Assignment A: Johnson reading

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  Privilege, Power, and Difference by Allan G. Johnson

  
  

  This article, written by a white heterosexual man, is written with proper awareness of the authors own privilege in discussion of such a topic. He excessively states his social category as a reminder of his own privilege and, potentially, his lack of perspective as he is without lived experiences of oppression in many aspects. He respectfully understands his undertaking in reporting on power and privilege and in regard to his own life. Yet, we see him take this on as a duty and as an obvious fight against systems that he is in place of.

  He makes clear the issue of power and privilege in society. Especially noting that these are topics that people often shy away from, as if pretending they don't exist will make their lives more comfortable. Simultaneously, this disregard for these social issues further perpetuates and complicates their effects on people who are negatively impacted by these systems.

  He creates easier understanding of these topics by helping the reader to imagine life if their social positioning had somehow changed overnight. He notes that the way people respond and react to your mere existence would change. It helps to understand one's place in the world based off of their social category.

  This text is an important read and guides the reader to take these issues more seriously by highlighting the reality of terms of power, privilege, and difference and circumstances in which they are at play day to day.