Post 2- The Four I's of Oppression

 

Luna Malbroux’s discussion on The Four I’s of Oppression explains how oppression shows up in our everyday lives, many times without our conscious awareness of it. I found this to be an important topic in my life because of the population I work with. Blackstone Valley Prep is a charter school that is “intentionally diverse.” The sending districts we serve are Linoln, Cumberland, Pawtucket, and Central Falls. Anyone who knows anything about Rhode Island knows that those are cities with vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds. 

Ideological oppression is normalized oppression. It is what starts to shape us from before we are even born. This type of oppression is so dangerous because it is often seen as common sense or just the way the world works. Malbroux gives the example of gender differences. The usual boys don’t cry and girls should be pretty. 

Internalized oppression is a belief that one group is superior over another group. In our society, that is a white dominant culture. The representation of whites in the US far outweighs any other group. Movies, TV shows, and more importantly politicians are more often white. At my school, we work hard to make sure every culture is represented. With black history month coming up we are currently doing a door decorating contest celebrating various people of color. My door is the late great Kobe Bryant. 

Interpersonal oppression is when people are treated differently based on who they are. This comes from internalized oppression. It can show up in the world as an exclusion of certain groups. Malbroux talks about microaggressions as being a part of this. For me, as a gay woman, people often assume that I can handle fixing things with tools, unfortunately, they are wrong. 

Institutionalized oppression is what we see socially through political issues and funding. School systems that are in poorer areas are funded less than those from high socioeconomic areas. We have a significant number of families applying to our lottery each year from the Central Falls and Pawtucket districts.

 In his book Privilege, Power and Difference, Allan Johnson says that we are all part of the problem when it comes to unfair treatment towards some members of society. His purpose in writing this book is to try to show the reader that instead we can all be a part of the solution.

In the first chapter, the point I found most profound was when he discussed that the use of words such as racism, white, and white racism is likely off-putting to some readers of his text. He says, in what I take to be sarcasm, that he could give them the same advice he had received and just not use such words. He goes on to say that would defeat the purpose of writing or reading a book like this. If words hold so much power that they cannot be used because of the uncomfortable feelings associated with them, then being a part of the solution to the disadvantages is not possible. 

In the second chapter, I was most drawn in when he talked about his meeting he had with an African American female colleague. He said of that interaction -“ how the legacy of racism and sexism shapes our lives in such different ways, how my whiteness and maleness are sources of privilege that elevate me not above some abstract group, but above her, my friend.” He went on to talk about some examples of how he would get better service in a store than she would because he is white. He thought about how his friend has to have her keys at the ready when she is walking alone because she is a woman, something he has never had to worry about. 

In the third chapter, Johnson talks about the fear of the “unknown.” He makes some good points disputing that and in fact has some valid thoughts on how we actually love the unknown. “There is nothing inherently frightening about what we don’t know. If we feel afraid, it isn’t that we don’t know that frightens us, it’s what we think we do know.” I enjoy listening to true crime podcasts, probably to an unhealthy level sometimes but I’m sure there's at least one other person in this class that will comment that they do as well. With my vast knowledge of serial killers and other murderers, I have developed a hopefully irrational fear that if I am going to be a murder victim it will not be by some big crazy man of color but likely some scraggly white man because that's who I tend to hear about more often. That is my fear of what I THINK I know. 

The part of this article that was overall the most compelling to me was What Privilege Looks Like in Everyday Life. I do fall into one of the marginalized groups as a gay woman, but when reading through the list of what discrimination looks like, it reminds me to be thankful of the time that I am living in, the area of the world I live in, the accepting family I have, and a workplace that celebrates all people especially marginalized groups. 

I am taking this class as part of my certification that frankly I did not want to begin with. I was extremely upset when RI decided to force school nurses to take classes (right after we were praised for reopening schools during covid btw). However, after this assignment, I am excited to listen to and share thoughts on these subjects with others who work in schools.