Johnson and S.C.W.A.A.M.P. Blog

The name of the author was Allan G. Johnson for the piece titled Privilege, Power and Difference. In this piece Johnson argues that we, as a society, are responsible for all the injustice that happens to the lower class in our country. Johnson goes on to say that with scientific research and theory we could potentially close the gap between classes and distribute privilege and power on a more equal basis if we follow a "framework" based on his theory. Here are a few quotes from Johnson's article that I will reflect on: Chapter 2 Page 10 "We live in a society that attaches privilege to being white and male and heterosexual regardless of your social class." This quote is really difficult for me to process. Johnson basically has pigeon holed a white, heterosexual male as having power and privilege in our country. He obviously has not visited the trailer parks in Alabama. This part of the article showed me that Johnson is speaking of his experiences and maybe speaking of his own personal feelings. In my opinion a poor white heterosexual male will have to work and educate himself in order to reach a level of privilege in this day and age. If you are born poor I believe all races and genders have the same amount of opportunities to become successful. Quote 2: "The mere fact that something is new or strange isn't enough to make us afraid of it." I thought this was a good line in trying to show the reader that no matter who you come in contact with, you cannot pass judgement on a person until a person gives you a specific reason. I also think Johnson is trying to convince the reader to not be pre-determined in judging others. Quote 3: Chapter 2 page 13 "The bottom line is that a trouble we can't talk about is a trouble we can't do anything about." This quote helped me understand the author's position for the entire article. If we as a society could discuss issues of racism, sexism and classism it could help, in the authors opinion, society lose some of these destructive behaviors. A few last comments about Johnson's article, in my opinon I think he wrote a very pessimistic account of how this society works in our time. I will give one example but there were many in this article. In chapter 2 on page 8 he speaks of a colored colleague that "can't go for a walk alone at night without thinking about her safety" Johnson is saying this of a black woman and I feel he may have put words in her mouth. Is he a mindreader? If a man lived in a dangerous neighborhood he would also think about safety quite a bit. I think he tries to potray a larger disparity in races and gender than what there really is. Dr. Bogad discussed SCWAAMP and in my opinion the people tapping on the glass have at least cracked it and maybe even shattered it in some of the categories.