Talking Points X-Johnson

In this article "What Can We Do?" by Allen Johnson, Johnson argues that we, the people of our society, need to start to recognize the problems in which we can then find a solution to all of the things that have caused problems such as diversity, race, violence, and privilege.

"The greatest barrier to change is that dominant groups don't see the trouble as their trouble, which means they don't feel obliged to do something about it. This happens for a variety of reasons: because they don't know the trouble exists in the first place, because they don't have to see it as their trouble, because they see it as a personal rather than a systemic problem, because they're reluctant to give up their privilege, because they feel angry and deprived and closed to the idea that they belong to privileged groups, because they're blinded by prejudice, because
they're afraid of what will happen if they acknowledge the reality of privilege."

This quote doesn't just have to do with privilege, but it means that we need to have leaders for those who don;t feel "obliged" to do something about a problem that isn't theirs? I mean what is that? Who cares if it isn't your problem. Part of becoming a teacher is to make a difference. If you want change, if you want to make a difference in other poeple's lives, then YOU need to take action and not let others do it for you.

I also enjoyed the Stubborn Ounces little poem by Johnson although I thought about it in a different way. I have a problem with the first saying down in parenthesis where it says "(To Who Doubts the Worth of Doing Anything if You Can't Do Everything." First, there is no such thing s doubting yourself whether your a teacher or a student because doubting brings on negativity. Also, the word can't is a "no" as well because there's always a way to find something to make something work whatever it is you are doing. It's called staying positive and I used to have negativity and I found out the hard way that negativity gets you nowhere. So whatever you choose to do in your life, always have a positive mind.

I thought Johnson's article was as good as his first one when his main case was "say the words" He really wants you to understand what that means. He wants us to be able to be comfortable with what we say, but make sure it's in a way where we don't judge people or have it become a diversity issue.