I think there is discomfort to being self-aware of your privilege or being apart of a minority. What Alan Johnson wrote about seems to acknowledge this discomfort within society, while also acknowledging the prejudices our society holds. Johnson alludes to the idea that we as a society must be able to understand where we stand amongst ourselves before taking any action. He also seems to speak on---and I agree with this---by saying that change is uncomfortable. Small change is quite uncomfortable, so obviously approaching an incredible societal shift in behavior isn't going to be easy. Our American society is very bad at being uncomfortable, yes, over the years many changes have occurred because people put themselves in uncomfortable situations. However, I have noticed that we as a society tend to take the easy way out and do nothing. But, in my opinion, doing nothing is also doing something. Doing nothing results in nothing, which results in no change being made within our discriminatory society. What I think people do not realize is that doing something doesn't have to be a "big" thing. For example, educating yourself on a situation (becoming aware) IS doing something. Because this is the first step to be able to change societies mindset. In class we were asked to relate Johnson's words to our lives. Sarah (shoutout Sarah) began to talk about how she got assigned a book not too long ago about the difficulties that undocumented citizens have to go through to get employed. She said that she was enlightened during this because she had never thought about that because she---a perfectly capable U.S. born citizen---can walk in anywhere with a résumé and apply for a job, without such a rigorous process. While she was telling our group this story, I made the same realization. I had never thought of that same privilege I held either. This simple interaction opened a whole new level of reflection and way that I viewed how some people struggle within this society.
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