Talking Point #10

Privilege, Power and Difference
By: Allan G. Johnson

Premise:
- Exclusion
- Rejection
- Privilege
- Harassment
- Discrimination
- Violence
- Racism
- Sexism
- Support
- Speak-up
- Abelism
- Social Categories
- Oppression
- Class
- Gender
- Race
- Competition
- Fear
- Understanding
- Honesty
- Avoidance
- Disadvantaged
- Prejudiced
- Inequality
- Exploitation
- Scarcity
- Injustice
- Respect
- Listen

Argument:
- Johnson argues that to change the patterns of privilege we need to, "reclaim some difficult language that names what's going on" and "[acknowledges] an obligation to make a contribution to finding a way out of the trouble we're in."

Evidence:
- Johnson says that the only reason that privilege stays in existence is because of unawareness (pg 137).
- When privileged groups are confronted with racism or sexism of what-not they get defensive. To be more effective, privileged groups could listen and take responsibility rather than denying the issue.
- I think Johnson's examples about taking risks are evidence that change takes action, whether it be from speaking-up, to making others uncomfortable, to modeling alternative paths.

Comments:
- I really like this article because it served as a way to wrap up everything that we have done all semester. We started with Johnson and have now come full circle. I enjoyed the article because it was more about the ways that the issue of privilege can be fought. I liked all the examples Johnson gave on ways to fight discrimination as a "member" of a privileged class. The article was a bit long and a little repetitive but overall I liked it. One part I agree with is that, along with Johnson, I do not believe that because it's always been this way that it will always be this way . I believe that we live in a society of change and, as Dr. B. would say, there is a lot of tapping on the glass.

Talking Point #9

School Girls
By: Peggy Orenstein


Premise:
- Schools
- Women
- Men
- Self-esteem
- Gender-fair
- Participation
- Harassment
- Equity
- Empowerment
- Hidden-curriculum
- Women's rights
- Mockery

Argument:
- I believe that her argument is that gender-fair curricula need to be developed and implimented in all schools so that females will feel more comfortable and have more self-esteem in the classroom setting and gain more respect from men.

Evidence:
*Much of her evidence stems off of the practices of Ms. Logan.
-During the discussion about sexual harassment more of the girls were willing to voice their opinions while many boys were lost for words.
-One of the boys in Ms. Logan's class says that he is embarassed at the way that he talks about and treats women. He also says that because of what the girls in the class have said he will try and treat women better.
-She also presents a space where women feel empowered. Her classroom is filled with photos and books about women. Women are able to feel important and comfortable in Ms. Logan's classroom atmosphere.

Comments:
-The article was very good and interesting. At first I was a bit aggravated when I saw how long the article was. After reading it I realized that I breezed right through it. I was such and easy read and was quite engaging. One part that I was very surprised about was how crude some of the language was. When some of the students were talking about sexual harassment they were saying words to their teacher that I could never imagine a sixth to eigth grader saying to any teacher. I also thought it was sad to hear some othe the girls stories about how they feel they have been sexually harassed. I really liked the idea of Ms. Logan's classroom. She seems like she really makes the class fun and interesting. I like that the boys in the class get to have the experience of being the minorities. I was glad to see that because of some of Ms. Logan's practices many of the boys were changing the way that they see women. I think women need more teachers like Ms. Logan in the world.

Talking Point #7

Whites Swim in Racial Preference
By: Tim Wise

Premise:
- Racial preference
- Affirmative action
- Segregation
- White American
- Inequalities
- Discrimination
- Advantages
- Privileges
- Schooling
- Economic status
- Race
- White preference
- Racist society

Argument:
- Wise argues that white privilege is still in place today even though we try to act as if it is not. He also argues that ending affirmative action is premature because white privilege still exists.

Evidence:
- He says that white families are better off than minority families in the sense of how much money they make.
- Wise also states that at the University of Michigan more points are awarded to other categories that amount to preference for whites than they points awarded to minorities.
- Even students of color that are truely talented are unable to access the benefits of white because of their race.

Comments:
- I don't really know how I feel about the article. I thought it was interesting. It was very easy to read. I was a bit surprised to find out that even with affirmative action in place, white are still privileged. Having said that, there is a part of that situation that I don't quite understand. If each person gets extra points just because of their race then what happens to the white child that has had to struggle very hard to get to where they are and then gets denied. I understand the premise of the affirmative action idea but, I don't think that it is fair. There are a lot of "minority" families that are much better off than some white families. Why should that person get more points? I just think that race and gender should not be questions that are asked on applications to make it more fair. But, I'm sure there is an argument out there against that too.