Oppression : Racism And Sexism

Over a century after the emancipation of millions of slaves, and twenty-five years following the declaration that “separate is not equal,” the case Regents of University of California v. Bakke ruled in favor of affirmative action. Justice Harry Blackmun affirmed in this decision that “[i]n order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way.” As one of the most liberal judges on the court at the time, Blackmun tended to rule favorably in regards to expanding the rights of women and minorities. In presenting this opinion, he explains that issues of race must be addressed and considered in order to fix racism, prejudice, and systemic oppression. In regards to affirmative action (among other positive

Up through the eighth grade I had only ever been good at Tae Kwon Do and school. And to be honest, that does not impress the ladies as much as I think it should. I had spent an entire summer of my life devoted to playing baseball, and perfecting every single aspect of my game. It worked wonders. I hit a league-best .730 batting average(For reference that means I got a hit 7.3 times out of ten, which is about 4.8 hits per ten plate appearances better than the average), and played every inning in all but one game. I actually had coaches approaching me after games to tell me how much they disliked my playstyle and to say how bad of a kid I was for playing so aggressively. This is about the time I realized I should stop trying to change what other

Throughout the past couple of weeks, the readings revolved around oppression. These readings have talked about oppression as being pervasive, restrictive, hierarchical, intentional, unintentional, institutionalized, and so much more. These examples show us how oppression is taking over our society, and it is going to take a lot for it to finally disappear. One way that individuals believe oppression can start to deteriorate is through the process of social justice. The end game of social justice is to make sure there is equality for everyone present in our society today. Yet, we know that having social justice present is a process that will not happen overnight. By breaking down and analyzing oppression, it could help many individuals understand

Reflecting upon your inquiries on the first paragraph, the male dominated perspective does not seem to serve men either. You mentioned sexual assault and violence in your post. Associating victims with female gender as well as perceiving female victims as weak does not seems to help understanding how to support male victims of assault and/or violence.

America is often associated with phrases such the land of the free, or that all men are created equal. However, its meritocratic image is a naïve observation many fall into believing. America has a history of oppressive behavior to minorities, and sexes. If all men are created equal, why has America succumb such racial, and sexual inequality? Especially in terms of social economic status, the evidence strongly suggests that an individual’s social mobility is not as mobile as many think (McIntyre, lecture). Unfortunately, these false beliefs that racism, and sexism are no longer part of society make it hard to inform people that it is still a major problem for women, and minorities (McIntyre, lecture). Sexual and racial discrimination

I found not having exposure to your own culture interesting as it leads them not to show their true reflection. Some deaf children are denied information about their own history, language and culture and some may be forbidden to acknowledge it.

The last hundred years have brought the world many valuable things; computers, better sanitation conditions, understandings of diseases, vaccines, surgery, education, and so much more. But there are so many social constructs that have made little progress such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. In reality vaccines and sexism are manmade, a vaccine is a manmade invention and sexism is a manmade idea. Neither would exist without human beings backing the idea that they are necessary. Racism is “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior (Oxford Dictionary).” Racism over the last hundred years has been directed towards Blacks, Hispanics, and Asian’s. Looking at the past in relation to racism in the United States, reveals that racism is still alive and well in 2015 just as it was in 1915.

This research paper will outline the causes and traits of oppression in America. Dynamics such as the social, historical, and psychological systems that serve as vessels of oppression will be addressed. Using academic research, the goal for this essay will be to discuss the characteristics of oppression and how those characteristics are connected to its origin. The research will develop major themes that will serve to define agents, including classism, discrimination, and the intersectionality of different types of oppression. Discussions on strategies for addressing and ending the current oppression in America and recommendations for the future will be highlighted as well.

Today, a serious problem exists all over the world. Racial oppression takes place in the poorest and the richest countries, including America. Racial oppression is characterized by the majority, or the ruling race, imposing its beliefs, values, and laws on the minority, or the ruled race. In most areas, the ruling race is upper class whites that run the “system”, and have a disproportionate amount of power. In other areas, it may not be the white race, but it is still the race that is comprised of the majority, makes the laws, or has the most money. These are the keys to domination over the weaker minorities that don’t have the power to thrive under the majority’s system according to their own cultural beliefs,

When it comes to gender oppression, it is important to view it through other systems of oppression because it allows us to understand the many different ways in which individuals or groups experience it and how these other oppressions contribute to gender oppression as well. There are people who suffer because of many systems of oppression, such as racism, poverty, or cissexism. These systems start to intersect, become dependent on each other, and they can only be understood all together as one sum. This is known as intersectionality. Moreover, when it comes to viewing gender oppression through the lens of racism, it could be either beneficial or harmful when we are dealing with

Within that moment, it became evident to me that he carried mostly all dominant identities. So, why would he see the greater systemic channels of oppression and racism? In view of that conversation, the notion of unconsciousness that surrounds oppression and racism is absolutely fascinating. Correspondingly, while completing week nine’s asynchronous material, it resonated with me that education is the best intervention when it comes to oppression and racism. Like the conversation between my husband and I, once education was rendered, self-awareness increased, which afforded him a shift in consciousness.

I am stating the Five Faces of Oppression based on my understand after reading Shaw & Lee. The first face is Exploitation. Exploitation is, “A process that transfer the results of labor of one social group to benefit another.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) An example of exploitation is sweat shops. Children in many parts of the world are making clothing items such as Nike for pennies a day. While these children are underpaid people who aren’t sweat shop workers’ pay multiple dollars for the items made. Marginalization is the next face, Margination is described as, “The expulsion of an entire group from useful participation in social life.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) A group that fits this category are the homeless. Homeless people were unable to pay their bills therefore, they’re without a home. Powerlessness comes next and is described as, “lack of respectability.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) An example of this would be minority groups. In the media you see many videos of white people disrespecting minorities for being “different.” Cultural Imperialism is the fourth face. Cultural Imperialism is, “Recognizing the dominant group experience and culture as the norm.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) An example of this is white culture in America. In America it’s the norm for mothers to be stay at home moms while the husband is the sole bread winner for the family. The last face of oppression is violence. Violence is described as, “Members of a subordinate group who live with the threat of violence.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) Transgender individuals live with a lot of fear and violence. Many people don’t understand or support the trans community and tend to thing in order to solve the “problem” they must hurt and kill trans individuals. Iris Young said described the acts as “Using people’s labors to produce profit while not compensating them fairly.”

Historically, men have been considered the only sex and women, the Other, and as a result, men’s views and opinions have created myths of what women in society are expected to conform to and exhibit. Many of the expectations developed are restrictive and oppressive to women. One such expectation that men have developed and perpetuated is that a woman exists to fulfill his sexual needs. Man is the superior being and his “ideal woman” is one that will unquestionably submit to his domination (Beauvoir 201). In addition, men’s domination over women, places women in a state of dependence. Women are largely reliant on men for economic necessities and security. However, women’s reliance on men, leaves them vulnerable to male’s oppression on them.

In today’s society there is an abundance of problems facing women and their oppression. The world now is known to specifically target women for their race, economic status, sexuality, credibility and, their gender. Not only is it degrading for a woman in the twenty first century to be experiencing this discrimination, but, even more so that women faced these obstacles in the first place. As we play our parts and do our jobs, women must join together and resist anyone, or, any rule that objectifies or simplifies women. Resistance may not have started in this century, but, it is a duty that must be upheld in order to create an organized demonstration that women deserve just as much as the average man. As my wise friend once said “ Not shaving and conforming to society's beauty standards is so liberating as a woman. Yet at this point it should just be expected that women don’t have to shave. Such a shame” As I think about what she said, I begin to think about all the possible ways a woman can resist. How, in reality she can change things for her future rather than what the society wants her to be.

There is blatant sexism and racism within the American Judicial System shown by a lack of convictions and inconsistent sentencing. Despite many small steps forward towards equality, injustice and systemic racism still find their way into the cases and verdicts we hear on the news every day. The battle for racial and gender equality is a fight that’s been fought diligently for centuries and while steps forward of all sizes are significant, recent steps backwards have left our society sure of only one thing: there is a lack of continuity regarding race and gender equality. Based on government documents, public cases, and private studies it is