What We Have Learned
Thus Far: Reflections on Human Oppression Work at the University of
Minnesota
by
Juan C. Moreno, Donna M. Hauer, Linda M. Wolford, Student Diversity
Institute, University of Minnesota.
Children
Youth and Family Consortium Electronic Clearinghouse. Permission is
granted to create and distribute copies of this document for noncommercial
purposes provided that the author and CYFCEC receive acknowledgment
and this notice is included. Phone (612) 626-1212 EMAIL: cyfcec@maroon.tc.umn.edu
"I
have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three
meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds,
and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” M. L. King Jr.
"We
do not see things as they are. We see things as we are." The Talmud
If
it were possible to summarize in one sentence what we have learned in
two years of human oppression work at the University of Minnesota, that
sentence would read: "Equality in human relationships is largely
a utopian illusion."
After
two years of diversity work; hundreds of training sessions on human
oppression, diversity, and multiculturalism; and dozens of intense interactions
with interns whose wisdom has forced us to question numerous assumptions
about the nature of reality; we have come to the sobering realization
that the human species has a long way yet to go, in its evolutionary
development, in order to make the Jeffersonian ideal of equality a reality
in our everyday lives.
We
humans continue, after thousands of years of so-called civilization,
to interact with each other in ways that are, for the most part, Darwinian
(survival of the fittest) in nature. There is no question that during
this time we have made dramatic progress in the areas of science and
technology. In the area of human relations, however, we are still swinging
from the trees. We may, in fact, not even possess a sufficient knowledge
base of life experiences, from which to draw, about what it means to
establish relationships with one another based on this elusive concept
of "equality." It is not surprising then, that we continue
to preserve familiar systems of oppression that sustain an "up"
and "down" reality in most of our interactions with other
human beings. As a consequence, we are routinely prevented from being
able to embrace all of humanity, our own as well as others.
The
Student Diversity Institute at the University of Minnesota was established
in January 1992 in order to meet an emerging developmental need in the
area of diversity programming for a "next stage" center. The
primary focus of this new venture was to generate and disseminate knowledge
about the interconnectedness of all areas of human oppression and privilege
as well as develop innovative strategies to build authentic community
while embracing human differences. The working mission of the Institute
has been, since its inception, "to actively promote the muiticultural
development of students at the University of Minnesota."
The
Institute has fulfilled this mission by designing and implementing innovative
strategies that seek to empower, challenge, inspire, liberate, and ultimately
transform individuals from the fears and prejudices that hinder the
achievement of their full potential. The Institute has also served as
a center for community transformation where issues of human differences
are acknowledged, appreciated, and celebrated. The Institute's many
services have included training, workshops, consultations, advocacy,
internships, research, and small grants.
In
all of these endeavors, the Institute has attempted to reside at the
intersections of all areas of human oppression, exclusion, and marginalization.
Intersections are, by definition, dangerous yet exciting places to live
and work, and we believe it takes courage and serenity to survive in
their midst. Living in the inbetween has permitted us to understand
and appreciate more fully the interconnectedness of the multiple ways
in which we categorize, classify, judge, and dehumanize one another.
In
this regard, perhaps our most elementary discovery has been a realization
that among the many manifestations of human oppression are the well-known
"isms" that are at the forefront of many human conflicts,
namely: racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, heterosexism, classism, nativism,
etc. This, however, is only a very partial list. There are many other,
lesser known relatives, more non-traditional ways in which we continually
inflict enormous physical, psychological, and spiritual pain upon one
another. Among them, one finds references to such things as physical
beauty, marital status, perceived intelligence, body weight, level of
formal education, clothing/grooming, speaking, accent, caste, tribe,
culture, etc.
All
of these dynamics inevitably increase exponentially the complexity of
the work around issues of human oppression. Much more research needs
to be done in this field in order to better understand the challenges
to human relations that lie ahead for our nation and the world. What
follows is a partial list of additional insights we have distilled as
a result of wrestling with these issues over the past two years:
To
understand the nature of oppression, it is fundamentally important to
explore it from the viewpoint of the "self” as well as the "other."
It is our experience that only after careful exploration and healing
of our own biology, history, and culture that we are better able to
understand and build alliances with the "others." Human oppression
resides inside the self (internalized) as much as outside the self.
Human
oppression is present within all human groups. It is as much a part
of the relationship between the majority and the minority populations
in a given nation-state as it is in the relationships of minorities
with each other, and, finally, in the relationships of minority groups
within themselves.
Labeling
is a powerful source of human oppression. Whoever has the power to label
us also has the power to define us. Language has always been used by
the oppressor in the preservation of the status quo. Wordsmiths of the
ruling classes have frequently managed to create myths and meaning through
the use of language in order to keep the "downs" in their
place.
Power
and oppression are interrelated. Power combined with prejudice leads
to oppression. Power, however, is both personal and institutional, and
either form can be used to dehumanize others.
It
is possible for us not to carry the memory of our experience with one
form of oppression in our lives into building alliances with others
suffering from another kind of oppression in their lives. In fact, it
is very possible, under the right circumstances, for the oppressed to
become the oppressor.
Human
oppression manifests itself in a continuum from harmful stereotypes,
derogatory jokes and pity to hate speech and hate crimes to torture
and genocide.
Humans
are comparing and judging creatures par excellence. We establish pecking
orders over a wide range of human experiences and human differences.
A new development in human oppression work, which we have coined the
"ism-ism," is a tendency in some quarters to assign value
judgments to the various "isms." The irony of this development
is that we are now attempting to assign value to degrees of pain and
suffering caused by issues of oppression. For example, much discussion
now takes place about which is worse, racism or sexism. Other "isms"
such as heterosexism or anti-semitism are also routinely denied or devalued
as illegitimate. Pecking orders of oppressions are frequently established
on the basis of visibility of the source of the oppression (for example
skin color or sex), the assumption of having a choice on the matter,
or the ability to hide it (as in social œpassing" by virtue of
a hidden disability or sexual orientation). The establishment of hierarchies
of oppressions is a contradiction in terms.
Most
humans have not experienced interactions based on equality. We lack
a reservoir of experiences to help us establish relationships with one
another that are not about domination ("upness") and subordination
("down-ness").
We
generally oppress one another around the areas of our biology, history,
and culture, the very areas that are central to our definition of self
in a given society. In addition, the aspects of our humanity that are
most threatened in a given societal context also become the aspects
that eventually form the very essence of our identity in that society.
For example, a person may define herself as a Hispanic bisexual in a
given cultural context and as a bisexual Hispanic in another.
All
societies assign both unearned privilege as well as unearned prejudice
to various aspects of our biology, our history, and our culture. We
are generally more aware of the dynamics of prejudice in our lives than
we are of the dynamics of privilege.
In
the area of human oppression we are all involved both as victims and
as villains. It may be (sadly) a fact of human nature that "ups"
want to remain œups” while "downs" want to become "ups."
In a paradoxical way, victimization may have rewards for both the villain
as well as the victim.
Culture
forms the foundation of our group identity. A mature understanding of
the phenomenon of culture is therefore vital to our understanding of
oppression. The concept of cultural relativity raises significant moral
and ethical questions in human cultural encounters.
It
is as difficult for an "up" (the oppressor) to come down to
a position of equality as it is for a "down" (the oppressed)
to rise up to a position of equality.
Liberation
from oppression is in the very nature of things. The oppressed do not
tolerate their position indefinitely. The human spirit always longs
for dignity, respect, equality, and freedom.
Sometimes
societies, out of a sense of collective guilt, will assign innocence
to a target group of the oppressed. The assignment of innocence is as
damaging to authentic human development as is the assignment of prejudice.
Paradoxically, the oppressed are as capable of oppressing others, with
whom they have a power differential, as are the oppressors.
Confrontation
is not as effective a tool as transformation is in overcoming human
oppression.
Education
is better than ignorance. In the paradoxical nature of oppression, however,
much human suffering and oppression has been carried out by persons
who have also been highly educated. In addition, some forms of education
may, in themselves, contribute to the preservation of systems of oppression.
Education for liberation of the human spirit may take place only in
those rare moments when we are treated as equals.
Struggling
with others in the uncertainties of life (gray areas, moral and ethical
dilemmas) provides us with a glimpse into communities of equality.
Paradoxically,
many people feel excluded from diversity agendas. Most organizations,
or individuals for that matter, have not defined diversity for themselves.
As
we struggle with issues of diversity, we must question how much human
diversity we are personally and institutionally willing to tolerate.
There
appears to be a strong correlation between competence and inclusion.
The greater the sense of inclusion (mattering) that a person feels in
a group, the greater the person's sense of competence and vice versa.
Persons
who consider themselves excluded from a given societal context appear
to have an easier time when struggling with the quintessential question
of human identity, namely, "Who am I?"
Persons
who consider themselves mainstream in a given societal context, usually
define themselves as "people," "individuals," "persons,"
etc. Others tend to attach additional defining characteristics such
as "Hispanic person," "disabled individual," etc.
Persons
traditionally excluded from a particular group face the additional burden
and expectation of being teachers, spokespersons, and experts on their
marginalized status.
We
tend to remember more vividly experiences of marginality than those
of inclusion.
In
an interdependent world, nationalism may no longer be an appropriate
paradigm to help us resolve planetary challenges. In fact, we may be
witnessing the birth of new ways of looking at ourselves that stretch
the dotted lines on the private maps of the world we carry in our minds.
Much
work needs to be done around the concepts of "passing" (the
point at which a given society finds one acceptable), "stigma"
(the consequences of social scarring by virtue of oppression) and "layering"
of oppressions (persons who by virtue of their unique biology, history,
and culture face multiple sources of marginalization in their lives).
The
cumulative effect of negative messages and/or the continual denial of
aspects central to our humanity can ruin an otherwise good day. These
messages, comments, or images can emanate from individuals or society
in general. We have coined this experience as "having a bad oppression
day."
Like
many other things in the human experience, the centerpiece of diversity
is complexity.
Resistance
and backlash are inevitable in human oppression work because of the
challenges to significant personal as well as group evil.
People
fear what is unfamiliar or what they don't understand.
As
our consciences awaken to the realization of the multiple ways in which
we dehumanize one another, our organizations' EEO (Equal Employment
Opportunity) statement grows proportionately.
Legislation
on matters of equality will only go so far. Unlearning human oppression
in its most basic elements of thoughts, feelings, and actions is a personal
journey and a developmental process that should accompany us for a lifetime.
This
is, by its very nature, an inconclusive list. We are still learning
a great deal about oppression, this unique phenomenon in the human experience.
Our hope for achieving some semblance of equality in our interactions
with others resides in the great human capacity for personal and societal
transformation, a capacity that is deeply rooted in our growing ability
to experience authentic community through the process of sharing our
common humanity with uncommon humility. We hope the Student Diversity
Institute is making a contribution, even if small, toward reaching this
next stage in our evolutionary journey as a species.
