Thinking Piece #10: Johnson Reading

Allan G. Johnson, Ph. D.: Privilege, Power, and Difference

Premise:

• Trouble
• Change
• PRIVILEGE
• Power
• Difference
• Challenges
• Race
• Class
• Sex
• Limits
• Solutions
• Individuality
• Oppression
• Being Heard
• Change
• Opportunities

Argument:

Johnson argues that we as Americans need to realize that with our powers and privileges we can finally create the many changes that our society needs. We need to also be aware that if we believe in a particular change/event we need to stick by it and support it, because one voice can still make the difference.

Evidence:

1. “Their silence and invisibility allow privilege and oppression to continue. Removing what silences them and stands in their way can tap an enormous potential of energy for change” (125). This is Johnson proving that if just one person “taps on the glass” it is just the start of something that many others will begin to see. Just one voice, one tap, can make the biggest change.

2. “A society isn’t some hulking thing that sits there forever as it is” (129). Johnson is stating that we sometimes forget that we can create change. When earth was first created it was not said that it had to stay that way forever. We need to continue changing our society; we need to make the changes!

3. “People often like to think of themselves as individuals—especially in the United States. But it is amazing how much of the time we compare ourselves to other people as a way to see how well we fit in” (144). This is an example where Johnson is stating, that we (Americans) are so afraid of enforcing changes but when we look around and see that everyone is different we begin to compare ourselves. We begin to wonder, what is the correct way of looking? And the answer is, there is no correct way, everyone is different, everyone brings differences to our society, just as we should look at the future changes.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:

This article was by far my favorite article. I believe in everything that Johnson is trying to say, we need to “tap the glass”, accept change, and realize that one person can make a difference. He used many great examples and really summed up everything we have learned during this semester in FNED. As I looked at Tiffany’s profile before I wrote this I really liked her comic strip. I really felt it had to do with exactly what Johnson was saying. So just as I went looking for one I saw this one (above) and I liked it because it reminded me of the activity we did (I cannot remember what reading it was for) where we couldn’t talk and each wrote our ideas about that one topic that was on the top of the page.

As I read this, however, I was unsure of what the “tin cup” approach and the “business case” arguments were. From the text it seemed like it was written about in the previous chapters of his book but I was just unsure. Does anyone know?