Post 5

There are many different ways that dominant group members deny, minimize, and erase the oppression of certain other groups in the United States. Probably the most obvious would be that they say that racism, sexism, ableism, heterosexism, and any other “ism” just simply does not exist anymore. They use such evidence as “the American Dream” or “affirmative action” in order to back up their minimization of the problem. Usually the dominant group members tell the other groups how their experiences are – something along the lines of “not as bad as you think”. As Allan G. Johnson wrote on page 108 it is “perhaps the easiest way to get off the hook”. Another way would be for the dominant group members to actually blame the certain groups for the “ism”. This comes in the form of something like – “if blacks had more education they could get a better job and get out of the ghettos”.

The dominant groups members could also just rename some “isms” to something that sounds nicer and detracts from the actual meaning of the word. For example, instead of sexism, they would change it to “battle of the sexes”. Another way would be fore them to say that it is “better the way it is” – something to the effect that all blacks or all latinos like to live with other blacks/latinos because they like to be “around their own kind”. And yet another way would be for them to say/do very racist, sexist, ableist, heterosexist, and any other “ist” things, and then later say it does not count since they did not really mean what they said/did. And finally, they could say that they are the “good guys” and have never said/done things that were racist, sexist, abelist, heterosexist, etc. which leads them to not take responsibility for what is happening in the world because they are not actually saying/doing the injustice directly.

In order to eliminate this injustice people need to stop ignoring that it exists and that it is still going on. People need to start standing up and challenging what is going on in the word regarding this type of injustice because everyone is affected by it regardless of race, sex, or anything else.  Johnson puts it best on page 124 when he wrote, “Being “involved” makes me part of something larger, and I can’t stand alone as an isolated individual. Being “obliged” means more than just being burdened, because it also connects me to people and makes me aware of how I affect them. And being “committed” to something focuses my potential to make a difference and bonds me to those who feel the same way”.