What Can We Do? Becoming Part ofthe Solution

I think Johnson's 18 page chapter can be summed up as this: In order to change anything, we all need to start making different choices ourselves. I believe that Johnson's main point in everything that I've read of his is that WE need to change things. Right here and right now, we all need to start taking the harder road.


"This suggests that the simplest way to help others make different choices is to make them myself, and to do it openly."

The harder road has many faces. It could be taking openly about racial issues. It could be defending someone who is being demeaned. No matter what it is, it has to start with yourself. He thinks that if we all start making choices to avoid that "road of least resistance" than other people will see our new path as an option. Using the words is just a tool in this bigger goal. The words need to be used or else the issues are made invisible.


"Large numbers of people have sat on the sidelines and Seen themselves as neither part of the problem nor the solution. Beyond this shared trait, however, they are far from homogeneous, Everyone is aware of the whites, heterosexuals, and men who intentionally act out in oppressive ways. But there is less attention to the millions of people who know inequities exist and want to be part of the solution. Their silence and invisibility allow the trouble to continue."

Another point that he makes is that not enough people see issues like heterosexualism, racism, and sexist as their problem. When we don't see those kind of things as our problem, we distance ourselves from them and wait for someone else to fix it. The problem is that the people who think that it's not their problem are the people who need to take the most responsibility to try and fix it. The reason is because often they are the people who have the most influence in society.


"A key to the continued existence of every oppressive system is unawareness, because oppression contradicts so many basic human values that it invariably arouses opposition when people know about it."

I think that this is definitely true. I don't think that many people think about systems are prejudice. Whenever I heard people talking about how this was racist, or how that was sexist, I always felt like they were the kind of people who always needed to complain about something. Now I understand that I was probably the ignorant one. If we make choices that demonstrate our resistance to follwoing prejudiced systems, than more people will realize that those systems are unfair.


Overall, I think that Johnson came up with somewhat of a weak conclusion to what we should do. I think that he could have focused more on his idea of changing ourselves to start influencing others to change too. Intsead he talks about how the question of what to do is a tough question. It definitely is, but I think changing ourselves is definitely a good start.