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Oppression

(USA in Focus)

By Beena PatelPublished 7 years ago 5 min read
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In her poetry, Maya Angelou defines the birdcage as “The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.” She expresses her early childhood experiences of oppression by discrimination based on prejudices of racism. The birdcage is used as a metaphor by both Maya Angelou in her poetry and Marilyn Frye in her “Oppression” article. In “Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?”” Beverly Tatum analyzed “Internalized Oppression.” She addresses how the members of oppressed groups often believe the distorted messages about their own groups. Oppressed people are like the birds in a cage. They wish for freedom, but they cannot break the cage because of the systematic beliefs. The barriers of those systems or cultures are like the bars of a cage. People can express just how a bird does by singing, but they wait for someone to break those barriers just how a bird would wait for someone to open the cage. Frye’s illustration of the birdcage relates to such groups of oppressed people. Our society puts invisible barriers of beliefs by its actions that can give distorted messages to oppressed groups. While Tatum refers to it as an internalized oppression where you have an option to break free but owned beliefs block you, oppression goes beyond that. It is not only about beliefs, but it is also about systematic actions that favor one group over the other such as the white privilege. The distorted beliefs of oppressed people are strengthened when they face such discrimination. As they say “actions speak louder than words,” people mostly believe the actions that they see. Therefore, it is imperative to stand by our words of equality if we must prevent such distorted messages.

First of all, oppression is not easy to define. As stated by Frye, a man hurting a woman to take his frustrations out is reasoned by a masculine belief that he cannot cry. Despite being oppressed by him, a woman cannot claim to be oppressed due to such stereotypical beliefs. Both sides actually lose in such scenarios. Having a structure in any given system is inevitable because that is how the systems operate. However, such systems should not have limiting beliefs or rules. If the system must persevere for a long time, then it has to become adaptable because change is the law of nature as we see that even seasons change often. It must continue to accommodate and improvise as new challenges arise. Taking the concepts of oppression and racism from both articles, diversity becomes a common theme. A society that has the diversity of all kinds including racial, religious, as well as individual, must be flexible in dealing with challenges. The positive effect of that would be to realize our full potential as human beings as well as to gain diverse talents. If one thinks from the perspective of potential, even the white privilege oppresses itself from expanding the horizons of accommodation and flexibility. In a structured system, however, such privileges are not considered as oppression. A leader who is favored by the white privilege would still have all the opportunities to implement new approaches in matters of diversity as well. On the other hand, the less privileged would still face restrictions from opportunities. If it is not the case, then only the actions of equality would break the distorted messages of internalized oppression.

Inequality is obvious in our society. There have been many real life examples where oppressed people have tried their best to break out of the beliefs that restrict them from realizing their full potential. However, the results of such acts have often showed that our society is still not equal. Therefore, the members of the oppressed groups believe the distorted messages that they do about their own groups. And, that is why they feel like being in a birdcage where they can express but not break out from. To further support my rationale of inequality, passive racism also plays a role. As explained in Tatum’s article, some white people are not actively racist. However, they do accept the benefits of their privilege. They do not challenge the issues but rather avoid them. She also states that task of interrupting racism is obviously not the task of whites alone. As a matter of fact, many people of all differences (not just whites) in our society are passive or what I like to refer as actively ignorant when it comes to racism. But, the fact of white privilege also means that whites have greater access to the societal institutions in need of transformation. As Tatum says, “To whom much is given, much is required.”

To conclude, actions indeed do speak louder than words. Whether those actions are of active racism, passive racism, passive antiracism, or active antiracism, they all give us messages to believe. If we increase the actions of equality more, then the groups of oppressed people would be empowered to break out of their belief barriers. They would realize their full potential to become equal members of our diverse society. And, this transformative task is the responsibility of every member of our society. If the white privilege allows one to make equal policies in favor for all, then the less privileged or the minorities should utilize such opportunities actively. Heroism and courage should be displayed to break the distorted messages and invoke empowerment for all. Lastly, we should stand by our words when actions are called for so that the message of hope rather than the message of hypocrisy can be delivered mainly in cases of oppressed groups.

References

1) Frye, M. (2010). Oppression. In Race, Class, and Gender in the United States (8th ed.). New York City, NY: Worth.

2) Tatum, B. D. (2010). Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?”. In Race, Class, and Gender in the United States (8th ed.). New York City, NY: Worth.

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About the Creator

Beena Patel

Everything about me can be found at www.facebook.com/beenaranee :)

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