Critical Reflection #3: Gaining Voice and Humanity Through Participation in the 2020 Census
Personally, it was difficult for me to understand the concept of dehumanization without first understanding why it is a crucial part of our social justice. In the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire defines dehumanization as a concrete historical fact that results of an unjust order that engenders violence in the oppressors, which in turn dehumanizes the oppressed (Freire). In other words, dehumanization is the process of making others invisible by taking away their existence, voice, choice, and humanity to have control of the situation. An example of this historical fact is the count on the decennial census. At first, the census only counted three-fifths of slaves so that the “citizens” would continue to exercise their power as the “majority.” However, a humanizing effort can make marginalized community members “citizens” again. Counting the hard-to-count populations would contribute to Paulo Freire’s vision of bringing back their humanity. By ensuring an accurate in the upcoming 2020 Census, historically marginalized hard-to-count gain their visibility and voice and ultimately execute their right as human beings.
Participation in the 2020 Census can increase within hard-to-count with the support of trusted messenger. In my perspective, a trusted messenger is someone who has the critical consciousness to see the systemic issue and takes actions towards a humanizing effort. From my personal experience, it was “the awakening of critical consciousness [that led] the way to the expression of social discontents precisely because these discontents are real components of an oppressive situation” (Freire). When referring to critical consciousness, I always use the phrase “once you see, you can no longer ignore.” To me, this phrase means that once a person gains critical consciousness, the burning feeling inside makes it impossible to remain silent against the injustices. Ultimately, critical consciousness is the driving motor behind most humanizing efforts.
Similarly, mental liberation works to reverse the effects of oppression. Freire’s explains how “the pedagogy of the oppressed is an instrument for their critical discovery that both [the oppressed] and their oppressors are manifestations of dehumanization.” In other words, the oppressed needs to gain critical consciousness to understand their positionality. Without this critical consciousness, it might be difficult for the oppressed to even realized that they are oppressed, which may lead to a further dehumanization.
As mentioned earlier, the humanization process is a long and complex process that requires practice and persistence. According to Freire in his discussion with Horton, “without practice there’s no knowledge; at least it’s difficult to know without practice.” (Horton, Bell, Gaventa, & Peters). In other words, it would be difficult to know how much is unknown without practicing. By starting to spread the message of the census, it puts in practice a humanizing effort at a domino effect. The trusted messenger will practice critical consciousness and start a humanizing process by educating the community and giving them a choice to participate in the census. The community member will then continue with this effort by sharing this message with its friends, neighbors, and family.
Horton views authentic knowledge as “knowledge that changes to the extent that reality also moves and changes.” In other words, authentic knowledge refers to how others view a situation based on their experiences and their reality. My perspective of the census might be completely different from how someone who distrusts the U.S. government might perceive it. It is critical to accumulate this authentic knowledge from the community as it will place me a step closer to creating a bridge between the community and participation in the 2020 census.
By: Karla Hernandez Navarro
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2000.
Horton, Myles, Brenda Bell, John Gaventa, and John Marshall Peters. We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990.