Blog Post #1

 For my Blog Post #1, I am posting about Allan G. Johnson's excerpt from "Privilege, Power,

and Difference".  Allan G. Johnson's Website

• 3 Talking Points

(Beginning of Text): At the beginning of the text, the author starts with the premise "that a

great deal of trouble surrounds issues of difference in this society" including "trouble relating

to gender and race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and social class". The author continues that

"All of us are part of the problem." The contends that "we could also make ourselves part of

the solution if we only knew how." This ties into later in the text, the author concludes that

in the United States, "privilege is organized according to race", which reminds me that there

is implicit bias, even if people don't always realize it including with yourself.

(Middle of Text): In Chapter 2, there is an except regarding the white male author,

Dr. Johnson, and his African American woman colleague and friend, regarding race

and gender. In his example, Dr. Johnson mentions that when going shopping that he'll

"probably get waited on faster and better than she will." He states that he will "benefit

from the cultural assumption that I'm a serious customer when he doesn't need to be

followed around to keep me from stealing something", and that the clerk won't ask me for

3 kinds of IDs before accepting my check or accepting my credit card. Also, further into the

middle of the text, Dr. Johnson mentions the Diversity Wheel, and shifting a few parts of the

diversity wheel for most people would be enough to change their lives dramatically. One

example that the author gives, besides gender and race, is what if you went from being

physically able to having to use a wheelchair? The closest that I can relate to this is when I

broke my leg playing Little League baseball in 5th grade. I need to have some assistance

with friends carrying my books in school. Back then and at that age, students enjoyed helping

and also getting to leave class a few minutes early, which mostly they still do in these

circumstances. Also, in the middle of the text, Dr. Johnson describes the "social construction" of

reality, and how the definitions of different "races" change historically. I was watching a

documentary on Ed Sullivan and his show yesterday on Netflix, and how he invited "Black" acts

to perform on his show before anyone else, including a 13 year old Stevie Wonder, and

The Jackson 5. The documentary mentioned that Harlem in New York City, where Mr. Sullivan

grew up, was predominately Irish and Jewish in those days. The documentary mentioned that he

couldrelate since there were many stereotypes of the Irish, which he was, which made him want to

promote "Black" artists when others were not.

In Dr. Johnson's reading, he mentions the Irish and Jewish groups, along with Italians and

people from a number of Eastern European countries, which were "long considered to be by the

dominant white Anglo-Saxon Protestants of England and the United States to be members of a

non-white "race".

(End of Text): In Chapter 3, Dr. Johnson talks about "conferred dominance" which is one group

having power over another. For example, the "common pattern of men controlling conversations

with women, for example, is grounded in a cultural assumption that men are supposed to

dominate women." In social media, for example, the late Charlie Kirk toured college campuses and

rallied against what he considered to be "liberalism", including feminism. He stated that it is the man's

job to lead, and provided "evidence" from the Bible backing this up (in his opinion). You also see this

now in current social media posts, including on Facebook Reels, by some women. Dr. Johnson in his

reading continues that "Conferred Dominance also manifests itself in race privilege". The author

continues that due to hostile defensiveness, "this reluctance to come to terms with more serious and

entrenched forms for privilege is why most diversity programs produce limited and

short-lived results."

Argument Statement: Dr. Johnson argues that his primary goal is to change how people

think about issues of difference and privilege. The "elephant" is a society where a

decent and productive social life continues to be elusive, and in its place is "trouble", that

privileges some groups at the expense of others, including with class, race, gender, and

sexual orientation. Privilege is always at someone else's expense and always

exacts a cost.

Connections and Additional Personal Thoughts: From the 1st section of the reading, the

author states that our own defensive reaction has done more than anything else to keep

us stuck in order to instead, to become part of the solution. The author relates that as a

white, heterosexual, middle class professional, he can relate, but as a sociologist, he knows

that it's possible to get over their defense reactions in order to impact change. I can relate

to these feelings, since I have a similar background to the author, and when I teach in my

urban school (the students are mostly bused in from Providence), I try to picture myself in

the "shoes" of my students in order to relate. In fact, I just had a discussion in my 2nd to

last math class with a couple students on Friday, since the directive from our school's

leadership can be mixed. They want us to develop great relationships with our students,

in the warm - firm mode, but also to maintain our school's Administration's expectations

with strong classroom management and student behavior, including tech use while in

class, and want us to "document all infractions in Skyward", our student grading,

attendance, and behavior tracking system, while keeping a Restorative mindset, that

most staff has not received training on. In fact, during our last class on Friday, during my

10th grade Geometry class at 1pm, there was a silent student walkout, coordinated

with the greater Providence and Rhode Island student walkout that occurred this past

Friday, and all my students "walked out". One student told me prior that I could not stop

him. I told him I wouldn't even try. When it came time at 1pm for this walkout, some

students were looking at me. I told them to "do whatever you need to do". In fact, I am

glad that they all "walked out" and participated. Students did a silent walk around the

school with signs protesting the recent oppressive acts by ICE in Minneapolis,

Minnesota.

From the 2nd part of the reading, I can relate to the 2nd talking point that I listed above

regarding race, as when I got my first job out of college around 35 years ago, I was an

Assistant Manager Trainee, and then Assistant Manager after a couple months in a couple

Footlocker stores in the greater Boston area. I recall being asked by the Store Manager to

"follow" around a group of "kids" around my own age. In fact, I will never forget that one of

these "kids" must have seen how uncomfortable I was, as he told me "to relax" as he figured

out what I was directed to do. Regarding class with the point the author makes, another time

in this same downtown Boylston Street (downtown Boston) store, one of the New Kids On

The Block musicians came in with his entourage including African American "kids"

(New Kids On The Block were from Boston and a huge national act at the time), we were

not instructed to act the same way, but to instead to be very welcoming.

For the 3rd part of the reading, Dr. Johnson talks about "confirmed dominance" and that it

includes one group having power over another. In the text, it states that "Although many

superstar professional athletes are Black, in general black player are held to higher standards

than whites". This reminds me of what goes on in the NFL regarding minority hiring for head

coaches. Although there is "The Rooney Rule", in which NFL team is required to at least

interview one minority candidate for an open head coaching job, it appears that this is generally

not taken seriously. For example, there are a handful of NFL head coaches that are Black,

in disproportion to the percentage of NFL players that are Black. Recently, the head coach

of the Atlanta Falcons, who is Black, was fired, although the Falcons record and recent success

was considerably better than his white head coach peers who kept their jobs. Brian Flores, the current Defensive Coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, who is also Black,

who has had numerous defensive successes, and Mr. Flores also had prior success in a

Defensive coaching position with the New England Patriots, did not get a head coaching

job in this hiring cycle. Since Brian Flores still has an open lawsuit against the NFL for

what he thought was not a fair shot of other head coaching positions with a few teams after

being fired as the Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins, due to the NFL's systematic racial

discrimination practices with hiring and retention.

Technology, Links, and Additional Connections:

(Note: I used AI to create some of the hyperlinks automatically, through the Blogger application.)

Here is a picture that I took of the scoreboard at Citi Field last spring during a home game of

the New York Mets vs. the Colorado Rockies. This was "Family Day", where kids drew images of 

the baseball players, which the Mets used as their images on the scoreboard when they came to bat.

This image is of Juan Soto, one of the Mets' star players, who is from the Dominican Republic and 

is one of the best and highest paid players in Major League Baseball. 

Here is the link to his Baseball Reference page: Juan Soto Baseball Reference

Allan G. Johnson's Speech (2015) 

In Dr. Johnson's speech on his topics relating to his publication "Privilege, Power, and Difference", Dr. Johnson deliver's his thoughts in 2015. One of the examples that Dr. Johnson brings up in his presentation is that Don Imus, who had a long time radio show as a "shock jock", was actually doing us a favor by exposing and demonstrating his white privilege and ideals.

Foot Locker article regarding plans to improve their racial equity practices (2020)

Since I worked for Foot Locker for almost 2 years as an Assistant Manager in the early 1990's and there were issues with some of their practices, I located an article from 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd incident, with steps that retail companies were taking, including Foot Locker, to try to improve their racial equity practices. This ties into my own experience in 1991, which occurred the same year as the Rodney King incident detailed in Chapter 1 of Dr. Johnson's book ("Rodney King's famous quote: "Can't we all just get along?"). It's both interesting and concerning of the changes, and still no real changes, of what occurred with these racial related violent acts by law enforcement in both 1991 and 2020, almost 30 years later.

Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan (2025)

Here is a link to a promotional image of Ed Sullivan's documentary, including a list of highlighted

performers on the show.

Stevie Wonder Performing on The Ed Sullivan Show (1963)

Here is a video clip of 13 year old Stevie Wonder first performing on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Brian Flores' NFL Lawsuit

Here is a current article from January 2026, with the current status of Mr. Flores' lawsuit vs. the National Football League.

Foot Locker Logo Image History

Here is imagery with Foot Locker's official logos.