Allan G Johnson System Of Privilege Analysis

In the article “What is a ‘System of Privilege”, sociologist and public speaker Allan G. Johnson explains how privilege, specifically white privilege in this case, works as a system. “Privilege does not guarantee good outcomes for the privileged group or bad outcomes for everyone else” according to Johnson, however, it does load the odds one way or the other. Unfortunately, social privilege is often invisible to those who experience them, claims Johnson. Johnson goes on to describe a few examples to validate his claim. For example, in a recent survey a group of volunteers were asked to close their eyes and picture a drug dealer. When asked to describe what they saw “95 percent mentioned a black person” (Johnson Ch. 15 Pg. 454). When in fact, 85 percent of people who buy, sell, and use illegal drugs in the United States are white, claims Johnson. Furthermore, colored people are often identified as “nonwhite,” a term “that doesn’t tell us what they are, but what they are not.” As a result, when a society recognizes white people as superior, advantages will mostly be available to whites simply because they are socially identified as “white,” according to Johnson. …show more content…
I agree with Johnson’s explanation because I believe white people are immune to a lot of challenges minorities are faced with. However, the term “White Privilege” is something that most Americans don’t believe is real, despite the large amount of evidence that proves otherwise. This is an advantage white people have without realizing it, until it is suddenly taken away. The evidence that shows the advantages that white people have over other colors is overwhelming, but every time the term “white privilege” is mentioned, there is an unavoidable