The Cycle of Oppression

Is race real?

Yes. Period.

Often times, (mostly white people), offer the solution to just “move on”, “forget about it”, and act as though race is not a thing, to miraculously erase hundreds of years of genocide and slavery. If race is not real in your world, you are derived from a long history of privilege where the social construct of race is meaningless. Ever since the Eastern World met the West, there has been race. People have different skin colors, and, sadly, this affects the way others view them; ignoring this fact is perpetuating the systematic oppression of people of color.

Reverse racism?

No. Period.

Most people spend their childhood in homes and around people, which and whom reflect their own culture and heritage. This contributes to prejudice, because second-hand information about other groups is often distorted, and without exposure, one can never know the truth. Before children can learn prejudice, they first understand stereotypes; in order to prevent this, a child must receive reliable information from a person of a different culture authentically. Sadly, because our society has been divided by race through class, social structures, and the media, communication between different demographics is always proceeded by prejudice. Because one will not be able to understand another’s culture fully, prejudice is a natural human phenomena derived from simply not knowing. When prejudice grows to become something systematically intertwined into mundane life, racism begins to develop.

Prejudice: preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.

Racism: the systematic prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.

Whereas racial prejudice can be experienced by all human forms, racism is executed throughout media, throughout the law, and throughout social institutions to keep minorities in oppression. It is important to understand that while there is a system of advantage in place, there are always people who benefit and perpetuate its continuation. Those who understand the unfair system of advantage while maintaining empathy for other forms of life, yet who also benefit, may become actively anti-racist, using their privilege to enforce equality. Those who many not yet understand the weight of the issue of racism, may be passively racist, as a result of social conditioning, and those who remain ignorant to the effects of systematic oppression or enjoy being the beneficiaries, may be active racists, participating in blatant and aggressive acts of discrimination.

Why do they stay oppressed?

Because, the system works to disadvantage those with less privilege by giving them less opportunity for success.

Other forms of oppression act in the same way as racism. Sexism, for example, can only be experienced by those who do not identify as “male”. Because the mechanisms of society work to keep women oppressed, it becomes a systematic form of oppression, rather than sexual prejudice. White women earn seventy-five cents to a white man’s dollar, remain unseen at congressional debates about women’s health, and face prejudice daily throughout the media. The discrimination of women has become a societal norm. Classism, “a system of advantage based on income and social status where wealthy upper class people are perceived (often unconsciously) to be superior to middle class and lower income people”, also operates in this way. Because wealth has become a societal goal, the poor are often viewed as failures of society. Society, however, systematically keeps lower class people oppressed, continuing the cycle of discrimination. For example, in lower income neighborhoods the education system is likely to be less proficient than in upper class neighborhoods. Because the school system is more likely to fail in poorer communities, the students are less likely to receive scholarship for outstanding performance. Because university is extremely expensive, a scholarship for a poor student is a necessity. Yet, as the education system becomes more competitive, it becomes more apparent which demographic of people will be attending college, getting a degree, and finding a well-paying job working with the mechanisms of society, and which demographics will remain voiceless amidst their oppression. With lack of representation, comes a lack of understanding from outsiders, lack of awareness of actual minority conditions, and the continuation of the systems of oppression in place. While rich, white, and straight men own more than ninety percent of all American media, it comes as no surprise that stereotypes are formed as a means of keeping the oppressed oppressed.

But don’t they want to be white?

No, you want them to be white.

These stereotypes can often extend past a self versus other and self versus society conflict, to an arguably more disruptive conflict, self versus self. As shown in the movie, “Sankofa”, many people of color may not fully understand the history of their culture and may internalize societal stereotypes, as a result of social conditioning and mirroring. Internalized oppression works to keep the oppressed voiceless, because with lack of self-esteem and self-understanding, it is not possible for one to progress, and assimilation is more likely to occur. In “Sankofa”, meaning “to reclaim the past in order to go forward”, a woman is shown to have lost her connection to her past, allowing slavery, internalized and societal, to continue to shape her life. Because imperialism and assimilation has been so heavily practiced, however, it may appear safer to succumb to the systematic oppression of society rather than to fight for freedom.

Internal struggle, apparent in all forms of systematic oppression, is harmful to all of society, the oppressed and the beneficiaries. For example, sexism has led to the phenomena of the “Man Box”, society’s expectations of a male. Because men are constantly told not to show emotion, with the exception of anger, to remain dominant, and to constantly put on an aggressive and fearless visage, the ability to overcome internalized struggles becomes less likely. To overcome psychological damage, such as PTSD, one must first fully understand and be able to express, emotively, the effects of what harmful situations have done to them. In addition, white people also experience internalized oppression when participating in systematic racism. As Tatum explains, white people in America experience a loss of identity and of their ethnic origins. Because “white” is seen as a homogeneous group of people, many remain searching for who they really are, perhaps contributing to cultural appropriation. Internalized oppression very quickly leads to external oppression, like a high school bully who’s home life is in tatters; the uncomfortability within oneself is quick to be projected onto others as a form of scapegoating. Could internalized oppression, in all senses, be the root cause of oppression worldwide?