Oppression, sadly, has a big place all throughout the history of America. From the beginning, we started out being oppressed, but as the years went by, we started to oppress others, like females, blacks, and the poor. The United States of America believes in equality for all, but intersectional analysis can bring up the contradiction between that statement, and reality. Intersectional analysis is known as “an analytic mode that does not privilege one side of identification over another, but insists on the importance of race, class, gender, and sexuality as interlocking and mutually constitutive.”(Hong ix-x). This analytic mode was an important contribution to the science of sociology from the black feminists that Grace Hong talks about in her book The Ruptures of American Capital. Using intersectional analysis, one finds that based on different variations of race, class, and gender an individual has, that individual will experience varying levels of oppression from the oppressors, who are usually the ones who hold the seats of power. Oppression usually happens in what Hong would call a “racialized state” (Hong viii) where the nation state takes on a repressive role in “the form of police surveillance and the displacement of impoverished racialized communities” (xi). Using intersectional analysis and bringing to conscious the contradictions one has in the country can help bring the people to change, in the direction that is promised to all men, the direction of equality. To demonstrate how intersectional analysis can be used in the real world, one can look at the world of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.
The world of Django Unchained is full of racism, oppression, and segregation and represents the epitome of Hong’s racializ...
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...n the usual sense, like how slaves are treated, but she is discriminated by the amount of value she actually has or appears to have. In the scene where she is first introduced, Candie yells “Where is my beautiful sister!?” and she comes scampering out of the house. Candie talks about how beautiful and easy on the eyes she is, while she does not even say a word. Candie’s sister just stands there and smiles the whole time while she is being shown off to the whole crowd like an object of beauty. Lara, after being introduced, then adds nothing to the story and is eventually killed off in the end. Because of her lack of any real addition to the plot, Terantino did not need to have her be a part of the story at all. One might see Terantino’s addition of her to the story as a viewpoint the people had of women in a racialized state. They were seen as just objects of beauty.
Historically, the United States has prided itself as the most egalitarian and autonomous nation in the world. Political figures and institutions have attempted to uphold the theoretical ideals of the nation, while in practice often fail to fulfill their promises to the people. This gap between our fundamental values as delineated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and our discriminatory practices such as slavery and gender discrimination can be found in competing political ideologies which purposefully exclude marginalized peoples. The framers built the United States for the white man; every other person’s rights came, and continue to come afterwards. Once one people’s freedom is postponed, the same oppressive strategies
According to Dei & Caliste (2000), this form of modern racism is based, among others, on conditions that are socially created which maintain and reinforce such environment. A critical understanding of the structural patterns, the identity of the dominant group, and their social location necessitates that these practices be identified. Second, being aware of the invisibility of whiteness can dismantle the system of oppression (Yee, 2005, p. 90). Recognition is not enough since social service workers collude with the status quo. Despite recognizing its existence, they have failed to see themselves as implicated in the same structure that oppresses them. Third, when systematic oppression and the clandestine identity of the whites have been concretized, discussion can be directed from a common generalization of the whites to a more contemporary understanding of the patterns of racism (ibid, p. 91). There must be a conscious exposure of the dominant group’s action as inviolable and natural; any analysis must reveal what identity and culture operate to further commit this systemic form of oppression and racism in the practice. Lastly and importantly, an effective and meaningful solution to the problem necessitates an understanding of whiteness and oppression (ibid, p. 95). Else, it will be more of conflict of rhetoric rather than, as what Dei & Caliste (2000) implied, an analysis of racial relations within broader sociological
Django aside from being a fantasy film, it does show how an older America once was. Set during 1858, is full of racism and violence. Although, the movie stabilizes these characteristic with a bit of comedy. Nevertheless, according to Karl Marx’s conflict theory people of lighter skin would be more dominant whereas darker skin people would be considered more submissive and less powerful. Even Calvin explained how the slaves could have ganged up, or slayed his ancestors prior but instead they did not. Another theory is Emile Durkheim’s functionalist theory. In the movie this concept is present in how there are two groups of society and how one of the groups retains other in order to keep harmony. Even though the other group is not content and often agonize from abuse, and of being treated like objects. We see many other theories during the movies, but these are some of the ones that stand out the most. And should be put more attention too.
Oppression is a term that has been used throughout history to describe the injustices brought upon minority groups. Feminist writer Marilyn Frye shared the definition of oppression, which essentially means to shape or conform certain groups of people (for this paper women will be used as the primary example) into socially constructed ideals through restrictions that mold and immobilize minority groups or females (Frye 11). According to Marilyn Frye, this term is sometimes loosely thrown around and used out of the term’s true context. The misuse of this term often creates a misconstrued view of what true oppression is and how particular groups of people are able to function within
On Being Young-A Woman-and Colored an essay by Marita Bonner addresses what it means to be black women in a world of white privilege. Bonner reflects about a time when she was younger, how simple her life was, but as she grows older she is forced to work hard to live a life better than those around her. Ultimately, she is a woman living with the roles that women of all colors have been constrained to. Critics, within the last 20 years, believe that Marita Bonners’ essay primarily focuses on the double consciousness ; while others believe that she is focusing on gender , class , “economic hardships, and discrimination” . I argue that Bonner is writing her essay about the historical context of oppression forcing women into intersectional oppression by explaining the naturality of racial discrimination between black and white, how time and money equate to the American Dream, and lastly how gender discrimination silences women, specifically black women.
‘Intersectionality’ as a concept can be understood as an interaction between diverse factors encompassing race, age, sex, gender, religion, social policies, systemic practices, cultural norms and the resulting outcome of this interplay with respect to power (Davis, 2008). The genesis of intersectional feminist theory followed an organic process whereby it provided an improvement on the traditional approaches and it was also a step ahead of the radical feminist theory. The marriage of feminist and intersectionality concepts provided an explanation for the interconnectedness of systems of oppression that are experienced by a sub-group such as racially marginalized immigrant South Asian women and their resulting experience of violence due to these factors (Sokoloff & Dupont,
The way humans look externally and feel internally has been a barrier and the kernel to many of America’s social conflicts. Audre Lorde’s essay, “Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger,” attempts to answer why Black women feel contempt among one another. It resonates that Black women, in lieu of their hatred for each other, should replace it by bonding together because they share the same experiences of being women and Black. In the essay titled, “Colorblind Intersectionality,” penned by, Devon W. Carbado seeks to expand the definition of “intersectionality,” which is a theory Professor Crenshaw initially introduced as a, “Drawing explicitly on Black feminist criticism,” (Carbado 811). Carbado is able to provide other forms of intersections by
“Black Awakening in Capitalist America”, Robert Allen’s critical analysis of the structure of the U.S.’s capitalist system, and his views of the manner in which it exploits and feeds on the cultures, societies, and economies of less influential peoples to satiate its ever growing series of needs and base desires. From a rhetorical analysis perspective, Allen describes and supports the evidence he sees for the theory of neocolonialism, and what he sees as the black people’s place within an imperial society where the power of white influence reigns supreme. Placing the gains and losses of the black people under his magnifying glass, Allen describes how he sees the ongoing condition of black people as an inevitable occurrence in the spinning cogs of the capitalist machine.
The term ‘intersectionality’ was originally used by Crenshaw (1989, 1991), a legal theorist, in a discussion of the lack of explicit non-discrimination protections for Black women (reference to article). In the early twenty-first century, the term is generally used as a way of understanding and analyzing the complexity in the world, in human connections and experiences (reference book what is intersectionality). As Audre Lorde (1982) states, ‘There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, because we do not live single-issue lives.’ (slide 9- reference ppp) Struggles of social inequalities are shaped by various factors in diverse, dynamic and mutually influencing ways (reference book). Thus, in order to examine them, we need a tool that
Is Systematic Oppression still relevant? An examination into the roots of the Black Lives Matter Campaign and its Validity in Modern Times? Native Son: Essay Rough Copy
Every generation faces new challenges and new problems to which we have progressed, conquered or simply just swept right under the rug. In today’s world we are increasingly facing numerous social problems, such as income disparity, unemployment, political instability amongst many others, but racism seems to have resurfaced in these past years. Although, the United States has come a long way in the issue of racism, it has never completely conquered it. Incidents such the shooting at Ferguson Missouri has raised an upheaval of protesters against the Country’s system that claims equal treatment and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race or gender. Incidents such as the one previously mentioned, clearly depicts that white-power continues
The structure of a society is based on the concept of superiority and power which both “allocates resources and creates boundaries” between factors such as class, race, and gender (Mendes, Lecture, 09/28/11). This social structure can be seen in Andrea Smith’s framework of the “Three Pillars of White Supremacy.” The first pillar of white supremacy is the logic of slavery and capitalism. In a capitalist system of slavery, “one’s own person becomes a commodity that one must sell in the labor market while the profits of one’s work are taken by someone else” (Smith 67). From this idea of viewing slavery as a means of capitalism, Blacks were subjected to the bottom of a racial hierarchy and were treated nothing more than a property and commodity that is used for someone else’s benefit. The second pillar involves the logic of genocide and colonialism. With genocide, “Non-Native peoples th...
Race is, in fact, reestablished as an intrusive presence in American collective life in the second part of the play when Hwang 's father and other members of the community become victims of the 1996 Congressional investigation into the loyalty of Chinese Americans suspected of espionage and of obscure financial dealings with China, thereby imposing the reality of racism on a post-racial sensibility. (Botelho 92)
Over the course of about a dozen weeks or so I have been exploring many facets of oppression. From literary work such as Malcolm X’s autobiography to Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolute True Story of a Part-Time Indian, oppression is an issue for the majority of people who are not white, upper class males. Race, class, gender, sex, religion, all things that the 14th amendment are supposed to protect, seems to only stand for equality rather than enforcing it and educating people of it’s often damaging effects. Gender and sex roles seem to be the most relevant topic for the times, but also one of the hardest to understand. Cholly Breedlove is a prime example of male dominance in society. We know the how, so for now we’re going to focus on the why.
In relation to the Critical Race Theory, the idea of the “gap between law, politics, economics, and sociological reality of racialized lives” (Critical Race Theory slides). The critical race theory gives us a guide to analyze privileges and hardships that comes across different races and gender. For example, analyzing how and why a “black” or “indigenous” woman may experience more hardships versus not only a “white” man, but a “white”