Blog 1: “Privilege, Power, and Difference” by Alan Johnson
"Privilege, Power, and Difference" by Alan Johnson: Reflection
After reading "Privilege, Power, and Difference" by Alan Johnson, I want to first state that my eyes have been opened a great amount. With society being the way it is today, I have tried my hardest to keep myself updated on social injustice, sexism, racism, feminism- as Johnson would say: "all of the ism's". I am always thinking "how do we solve this"?
For me, the biggest takeaway from this text is that the privileged are nearly blind to what counts as privilege, and when they do recognize it; we avoid the conversation because we are almost afraid to say the words. The conversations that we have been having in society today inch closer and closer to the correct way of speaking upon racism and sexism-but we still haven't quite reached the quality of conversation yet. This draws back to when Johnson mentions that WE are ALL related to the problem. This opened my eyes to my earlier question of “How”? Although I know there is no definite answer, I believe that the first step is for the privileged to recognize we are all involved in the problem. No matter where you stand, you are involved, it is up to you to determine what you want to do with your privilege. I believe that once everyone is involved, there will be a larger call for change.
This thought quickly had brought me to relating it to what I have been seeing on social media the past few days. With the United States and all social injustice issues going on right now there has been a call to “shutdown” on January 30th, 2026. This is in relation to buying anything, going anywhere, posting on social media, and not going to school or work. I spoke about this to a friend in which he responded “I’m just one person, what would that do”? I would say that many people would respond the same way to this shutdown. However, if individuals realize that they are a part of the “we” and the “us” they would be more inclined to participate. Even if you think you do not fit into the categories who face sexism, classism, and racism-you do, you are completely a part of that category. I am by no means enticing you to participate in this “stop” or “shutdown” but after reading the content this week, what would it take for us to get there, to be able to believe that this “shutdown” could possibly work?
Overall, I wanted to reflect on the content Johnson pushed about being a “we” and that we cannot solve any of these issues if there is no recognition of that. I wanted to ask my classmates if they think we can solve at least one of the isms even if it is not fully recognized and fought for by everyone. How many will it take? What steps do we take next if we all realize it is the “we” in these situations?
Thank you for your reflection. I think we all have to recognonize that we all experience an ism in some way both positive and negative. We cant have an attitude of I am one person, what can I do. Change starts somewhere and so doesn’t growth. We can all learn from past experiences, change and help in a positive way.
ReplyDeleteHi! I enjoyed how you started your blog by stating that you are proactive in being well informed about the injustices or 'isms' that is apparent in our society. You're right, no matter where we stand, we just need to know we are a part of a system that gives and takes and that we need to take action.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you focused on the idea of “we” and how Johnson makes it clear that everyone is connected to the problem, whether they want to admit it or not. The part about people being afraid to even say the words around privilege and injustice really stood out to me, because it feels very accurate to how these conversations usually go.
ReplyDeleteYour connection to the shutdown idea on social media was interesting too, especially the “I’m just one person” response, because that mindset shows exactly what Johnson is talking about. I like how you framed it as a question of participation and responsibility rather than blame. Your questions at the end are strong and really make you stop and think about what real change would actually require.