Blog Post #1

Alan Johnson Privilege Power and Difference Reflection 

    The author Alan Johnson starts with an introduction about how he is a white, middle-class, heterosexual male and that means he can tell you first hand experiences from that point of view. The point he stresses is that he can't tell you about being a woman or a person of color but that everyone's experiences are going to be unique because we are all parts of different social groups. You may be white but you may be a woman. You may be black but you are also heterosexual. The point is everyone will have different experiences and perspectives based on all these factors. This part spoke to me the most because I am middle-class and heterosexual but I am also not completely white and I'm a woman. When you are part of the dominated group or the group that is seen as the problem for racism you are labeled as the problem but it's never that simple because I am also part of the groups that are being torn down by being a woman and not being white. Now even the topic of my color is something I have never been comfortable speaking about to people because they like to categorize you into two boxes being black and white. I don't simply see myself as just black or white. This is mainly because of growing up not excepted by either group fully. That's when I get the label as a mutt because it's easier to have a label. I am mixed and even then I'm not just a mix of black and white. I have always loved being Portuguese. I love to embrace my culture, the language and the food and this is considered a white race but many people tell me it's so close to being Spanish you pretty much already are. When I tell people I speak a different language they assume it's Spanish from my color and my dark features and this makes me a little upset after nineteen years because there are over a hundred languages out there and still Spanish is the only guess I ever get. Even putting being Portuguese aside and say I just consider that part of me to be white I am also part African American, Native American, Irish, Scottish and Welsh. As a child I never understood what part of the race war I would be on and I never asked mainly being afraid of the answer. After time I ask my mom because after all who would understand where I would be in this world better than my own mom. She said for one there wouldn't be a you. I was told no way would my grandparents be able to be together and that I would never be born. Now that didn't help my curiosity. Later down the line I asked again and her response was that I wouldn't be liked by either side. This made a lot more sense now that I had grow up in this world that didn't claim me to be either. So now I simply avoid the subject the best I can or I say I'm mixed and nothing else because I shouldn't have to explain myself or be questioned any further. So I am part of the middle-class, heterosexual, and female groups proudly but I leave out the race part and just simply say not white because people always need that label. 

Comment: Everything you read and even anything you write will be bias because we are all unique people. This isn't a fault and shouldn't be seen as one but it should be celebrated that we can learn from each others experiences. Everyone is part of different social groups and will have different experiences. 

https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/understand-social-identity-to-lead-in-a-changing-world/