Learn & Unlearn: Anti-racism Resource Guide

Original post on @saic.maffairs posted 10/9/2020.

Foundation: Oppression

What is Oppression?

Oppression is the systematic subjugation of one social group for the social, economic, and political benefit of another group with power (see Lesson 8: Power) 
Oppression = power + prejudice¹

Oppression operates as a cycle and it links stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, and internalized oppression²
Misinformation is generated through omission & distortions
We are socialized, we learn what is socially acceptable based on misinformation from social interactions
We internalize misinformation about our own group and other groups
We polarize and separate us/them. We form in-groups and act superior to others or out-groups
The social world, our institutions, and trusted people reinforce our stereotypes and cultivates prejudices 
Remaining unquestioned, we contribute to institutions and systems that cultivate misinformation
Institutions systematize and unfairly favor certain social groups, oppress other groups, and justify the mistreatment of other groups
We perpetuate and the cycle continues³

Understanding oppression helps to recognize, question and prevent long standing patterns of injustice from repeating. Understanding oppression centers the realities of the very people we join in the fight for social justice. By analyzing oppression, we can understand what collective liberation demands of us. 

Quote

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise..” - Angelou, Maya⁴

To Read

To Research

• “Why don’t we know who the Coronavirus victims are,” by Ibram X. Kendi, The Atlantic, April 2020 [Article]
• “What Does It Mean to Be White? Developing White Racial Literacy,” by Robin DiAngelo from Counterpoints 497, 2016: 83-95 [Article]
• “A Structural Analysis of Oppression,” by Sandra Hinson and Alexa Bradley, Grassroots Policy Project, 1992 [Article]

To Listen

• ICYMI - Bakari Sellers on My Vanishing Country, The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah,  May 2020 [Podcast]
• A Place to Start: Systemic Oppression, Hannahlyze This, June 2020 [Podcast]

To Watch

To Reflect

Complete this checklist for White Allies Against Racism. How did you score? What will you increase today? What will you add next week? And the week after? 

To Act

All forms of oppression are connected - you cannot fight one form of injustice and not fight others.
https://nnedv.org/latest_update/8-everyday-ways-to-fight-racism/ 
Use this guide to learn how to challenge homophobia, and racism within the moment.

Sources

Works Cited

1. "Oppression," Racial Equity Tools Glossary, October 2019.
2. Sheri Schmidt, “Cycle of Oppression,” 1994.
3. "Racism Defined," Dismantling Racism Works (dRworks), Last modified June 2020.

4. Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise,” Poetry Foundation, accessed October 2020.