Week 13
The Question that is being asked is, " What will you do?" When it comes to social change, that question is always being asked, due to the unfortunate fact that there is alway as problem or task that need to be dealt with. As Johnson states in the introductory, “...privilege and oppression is not a thing of the past…”. Meaning, there will always be some type of social injustice or problems within society, also meaning there will always be a call to action. Just as there is a call to action, there is active roles in which people can’t take to effect the task at hand. Being both a negative effect or positive depending on the action that individuals chooses to enact. Johnson method in involves a few steps. The first step is very simple, it what any person trying to resolve a problem would do, which is acknowledging that there is actually a problem with something. In some cases this is actually the hardest step. For example someone that is experiencing or is a part of a privileged group within society, would have difficulty acknowledging the disadvantage to an individual outside of their group. After you acknowledge the problem you have to “pay attention” according to Johnson. However I would like to call this the analyzing stage, this is when you sit back, and see which side of the fence you reside on, and also who is this problem oppressing, what type of thing are you doing to contribute or denote to this situation. Following Johnson’s method, due to the fact that majority of people don’t have enough courage for the next step, which actually “Do Something”, this is the call to action. This is where and when we see individuals speaking out on situation big and small, even if it’s letting someone know that a joke isn’t funny and actually is harmful. This is where we see protesting and revolt against social injustices. Many different historical event became memorable due to people standing up, and simply just doing something about it. But this method involves taking as risk you have to be willing to deal with the results and consequences. This is mostly the reason, because people do not like change, society doesn’t like change especially the people who are benefitting from it being the way that it is, although there are other individuals on the other side of that oppression. It true that it will not be easy, you will probably get blamed “for trying to make something out of nothing” or “ looking for a problem” or “over- analyzing stuff”, but all that ridicule is worth it, if it brings up positive change.
Jarmarquis-
ReplyDeleteI believe that the quote “privilege and oppression is not a thing of the past” is absolutely right and true. I also believe that many people can’t seem to find that true. The people who do not believe that it is an issue in our current society are the ones who are benefiting from the oppression of others. So, we can conclude that there are too many people who won’t get past that first step, which is as you mentioned, acknowledging that there is actually an issue. Even the ones who have acknowledged the issue and made it past that first step are not able to pay attention well enough because they are continually benefiting from the oppression of others. This makes me think of the decline of the middle class and the creation of a very high paid upper class and extremely impoverished lower class. This is a huge issue our country is facing at the moment. People are so greedy and so obsessed with money that they do not want anything or anyone to come in the way of that. Because of this, it is becoming harder to get jobs. The harder the competition is, the more school is required. For those who can maybe only afford community college, or online classes, they are automatically set at the back burner from their competition. As a result, they have a harder time finding as high a paying job. Because of this, the elimination of the middle class is beginning to grow and grow. I feel very passionate about this and think it is up to us to be the call to action and inform people of what is going on.
You are very right, “What will you do?” is constantly being asked. Whether it is blunt and in conversation or subliminal messaging, our peers want to know, our families want to know, and the world wants to know, “What will YOU do?” It seems as if there is always a conflict. This is because history cannot be erased, it can be repeated in different forms, and/or it can be solved over time. We are in the stage of recognizing and identifying issues at hand; the solutions have not come about, quite yet. We are getting close, however.
ReplyDeleteIn our generation, we are in a seemingly new mindset, while baby boomers seem to be stuck in their old ways (so I hear). Eventually, people die, but ideas do not. As time passes, hopefully those younger than us can adopt our majority opinion on equality. It is rare that I find people my age who are uncomfortable with others being homosexual, trans, or a different race. I hope that this accepting worldview can keep rolling through decades. What we can do now to ensure this is hold discussions about it as much as we can and forget our comfort zone. Like you said, you have to take the risk. Many people went down in history for taking this risk. Many people have put their lives on the line to be an ally. We cannot stop here, millennials! We can touch more lives with our words than ever before, in an instant. We must do more. Sitting back isn’t enough. When asked, “What will you do?”, the hope is that you will think to yourself, “everything in my power”. Great job!