Blog #1 Privilege Power and Difference by Alan Johnson

Reflection:

    Reading the piece Privilege Power and Difference by Alan Johnson sparked my desire to get all of society to work together to put an end to all forms of discrimination and inequalities. I know from my perspective I have not had many experiences with discrimination and inequalities as a white, middle class, woman. However, just because I am not faced with these challenges does not mean I should not also take action. On page seven and eight Johnson states examples of times he has experienced privilege “The simple truth is that when I go shopping, I’ll probably get waited on faster and better than she will. I’ll benefit from the cultural assumption that I’m a serious customer who doesn’t need to be followed around to keep me from stealing something. The clerk won’t ask me for three kinds of ID before accepting my check or accepting my credit card. But all these indignities that my whiteness protects me from are part of her everyday existence.” (pg 7-8). This quote stuck out to me because it showed multiple everyday privileges that many individuals, myself included, take for granted. Many individuals who are known as the “perfect american” (white, upper class, male) struggle to see the privileges that they have on an everyday basis. Alan Johnson brought this up in his article to show the need for action to be taken place to get past these stereotypical societal norms. As Johnson explained earlier on in his writing this is not putting blame on any certain group however, if we are not all taking action collectively as a society then we are not going to be able to put an end to the inequalities for others. In one of my former classes; Women in Philosophy, I was privileged to learn about the bird cage theory. 

    The bird cage theory is that those who are being oppressed are known as being on the inside of the “bird cage” wanting to become free and have the same privileges as the birds who don’t have to be caged. However, the birds that are not inside the bird cage do not realize the extent of the oppression that they are faced with. This then results in the free birds not taking any action into freeing the caged birds. Therefore those who are being oppressed are not freed from the “cage”. This connects back to everyone being on different extents of oppression and even though it may not affect us directly we still need to take action to put the end to the oppression for others.    

Reflection/Questions/Comments to share:    

     A question I would like to discuss in class is: how can we all as a society take action to put an end to oppression for all individuals? What are some steps you can take as a student to be a part of this change? As I discussed earlier even if the oppression may not be affecting you directly it may be a part of someone's everyday life. Even just starting by speaking out such as Alan Johnson is a start to putting an end to oppression for others.