Privilege/Oppression Exercise- Lay It On the Line (90 min)
Balancing oppressed and privileged (25 minutes)
First up say we know everyone in this room is oppressed by virtue of being POC, majority by virtue of being QPOC. But we want to also explore those privileges and oppressions that make us different, that we may not be as aware of everyday, and that we want to highlight.
Break into groups of 3. Give definitions of oppressed and privilege. Each person in small groups reflect on their experiences of both. Example: “As a straight white person I am part of the norm so my experiences are…” or “as a low income queer person my experiences are…” (10 min for sharing)
Critical questions: (15 minutes)
What experiences have you had with privilege and oppression in your personal life?
What experiences have you had in social justice organizations or the QPOC community with privilege and oppression?
What overlaps/comparisons/connections are there?
Revisit identity profile (20 minutes)
Flipchart ID Profile categories and two columns next to each, oppressed and privileged. Have the group describe each area and record on flipchart.
As a group go through the list of categories and list out who in society is privileged and who is oppressed in each category. (Really impress that these are not our ideas of what these categories are, but society’s ideas – i.e. education, age, class, etc.)
Highlight and clarify power and privilege – explore class, immigration, language, etc.
Do power shuffle/lay it on the line based (35 minutes)
Lay out a line of tape across the middle of the room. Get people to line up across the room facing you along the line of tape. [REVISION for ability access: have people sit with 30 matches per person.] When a statement is true for you (i.e. when you hav privilege) raise your hand. If a statement is not true to you, throw away one of your matches (i.e. no privilege).
Trainer says “The exercise we are going to do gets us to think about the ways in which we experience privilege and the ways we experience oppression. This is about privilege/oppression and it is really important that it be done in complete silence.
I am going to read a number of statements. For every statement I read that applies to you, take a step forward. For every statement that does not apply to you, take a step back. If you’re not sure, stay where you are.
Because the Standing Together group has had many conversations on race and sexuality, and because of who is in the room, the following statements will be focused on additional areas of identity. “
Questions:
1.I have class privilege.
2.I grew up middle class.
3.I have a savings account with more than 500 dollars in it.
4.If needed, I can access resources through my family.
5.For the majority of my life, I have had health care coverage.
6.I have never been homeless.
7.I have never been on welfare.
8.I have never received free or reduced lunch.
9.I have never been incarcerated.
10.I finished college.
11.My country of origin does not affect my economic status.
12.I am a US citizen.
13.English is my primary language.
14.I speak English without a noticeable accent.
15.People do not ask me “where are you from” based on my race.
16.I have age privilege.
17.People assume I am old enough to make my own decisions.
18.I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my age
19.I can go to events, work meetings and social gatherings at any space regardless of my age
20.I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my age will not work against me and I will not be treated in a patronizing or paternalistic manner.
21.I have gender privilege.
22.When I open up a history book, I know I will easily find positive images of someone of my gender
23.My gender identity is read as normative.
24.I can apply for a job and not fear rejection because of my gender.
25.I can walk into a restroom and know I will not be harassed for “being in the wrong bathroom”
26.I have ability privilege.
27.I can move comfortably in the world around me without having to think about access issues.
28.I can assume that I can go shopping alone, and they will always have appropriate accommodations to make this experience hassle-free.
29.I can be assured that assumptions about my mental capabilities will not be made based on my physical status.
30.I can do well in challenging situations very often without being told what an inspiration I must be to other able-bodied people
Small Groups (15 minutes)
Have people break into groups of 4 people. Critical questions:
- How did the exercise feel?
- Was there anything that surprised you in this exercise?
- What did you learn?
- How does these things play out when engaging with social justice orgs &/or the QPOC community?
- Is there anything you would like to share from your personal reflection?
Large group discussion (15 minutes):
- how did you feel when you took a step back? forward?
- How did you feel when someone else took a step back? forward? think about where you ended up at the end of the execise- wht did that make you feel/think?
Trainer Points:
- Class if often something we don’t talk about, but we have to talk about it, because it will be very present as we work with each other and as we move out into the community
- in our communities, we often don’t talk explicily about ableism, ageism, or sizeism, and even within social justice movements these often go unspoken of
- all of our identities intersect and we are the sum of all those identities
-We all have to contend with the definitions society gives us even as we try to reshape them
- Everyone here is dealing with oppression, some the same/similar because of race and sexuality - but we all have differing privileges and oppression that often get erased when we do this work
- Erasing our differing privileges and oppression can and will disrupt our ability to work authentically with one another and in the community
Trainer Says: We have to understand this if we are going to work together – we have talked about what we share in common, but it’s also important to talk about what is different, where we might have the power to injure or hurt each other, so we can minimize that before it happens, and when it does happen (because it will), we can move through it quickly.