"Privilege, Power, and Difference" by Allan Johnson (Blog #1)

Argument:

In the article "Privilege, power, and Difference" by Allan Johnson, Johnson's main arguments were that the inequality in society is far more noticeable now. He goes on to explain how some people who are privileged often seem to forget how fortunate they are to receive that privilege. Racism, discrimination, gender gap are some of the main topics he explored in his article. Johnson goes on to makes a good point on the what could be the reason people choose to be racist or discriminate. He talks about how some people are just scared of "unfamiliar," which results in them attacking other races, genders and sexual orientations. 

 

Using your privilege for good

Quotes:

"All of us are part of the problem. There is no way to avoid that as long as we live in the world. But we could also make our-selves part of the solution if only we knew how." 

 This explains clearly the problem in society today, we all are used to be bystanders and not doing anything about a problem because we feel as if its not our place, or even feel as if we should just "mind our business." But in reality, as a community it is important to be able to speak up and step in whenever is needed. Like it says in the quote, if you are just a bystander, you are apart of the problem.

"Unlike class, differences from of gender, race, and sexual orientation are associated with the body itself."

 I chose this because it connects to how some people don't realize just how privileged they are. We aren't able to chose our race or social class from birth and so those with a more privileged background should know just how privileged they actually are. This connects back to my first quote, if you know you have that certain privileged that puts you on top of others, use it as an advantage to help others who weren't able to be born with it.

"You can't deal with a problem if you don't name it. You can make sense of it by seeing how it's connected to other things that explain it and point towards solutions." 

This was the last quote I choose, this resonated with me because today not many people wanna talk about the problems going on in society. Things like racism, homophobia and the gender gap are conversations that many choose to not talk about. Why? This is because it is now seen as "uncomfortable" topics. This has to be changed, topics as serious as racism should not be skipped over when it is happening more and more in today's society. Without these topics being talked about, how will we ever find a solution? 

Connections:

This article reminding me a lot of the videos we watched last semester in FNED 101. Lots of these videos explained the  concept of having that privilege in society.  The fact that because of having that certain social class, skin color and or gender your able to obtain more jobs and or achievements was such a hard thing to watch. We also divided into social classes between schools, we did a lot of comparing between what a school that's located within a high economic era is different from a school that is not. 

Refection:

Johnson's argument and view on speaking up because you have that privilege definitely made me think about my self and my life. There has been many times where I had the privedge to speak up about a certain topic or situation that I encountered but didn't. it wasn't because I didn't want to, but I always had the mentality that I should just "mind my business." As I grew up though my mentality has changed and I see myself no longer staying quiet when it comes to doing something that's right.