Critical Reflection #5: Oppressed and Impoverished

What?

Young starts by describing the original definition of oppression and how that plays into why people don’t automatically turn to the word “oppression” to describe societal injustice. Originally, oppression is described as a way of tyranny or ruling over a group. Today in America, there aren’t exactly circumstances that allow for oppression in the traditional sense. In this day and age, there are many other, not so obvious, ways to keep certain groups oppressed. Young states, “Oppression designates the disadvantage and injustice some people suffer not because a tyrannical power coerces them, but because of the everyday practices of a well-intentioned liberal society (Young, 2004).” When Diaz talks bout oppression, she refers to both the oppressed and the impoverished. She says they are people who are aware that they’re oppressed and know that a massive change has to happen to change that (Diaz, 2012). They break up oppression into five categories. They are exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence.

So What?

Taking note of daily oppressors or oppressive moments that happen every day is important because it forces us to realize that certain things are not okay and gives us the power to try to change it. In the theater of the oppressed class, we would do exercises and re-enact scenarios that are oppressive in the simplest of ways. We did an exercise where we had to walk past one another and have some sort of interaction. In some cases, someone would say hi. In others, they would make physical contact, and lastly we would make failed attempts at interacting with someone. I ended up being the main person in an exercise where people had to try to shake my hand and my job was to not shake hands with anyone. Even in this subtle way, it made people feel something when I wouldn’t shake their hand. They tried everything to get me to reach out to them but nothing worked. This was meant to bring up the sort of feeling you get when someone tries to avoid contact with you. Its sort of like when I walk past someone’s care and suddenly the doors lock, or when two people are about to cross paths and someone crosses the street only to keep walking in the same direction. They are all subtle forms of discrimination and oppression that make differences between groups in society.

Now What?

One of the biggest ways to observe lo cotidiano experiences is to become more self aware. In order to make any kind of change you have to make sure you aren’t judging or making assumptions about people and their circumstances. People also should practice fairness and impartiality. To me this really means giving everyone a fair shot and not being prejudice towards them.