from the facebook

Today in our group class we discussed the concept of internalized oppression, which is when a member of a group takes on the oppressive beliefs and values of their oppressor. My very smart students gave example after example of internalized oppression in their own lives and the world around them as we got deeper and deeper into the topic. My co-worker who was leading class showed a video example (from a classic study) of children who at 5 years old already know the differences between lighter and darker skin colors in this country, know how they will be treated and thus prefer lighter tones. She talked to the little kids about why they preferred the lighter tones, one little girl pointed at her own skin and said she would rather be lighter because dark skin is sometimes "nasty." Similarly another young person when asked which skin color adults dislike instantly pointed to the darkest shade. You can watch video of this here:

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/17/ac360-series-doll-study-research/

or an awesome video here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybDa0gSuAcg

The sad thing is the 1947 results are the same as the 2010 results.

A 5 year old in this society can tell you all you need to know about racism in America, but we have politicians and media personalities and all types of people who insist racism is a thing of the past.

The lesson continued with all these examples of what internalized oppression can look and feel like. There is no doubt that it can lead to self hatred, shame, insecurity, confusion, anger, frustration etc... and of course that's all in the 5 year olds in the video.



I remember having this lesson set in stone for me when a South African Pastor visited the church camp I attended one year. He said Apartheid is pronounced "apart-hate" and thats what it does, it tears you apart and makes you hate yourself. As an example he told a group of young teens what it meant to be so internally oppressed, he recounted being a boy in South Africa, being told over and over that white people were better than he was, that they could do no wrong, that he was worthy of nothing, not even their leavings and he believed this so much that when a white man went to the bathroom on the other side of some bushes he and his friends considered tasting it. Because they had been told white men's shit was like honey, because they assumed it must be... because it was the opposite of theirs.



In class today we talked about internalized classism, ableism, ageism, sexism, students gave examples like their mom saying "damn that must have been a woman driver(because it was a bad driver)" or another mother telling her daughter that she should be more realistic with her pursuit of being a doctor, "try being a nurse" -probably the "realist" attitude of a mother concerned about the welfare and the college bills and the years spent training, but the message to her daughter sounded more like "You aren't smart enough." I brought up how these isms are so institutionalized that we can't even find the proper words to explain them... "What does ableism mean?" a student asked... "who's that against?" I reminded them of the movie Murderball, a room full of people who are labeled quadriplegic, who display more athleticism in an hour banging their wheel chairs to score goals than I do in a whole year... but which of us is considered "able-bodied"?

So we discussed these things and the effect. Entire groups of people labeled inferior so they inevitably take on the mantle of this lower calling, and do the work of the oppressor for them. Not finishing high school, not seeking high paying jobs, not taking themselves seriously, overcome with such pain that they don't seek the responsibilities nor the rewards of life anymore.

-I recall reading (just last night) about how slaves in the south were labeled lazy and stupid -though it was against the law to teach them to read and of course against the very nature of slavery for them to benefit from their labor... so what did they do? They rebelled in every day life they played into the stereotype because the system didn't benefit them either way. Quiet rebellion, quiet fury (and quiet self hatred) that spilled over into challenging the system, on the daily (refusal to work, stealing, lying etc) and on the occasional open violent rebellion (the reason every plantation owner slept with a gun by his side), unfortunately the stereotype is the same, and the system though different is still oppressive. 1/7 people in this country is below the poverty line, 1/4 Blacks, 1/4 Latinos, I am sure its even higher for Native Americans...

but 1 of the 2 major political parties doesn't see the need to let the bush tax cuts go and they represent roughly 50 % of the people... so along those lines regardless of who is who, %50 percent of the people must believe that the wealthy deserve their wealth and the 1/7 deserves their poverty. More than likely some of those in poverty are dealing with the shame, confusion, self-hatred (their own internalized oppression) they believe they deserve their poverty, so though that %15 could swing any election this nation could have... they won't because they won't vote, they won't vote for their own interests, no one will take the time to bother asking them what they want and nothing will be done for them (*cuz they are lazy).

I have students who are homeless. I have a hard time getting out of the bed on gray days... imagine getting kicked out of a shelter into that cold. Imagine spending the whole day thinking about how you have to go back to that gym, or that church, or if you're lucky that dorm set up for homeless people. Imagine realizing you are now one of those stigmatized "homeless people." Imagine what it feels like to realize that through no fault of your own (but it doesn't feel that way) you are living with your cousin, or your friend because mom or dad lost their job... because mom and dad are dealing with the extraordinary depression of finding out they are worthless(to society), and now you by default are also worthless... why finish high school? Why bother trying at all? Why not OD on the cheapest pills you can find so you aren't a burden anymore?

The sad thing is when you are thinking through this information... when you are really processing it... it starts to make sense why you wouldn't challenge it.

One of the categories on the sheet we were reading was about heterosexism, the idea that one sexual preference is natural and good, while any other is not (putting it kindly). Oppression is all horrible and there is no doubt that any of these lead to the most painful emotional struggles in our own minds... but this one seems so much more insidious (*maybe just because it hits home).

One line on the internalized oppression beliefs (used in the example) simply said something like "I don't deserve to be who I am." -Others who don't deal with this, struggle to understand but this is where we have the high ranking republicans who spend years trying to destroy people suddenly realizing they are those people(Internalized oppression). How could one not in a society where we have clear as day examples where people who have every legal right in this country state who it is they love and suddenly have those rights revoked (as if there was any legal reasoning that would justify it). This is where we recognize that one of the major factors in those who commit suicide(especially at a younger age) is sexual orientation, "I don't deserve to be who I am."



When people say things like "You can be anything you want in this country" or "all this talk of oppression is the liberal media bias" or any of the other ridiculous things...

Do they not read headlines?

One of the major political parties wouldn't even discuss the idea of allowing people to serve as who they are(!) in the military today.



How am I supposed to teach about this great country where people are allowed to be themselves (NO), well then at least people all have the same rights (NO), well then people are allowed to try to make themselves and their position better (NO), well then people are allowed to at least have their say and complain about it (NO), well then at least someone will talk about the issues (NO), well then...



I'm not saying other places are better... but we had a real discussion in class today about real issues and the students (Drop out,at risk, probably on drugs, irresponsible, stupid, lazy, inner-city, no good very bad teenagers) brought their own examples, they didn't need ours, why can't we expect that from our leaders?





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I didn't want to fill this with links but just look at the papers for a second and all of this is confirmed.