Oppression in America Essay

Inequality exists around us. One of the inequalities is the income received by a person or member of a family. This income includes wages, salaries, pensions, and interest derived from assets. Income inequality refers to the various income within a given population. This inequality is especially high in the United States.

Regardless of race or ethnicity, it is my belief that people in general, will stand up for their rights no matter what they have to do in order to get their rights recognized, they will do it. In this case, African Americans had to fight to mold the country and freedom that they desired. When a group of people become oppressed they will learn to band together to mold their future and the future of their children. I would like to look into this from the point of view that even though we are referring to people of African American descent, other races would have done the same. I hope to touch on topics and keywords that will reflect that in a literary sense.

“Racism is a bad thing, you find it everywhere in the schools, the clubs and also in the streets.”

What is privilege? What does it mean? Is privilege inherited or is it earned? As an American resident of color I’ve learned that privilege in this country is something that is innate and inherited. The privilege that I speak of is that of White privilege.

“We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others”-Will Rogers

I have always understood traditional liberalism as an ideology that places emphasis on individual freedoms (e.g. freedom of speech, assembly, religion, etc). However, this individualistic attitude hampers our ability, as a society, to succeed. In this week’s readings, Iris M. Young (1990) provides a structural concept of oppression by dividing it into five categories (P. 40). This in-depth analysis allows us to understand how different groups are oppressed in different ways, while also illustrating how “… some people suffer not because a tyrannical power coerces them, but because of everyday practices of a well-intentioned liberal society” (PG 41).

“A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas; but the pairing of a certain number of acoustical signs with as many cuts made from the mass thought engenders a system of values.” [1] We can start to delve into the logocentrism of western culture by looking at differentiation and intersectionality. But the more interesting idea is that the United States is very phallogocentric. Let’s not view these four authors as individuals but rather pit them into a group identity. The problem is that people fit into multiple groups, race, ethnicity, wealth, there are infinite groups. Eventually we realize that “the smallest minority on the Earth is the individual.” [2]

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,

There was an attempt to Christianize the world. Christianity were finally established in the Americas, Australasia, the South Pacific and southern Africa. In my opinion as much as I understand their intention to spread God’s word globally they obviously tried really hard to assimilate indigenous cultures; to make these people believe that Christ is the only way. Many had died when they felt oppressed by the European and the Spanish. During the Middle ages Church of England ruled and pay little attention to the people. According to the Chapter, “…secular rulers regularly attempted to encroach on it claims to political influence.” (McGrath, 142).

In the United States and internationally, there is a multitude of indicators that the racial environment is changing. Environmental pollution and racism are connected in more ways than one. The world is unconsciously aware of environmental intolerances, yet continues to expose the poor and minorities to physical hazards. Furthermore, sociologist continue to study “whether racial disparities are largely a function of socioeconomic disparities or whether other factors associated with race are also related to the distribution of environmental hazards” (Mohai and Saha 2007: 345). Many of these factors include economic positions, health disparities, social and political affairs, as well as racial inequalities.

People live there lives based on history. White people live there lives based on the history of how they oppressed the black people. History is present in everyone, from when you are young to adults (Baldwin, par.3). People learn of there history of what their people did and they feel guilty of their peoples actions. White people have an instinctual fear that the black people will oppress the white people exactly like they did to them (par. 10). This is a fear because of something called color (par.12).

As a Turk, I view the veil as a symbol of oppression and male dominance; as a Spaniard, the veil is a beautiful accessory worn by passionate female flamenco dancers to emphasize character. When I was asked to cover myself with a burqa at the Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul, my home city, I sensed a growing uneasiness as a hot-blooded Spaniard in Istanbul’s most respected location. Clearly displaced, I felt as if I was insulting my Spanish family by ultimately succumbing to authority and hiding my body. I offended the confident spirit of the flamenco dancers that I so admire. In the mosque, I felt entirely Spanish as I came to understand my place as a knot between the Middle Eastern and Spanish sides of my family.

Oppression is the cruel or unjust treatment of people, and is widespread among societies nowadays. We clearly see signs of discrimination, racism, classism, sexism and other types of oppression in institutions such as schools, criminal justice systems or even medical institutions, where people’s rights are being denied. Intuitively, a human being has the right to enjoy life the same way any other individual does, but because of these different acts of discrimination, we see situations where blacks feel inferior to whites, children feel like they don’t belong in a child friendly environment and many more as we will discuss later in in this research paper. On the subject of oppression, a large number of people participated in protests, filed lawsuits, and started different movements to try and stop these corrupted actions; however, we have yet to seen any positive results. That is to say, people and institutions who hold power oftentimes use this power to oppress others.

The story of the human race has been filled with many motifs that have been repeatedly woven throughout the tapestry of human history. Yet there is one theme of mankind that is constant in many societies and civilizations that many people have overlooked as one of the necessary keys to the growth of humanity. Oppression. Oppression of humans has been an almost constant characteristic in many civilizations in almost every part of the Western world and at almost any time period. But as abhorrent and as disgraceful as oppression is (and has been), oppression has played a beneficial role for the elite members of many societies. The benefits of oppression can be seen in the works of Marx, Mandela, Wollstonecraft and Colbert as the proletariats, Africans, women and non-wealthy Americans were all heavily suppressed by their societies’ elites through their blatant and centralized oppression as well as the more subtle controlled messaging that they used to gain and maintain power.