Johnson- Chapter 5

Our country has come a long way from the way things used to be several years ago. However, many people today do not see this because things such as racism and segregation still occur today. Within every society, there are those who are more superior to others and are known as the dominant group. Dominant group usually consists of “white heterosexual nondisabled males” who have a great deal of power and control.
Privilege and oppression are problems within today’s society. Due to the large amount of power the dominate group has, many would think that privilege and oppression would not have a long future. However, dominant groups do not see privilege and oppression as unacceptable. Privilege and oppression do not receive much attention by the dominant groups and if so, it’s not for a long period of time. This is because dominate groups do not see privilege and oppression as problems.
There are several reasons as to why dominate groups do not see privilege and oppression as problems. Often times, dominant groups are oblivious to these issues. They do not go out of their way to address the issues because they fear of making it worse. Another reason is because they fear being blamed if they acknowledge that it exists. Dominant groups maintain privilege through their status and therefore they are insolated from previous consequences through privilege. Dominate groups also believe that individuals get what they deserve and therefore see privilege and oppression as personal problems because of something that they did. However, each of these reasons does not apply to everyone in same way.
Looking at the broad scheme of things, a society is similar to a family. Parents are the dominant group and the children are the minority groups. Johnson points out that he takes care of his kids not because he feels obligated to but because it is human to do so. “Cannot be part of a family with paying attention to what goes on in it.” The same goes for society as well.
One thing I cannot help but wonder is how society would function if everyone was of equal status. It is awful that there are homeless people living on the streets or that some people cannot afford to go to college. However, if this wasn’t the case, there would be no motivation to succeed and climb to the top where many of us dream to be today. Everything in one’s possession would be simply handed to them in a sense and this would not be a stable society.