Analysis Of The Matrix Of Domination By Patricia Hill Collins

With these mediums of oppression, her first theory, referred to as the Matrix of Domination is brought up. Previous models of oppression were considered additive, or hierarchal, meaning that they must be ranked. Collins uses the experiences of black women to explain that all these modes of oppression, gender, race and class are interlocking and equally important when viewing domination. This bleeds mores into Part II, but the essentials are discussed in this section.

By “matrix of domination” Patricia Hill Collins means that there is a conceptual lens on three systems of oppression, which are race, class and gender. She describes how these three oppressions intertwine with each other affecting not just African American women but also affecting other groups as well. She describes how “interlocking race, class and gender oppression expands the focus of analysis from merely describing the similarities and differences distinguishing these systems of oppression”, but rather “focuses greater attention on how they interconnect” (Collins). The notion of “both/and” indicates that every group varies in the amount of penalty and privileges, all depending on the context. She uses the example of white women, which she describes that they are “penalized by their gender, but privileged by their race” (Collins).Growing up in a Hispanic house hold and being middle class, I usually get surprised looks from aunts and uncles (who I don’t see often) when they ask whether I’m going to school or working, and I respond with doing both. I feel that they don’t expect all those things from me, and I often feel that I need to prove to them that just because I’m young, a female, and from middle class I’m able to do many successful

In “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh argues that racism can be found imbedded into the culture of society; conferring and denying certain privileges on some rather than all. This is a dangerous cultivation; endowing a strong expectation that white privileges are naturally deserving. Furthermore, making the cornerstone of McIntosh’s main argument; that white privilege is just a less aggressive synonym for dominance. When you receive privileges for looking a certain type of way, the recipient becomes immune; often not being able to acknowledge their advantages. As a result, this creates a cultural divide, between racial groups.

This essay will address key aspects of white privilege and pick the two most important aspects with explanations signifying the reasons for their choosing. An explicit aspect of white privilege is the fact that it is an automatic add-on to anybody satisfying the definition of “whiteness”. Whiteness is defined by Frankenberg (1993) as a concept/identity historically, socially, politically, and culturally produced involving systems of domination (p. 40) thereby privileging anyone who satisfies this definition. Another notable aspect of white privilege is the fact that white people are taught not to recognize their privilege (McIntosh, 2002, p. 33). On a more subtle level, white privilege is an ongoing, institutionalized remnant of colonization. Another aspect of white privilege is its ability in creating dichotomies with PoC. For example, whiteness is associated with “innocence” and “goodness” while blackness is associated with “evil” and “badness” (hooks, 1992, p. 49).

To be a person, requires intersectionality. Intersectionality is the idea that people do not function on only one aspect of their being, but instead, function on every aspect. Aspects that include race, gender, ability, etc. With this intersectionality comes innumerable categories that lie on the scale of privileged, oppressed, or somewhere in between. To be privileged is to have advantages that are not necessarily earned, and instead come with a specific, usually uncontrollable feature, such as race, gender, class, and ability. To be oppressed is to have disadvantages that are not earned, but instead come with the same uncontrollable categories as privilege. Even cis-gendered, heterosexual, white, men have aspects of their intersectionality that might not place them at the top of the privilege hierarchy. And it is in these complications where people start to place doubts on their own privileges. It is important to realize that it is nearly impossible to have privilege in every single way or oppression in every single way, yet, this is not an excuse to deny privileges. Even with some oppressions, some are still granted more advantages than others. To delve into this deeper, analyzing writings from established writers, such as Peggy McIntosh and Devon Carbado become necessary.

In her 2012 TEDx Talk, “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion”, Peggy McIntosh discusses how race is a privilege system and how white people are given an advantage without even realizing it. In her lecture McIntosh says, “These privilege systems, which locate us above and below the hypothetical line of social justice, were invented and we were born into them. And we all know both sides and that is the reason for compassion, about the sadness of having been born into systems that gave us such… such different ‘politics of location’”. Here, it seems that McIntosh’s main goal is to inform people that we are born into a privilege system because of our skin color and the only way that we can prevent a social hierarchy we must be able to recognize that we are all different. I think that the human population should be able to identify that people are different and have compassion for the differences in society our world today could have little to no race issues. After listening to McIntosh’s arguments, I support the ideas she makes throughout her works and I find that privilege systems are still prominent in today’s society.

In Peggy McIntosh’s, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” she introduces the topic of privilege from the point of view of a women in a world designed to favor men. She sees that men acknowledge the fact that women are disadvantaged but are unable to admit that they themselves have higher power. This denial of power is what creates the gap between men and women and is a clear stepping stone to her primary point of white privilege. The problem does not lie in the existence of white privilege but more so in the validation that is given to it. To be oblivious to this privilege is what gives it power to aid the white population, while simultaneously crippling other minority groups. She goes on to state that realizing there is hierarchy is the first step to systematically taking it down. This however has to start by finding where the problem originates.

Racism is a thing of the past, or is it? Michelle Alexander’s, “The New Jim Crow,” main focus is on mass incarceration and how it occurs in an era of color blindness. Alexander also focuses on the social oppressions that African Americans have suffered throughout the years, until now. In this essay, I will discuss how the system of control was constructed, Alexander’s compelling historical analysis, and if the current system would be easier to dismantle. I would like to start by delving into how the system of control was constructed.

In “Getting Off the Hook: Denial and Resistance” by Allan G. Johnson, he writes about the many ways people of privilege are all part of the problem. In this chapter, he lists the ways we, as an individual, take ourselves or deny the problems that arise from systems of oppression. Johnson writes that this is in minimizing the problem, and telling women that their problems are not as bad as they claim. This is also when white people say, “racism is not as bad as it used to be.” Also, denying the problem is “denying the reality of oppression, [which] denies the privilege that drives it” (Johnson 93). This is problematic because it allows the continuation of the injustices that oppress subordinate groups due to the inequality of opportunities that come with privilege. There is also a belief system that people of the subordinate group are better off. This is a “paradoxical idea that envy and privilege” (Johnson 93) exist at the same time. This is being part of the dominant group and receiving the privileges that come with it, while being envious of the subordinate group. Johnson then goes on to write about the ways people begin attacking others. This can be from attacking the person of privilege, who is working as an ally, or blaming the victim. All ways to differ the problem. Another form of denial or resistance, is making the oppression appear as something else. For example, the problems with our unequal education system, is a neighborhood problem, not a result and perpetuation

Collins, L., & Barnes, S. L. (2014). Observing privilege: Examining race, class, and gender in

Our text notes that “However, no one person is completely oppressed or completely privileged” (2008). This is a completely true statement, and it coincides with the theory of intersectionality because everyone regardless of your gender, race, or class; had been at one point or another been oppressed by someone or something.

This research paper will outline the causes and traits of oppression in America. Dynamics such as the social, historical, and psychological systems that serve as vessels of oppression will be addressed. Using academic research, the goal for this essay will be to discuss the characteristics of oppression and how those characteristics are connected to its origin. The research will develop major themes that will serve to define agents, including classism, discrimination, and the intersectionality of different types of oppression. Discussions on strategies for addressing and ending the current oppression in America and recommendations for the future will be highlighted as well.

Today, a serious problem exists all over the world. Racial oppression takes place in the poorest and the richest countries, including America. Racial oppression is characterized by the majority, or the ruling race, imposing its beliefs, values, and laws on the minority, or the ruled race. In most areas, the ruling race is upper class whites that run the “system”, and have a disproportionate amount of power. In other areas, it may not be the white race, but it is still the race that is comprised of the majority, makes the laws, or has the most money. These are the keys to domination over the weaker minorities that don’t have the power to thrive under the majority’s system according to their own cultural beliefs,

My understanding of the Matrix of Domination is that it’s the intersectionality of social factors such as gender, class, and race, and their cumulative impact on a person's life. This relates to C Wright Mills’ “Sociological Imagination”, the relationship between personal troubles and societal issues,

Racial domination occurred through the categorizing of people based on their physical differences (Marx, 1998; ). White European settlers used racial domination to assert their own superiority. This process was often justified by religion. Religious stories and symbols were interpreted to mean that inequality should be accepted. It could mean that one group of people or race was the “chosen people” and so they were entitled to more than others. Biology was also used to justify racial domination until the claim had no scientific legitimacy, this was found after the second world war (Marx, 1998;