6. “Housing Discrimination: Who Should Ever Have to get Used to That?”
VIDEO
“Housing Discrimination: Who Should Ever Have to get Used to That?”

7. Social Oppression exists when one group exploits another for its own benefits and key elements are present:
Dominant group defines what is normal,
Differential treatment,
Psychological colonization of target group leads to internalized oppression,
Target group’s culture is discounted and dominant group’s culture imposed.

8. 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

9. Cycle of Systematic Oppression
Justification for Further Mistreatment
(oppress based on the effects of having oppressed)
Systematic Mistreatment
of Targeted Group
Power
Control
Economics
Misinformation is Generated
(including no information)
Institutions Perpetuate & Enforce
Society Accepts
(approves, legitimizes, normalizes)
Internalized Dominance
(feeling/acting superior, often unconsciously, to the target group)
Internalized Oppression
(believe the misinformation about your own group)

10. 5 Faces of Oppression Exploitation Marginalization Powerlessness
Cultural Imperialism
Violence

11. 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

12. 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

13. “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

14. 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!

15. 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

16. 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 self-loathing if unable to “fit in”

17. Identity Politics Clarity of single focus Self-examination & education
apart from dominant group
Group bonding
Visibility
Collective Power

18. Institutional Oppression
Mission
Organizational Structure
Consumer
Product/Service
Personnel
Diversity
Inclusiveness
Education
Opportunity
Assess impact
Attitudes

19. 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.

20. Cycle of Liberation
Reaching Out
CORE
Coalescing
Maintaining

21. Building Communities
What makes me feel connected rather than alienated?
What makes me feel known and accepted as who I am?
Where are the places where community is occurring?
Who is excluded? What barriers are there to participation?
What are the qualities of an inclusive community vs. an exclusive one?

22. VIDEO
“Knowing Who You Are”

23. Action Continuum Participating g g g Preventing Actively Participating
Denying - Ignoring
Recognizing - No Action
Recognizing – Action
Educating – Self – Others
Supporting – Encouraging
Initiating - Preventing

24. Becoming an Ally Comfortable with own identity,
Initiates 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!

25. Assessing the Workplace
What is the race, class and gender composition in your workplace?
Does upper management include significant numbers of people of color?
Are clients treated with dignity & respect?
Do workers make racial comments about clients? Is there any discrimination in how people are served or treated?
Do workers make racial jokes or put-downs?

26. 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?

27. 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