Line of Oppression
Oppression is a touchy subject. But it is also something that is unavoidable.
In class today, our professor had us do an outdoor exercise. We all lined up on the edge of the sidewalk that separates the grass from the bushes, with the grass ahead of us and the bushes a few steps behind us. She had us hold hands and respond to her comments.
"If your parents grew up in a country in which they were forced to move or have been forced to live in an area, take a step back."
"If growing up, your family went on a vacation every year, take a step forward."
"If you or someone in your family has ever been raped, take a step back."
"If you went to a private school, take a step forward."
Soon none of us were holding hands because half of the class was way up in the middle of the grass area and the other half had moved so far back they couldn't take more steps because they'd hit the bushes. As for me, I found myself stepping forward and backward over and over. The point? For us to see where we stand in the line of oppression. It was not surprising that all of the students at the front were white, and the students in the back were of a minority.
We went back to our classroom to discuss what had happened. I commented that the whole situation made me feel emotional, because as I was looking at the line falling apart around me, my thought was why? Why does oppression exist? But of course, oppression will exist in any group, regardless of whether or not the people in the group are of the same background. Many countries that are not racially diverse still have a caste system or other way of ranking people. Even in Deaf culture, horizontal oppression exists. One Deaf person may say about another, "He's not Deaf enough because he's hearing-minded." I've noticed a parallel in Armenian culture here in LA. Armenians from Armenia may look down on Armenians from Lebanon or Turkey for using different dialects and as if they are white-washed, whereas the Armenians from Lebanon or Turkey may look down on those from Armenia as if they are thugs and prejudiced. The fact of the matter is, any time a group of people is put in a place, regardless of who they are and how much they have in common, they will find a way to oppress each other.
After I made this statement, many students went to the front of the class (standard procedure in a Sign Language classroom) to discuss their feelings. I noticed that all of these students were white, and most of them had a comment defending why they were so far ahead in the line. "Yes, my family is well off now, but both of my parents grew up poor and worked very hard for it." "I know I'm privileged, but my parents got divorced and they didn't set a good example for me at home." Everyone had a reason why they weren't "really" privileged and how they were the same as all of the people in the shadows of the line. Perhaps if the professor had said, "If your parents were poor/got divorced, take a step back," these students would feel like they had more of a chance to show where they were instead of having to explain themselves in front of the class. But how many people who already had their asses to the bushes would've stepped back for those commands, too? I'm guessing a good few. But none of the people who were in those shadows said anything. Not one. I was in the middle so I don't really count. Besides that, I am technically an Armenian which puts me in a minority, but I'm also aware that I look white and that does give me a privilege.
But wait, we're talking about white privilege here, and what I really want to talk about is the reason we had this exercise: hearing privilege. Hearing privilege as opposed to Deaf oppression. As a person who can hear, I have privileges because most of the world is hearing and bases their language, technology, and many other things on sound. Period. I am aware of this. The point is that most Hearing people are not aware of the fact that they are Hearing - meaning that they don't really think about the fact that there are people out there who are Deaf. Those hearing people are unaware that they have any privilege at all. In a different way, white people are indeed aware they are white, but are still often unaware of the fact that they are privileged. And when they are presented with this fact, they try to defend why they are not privileged and say they are actually the same as you and you and you, the minority. They are not. They never had the experience of being in a minority group growing up, the same way that hearing people have never had the experience of being deaf growing up.
The only resolve to come to is that if we accept the fact that some are privileged and some are not, people in the majority can become (if they so wish) active allies for the oppressed minorities. But this will not happen if we keep trying to find reasons why we are all the same.