Johnson chapter 8-

Every one has been in trouble at some point or another and we all try to find a way to get “off the hook” Being “on” or “off the hook” is what determined if we got in trouble or not; this same concept takes place in Johnson’s Chapter 8. Johnson’s thesis is that one way or another weather your “on” or off the hook” that everyone is involved in privilege and oppression and there is no way to avoid it.

Denial is a beautiful thing. If we deny something then we are automatically, or so we think, “off the hook.” This is what most people of privileged groups do, when the topic of privilege and oppression is brought up. If they deny it, then it doesn’t really exist. If the privileged aren’t denying the fact that they are privileged, then they are blaming the oppressed for not being privileged enough. A white man can say something extremely racist about his black equal and know that no other whites will say anything about it. This is because whites are dominant and have privilege and the rest of the population just wants to follow “the path of least resistance.” Thus perpetuating the problem of white privilege not being seen as a problem, but making the suffering that the oppressed groups endure no fault but their own. Another way the privileged can deny being privileged is by calling it something completely different. Using the example that Johnson does, in the world of privilege the issue of “gender inequality is often seen as a game of battle of the sexes.” Calling the issue of gender inequality a game allows the privileged men to feel that there is no such thing. If these two forms of denial are combined then the assumption that everyone is happy with the way things are, is made. Weather or not this is the truth, it still doesn’t matter, society doesn’t want the truth, it just wants the world to keep on going as is.

So, if a white man says something racist or sexist, even if it was unconsciously, and just says “Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it,” he is “off the hook.” There was no ill will or bad intentions he was just making a joke that incidentally offended someone. When he says “Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it” he is actually admitting that he did indeed say it but I just didn’t think about it. Privilege, however, makes it easy for him to not be aware of what he said and this is the norm for our society. The privileged or, the white heterosexual male, can get away with just about anything. But let’s say that a white man had an epiphany and is now acknowledging that there is a problem with privilege and oppression, all he has to say is I am a good person so the problems aren’t my fault. Not doing anything about it, however, and staying silent makes him part of the problem. It is his problem because the oppression that many groups feel are because he is privileged, and he is privileged because they are oppressed. But because he is a good person he becomes blind to the fact that this is true.

The fact that Johnson is part of the privileged group, white heterosexual male, makes it kind of odd that he is talking about these issues. Johnson is breaking a norm; he is supposed to be blind to things like this. His privilege, no matter how unbiased he is trying to be affects what he writes, even if he doesn’t realize it. Everyone has thoughts buried in their head that unconsciously affect how they talk and act. It will take years for someone to learn to ignore those thoughts in the back of their head. Now I assume that Johnson has done his best to silence those racist thoughts, but no matter what those thoughts are still going to be there, the same goes for the rest of the world. So, Johnson’s position of privilege in society affects how he writes, even if he is trying not to let it.

Through out all the Johnson readings I kept thinking about the fact the he is part of the privileged group. I felt as if he was, in a way, mocking the whole idea of privilege and oppression; like he knows its there but doesn’t really care. I know his writings say otherwise but the thoughts are still there.