Explorations in Privilege, Oppression and Diversity - Softcover

Anderson, Sharon K.; Middleton, Valerie A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0534517420 ISBN 13: 9780534517427

Publisher: Brooks Cole, 2004

Synopsis

EXPLORATION IN PRIVILEGE, OPPRESSION AND DIVERSITY features mental health practitioners' and faculty members' personal stories of people becoming aware of their own privilege and discovering what it means to become an ally and show personal compassion to those who are different and discriminated against because of that difference. In acknowledgement of the challenging process of self-explorations to which all practitioners must submit themselves, Anderson and Middleton conceived a realistic text that educates practitioners and students on matters of privilege, oppression, and diversity and illuminates their impact on work with clients, colleagues, students, and associates. Each reading is meant to prompt readers into a self reflective process that could relate to practice implications and direct application of the issue raised, while discussion questions at the end of each story provide readers with an excellent opportunity to process these issues on a personal level. By studying the true stories that reveal these professionals' insights and understanding, readers learn how to recognize, struggle with, and accept their own privilege and thus become stronger, more effective practitioners.

About this title

About the Authors

Dr. Sharon K. Anderson graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed psychologist and an associate professor in ¿the counseling graduate program at Colorado State University. Dr. Anderson has authored and co-authored several articles and book chapters. She researches and writes in the area of professional ethics in psychology and counseling and multicultural issues in education.

Dr. Valerie Middleton is an associate professor-at the School of Education and has written several pieces on multicultural issues. She is the lead instructor for the multicultural class for the masters and doctoral level counseling students within the program. In addition to teaching multicultural issues, Dr. Middleton has trained on diversity at many institutions.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A few years ago, a friend told me about an experience she had had at a fast-food restaurant. My friend, an African American woman, was in the front of the line, ready to order, when the cashier looked right past her and asked the next person in line what she would like. I had a hard time believing my friends story, but I listened to her as though I did. Behind my attentive façade, however, I was thinking, "Im sure shes mistaken. People arent that rude. Ill bed she thought you were still deciding on your order."

My blindness to while privilege and other privileged statuses most certainly originates in my social and cultural background. I was born into a family of White European descent and middle-class income, and I was raised in a White, rural community. All of my extended family is White. I attended a school in which almost all students and faculty were White. The people who attended my country church were White. When I look back on my childhood, I dont recall hearing my parents make derogatory remarks about other ethnic groups, nor do I recall any discussions about inequality, discrimination, or privilege. I suspect that my familys view was one that espoused "if people work hard enough, they can achieve, no matter what their skin color or cultural differences." Inadvertently, I was taught not to see my advantage as a White, middle-class person.

As our friendship and work relationship progressed, so did our level of dialogue. We would occasionally meet for lunch to discuss ideas relative to teaching our predominately White population of students about issues of diversity and privilege. When Val and I had ended one such business lunch at a nearby restaurant, we decided to check into the possibility of using that restaurant as a meeting place for future business activities that would include more of our colleagues. Val approached the receptionist, a White woman, to inquire about the cost and availability of the facility. The receptionist craned her neck to look around Val, and then asked me, "How can I help you?" as this scene played out before me, so did a flashback of the scenario I used to open this introduction.

In that instant, my privilege failed to blind me in a way that had previously kept me from "getting it." I saw how my White skin made me visible and others invisible. .I saw how what I experience and expect in everyday life is an unlearned privilege. I saw why I needed to be a believerone who believes the stories of inequity shared by friends, students, and colleagues of color. Although I cant truly understand the experiences of people of color, the sum of my past experiences, united with critical incidents such as this, helps me to see that privilege exists and that I am one of its beneficiaries.

Edition details

• Publisher: Brooks Cole
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0534517420
• ISBN 13: 9780534517427
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 201