Understanding Privilege Through Ableism
1. a. Working with a partner with whom you share a dominant group identity, draw on experiences from your own life in order to generate examples of how your internalized dominance (as a member of the group identity you share) manifests. Begin by thinking about privileges that you take for granted every day, and how those privileges may be affecting minoritized group members in relation to you.
b. Next, working with a partner with whom you share a minoritized group identity, generate a list of examples of how internalized oppression manifests in your life. Draw on your lived experiences to generate specific examples of internalized oppression. (If you have no minoritized identity, choose a different dominant identity and repeat 1a.)
c. As a whole group, discuss which task was easier to do. What does this reveal about how internalized oppression and internalized dominance work?
2. Research the life of Dolores Huerta (see Figure 5.2). Write an essay that describes how her life and work exemplify the intersection of identities, including race, class, and gender.
Patterns to Practice Seeing:
1. When are people’s group identities most often named (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, ability)? Consider movie directors, teachers, movie stars, writers, etc. Which group identities are most likely to be named, and which are not?
2. Pay attention to participation patterns in class discussions and other group settings. Which group members tend to speak first and most often? How do these patterns change depending on the topic under discussion?
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CHAPTER 6
Understanding Privilege Through Ableism
“No one’s handed me anything. I’ve worked hard for what I have.”
This chapter explains the privileges automatically received by being a member of the dominant group. From a critical social justice perspective, privilege is defined as systemically conferred dominance and the institutional processes by which the beliefs and values of the dominant group are “made normal” and universal. While in some cases, the privileged group is also the numerical majority, the key criterion is social and institutional power. This chapter also extends the discussion of related concepts such as “internalized oppression” and “internalized dominance,” and offers examples of how these dynamics work to hold existing relations of power in place.