Oppression 101

Hoopili Hou:

Goals:
To gain a basic understanding of Systems of
Oppression, Power and Privilege.

To understand why its all of our responsibility to

be intelligent and aware of forms of oppression

To spark interest and conversation about

systems of oppression in our everyday lives

Guiding Principles

One Mic
Vegas Rule
Take care of yourself
Dont yuck
someones yum
Listen for
understanding
Step up, Step Back
Speak from I

Oppression exist and is not debatable

Do not be set on the outcome. Be open to it

This is a safe space

Take risk

Think the best of each other

We all have knowledge and skills

Introduction: Makerusa
Porotesano
Portland Community
College: Men of Color
Mentoring Program
Pacific Islander
Student Alliance &
Conference in Oregon
Dr. Toeutu
Faaleava/Tabitha
Whitefoot Scholarship
Fund

Field Organizer for

APANO
Assistant Coordinator of
PCC Multicultural Center
Co-Chair of APINCORE
Vice President Samoan
Pacific Development Corp.

Graduate of WILD
Program (Western
Institute of Leader
Development)

Quick Introductions
Name
Shared Identities (only the ones you
wish to share)
College/University
Why I am at this workshop (In 30secs or
less)

Injustice anywhere is a threat

to justice everywhere MLK Jr.
What is Oppression?
The social act of
placing severe
restrictions on an
individual, group,
or institution.
To suppress the
natural selfexpression and
emotions of others.

Love is what Justice looks like

in Public - Dr. Cornel West
A systemic social
phenomenon based on
the perceived and real
differences among
social groups that
involve ideological
domination, institutional
control and the
promulgation of the
oppressors ideology,
logic system and culture
to the oppressed group.

Oppression
The act of oppressing; arbitrary and
cruel exercise of power

Power
What is it and who has it?

Power
Power

Institutional Power:

To have control over people and things by

maintaining access to resources and
information.

Ability to control circumstances

The way that power is set up in society

Institutional power is in the hands of only a

few but affects all people.

Ex: Government,
Churches, Big
Businesses,
Prisons Industrial
complex, public
safety etc..

Privilege
A resource or state of being that is only
readily available to some people because of
their social group membership

Power and Privilege

Key factors in Oppressive behavior

Forms of Oppression
Racism: White Supremacy

The system that gives white people power and privilege at the
expense of people of color

Sexism: Male Supremacy

The system that gives men power and privilege at the expense
of woman

Homophobia: Heterosexist

The system that gives heterosexuals power and privilege at the

expense of GLBTQ identified people

Ableism

The system that gives power and privilege to able-bodied people

(people without disabilities) at the expense of disabled people.

Key terms to understand

Racism

Racism
Race

A social construct that artificially divides

people into distinct groups based on
characteristics such as physical appearance
(particularly color), ancestral heritage,
cultural affiliation, cultural history, ethnic
classification, and the social economic, and
political needs of a society at a given period
of time. Racial categories subsume ethnic
groups.

Ethnicity

A social construct which divides people into

smaller social groups based on
characteristics such as shared sense of
group membership, values, behavioral
patterns, languages, political and economic
interest, history and ancestral geographical
base.

Racism: What does it

look like?
Segregation

Our neighborhoods
Our schools
Gentrification
My neighborhood
in Portland

Prison Industrial
Complex
Majority POCs

Colonialism

Our native,
indigenous people
(almost always
POCs)

Government (members of..)

Does not reflect

the nations
population

Key terms to understand

Sexism

Sexism
The individual, institutional and
societal/cultural beliefs and practices
that privilege men and subordinate
women by denigrate values and
practices associated with women.

Feminism
The valuing of women and the belief in
and advocacy for social, political,
economic equality and liberation of both
women and men.
Feminism questions and challenges
patriarchal social values and structures that
serve to enforce and maintain mens
dominance and womens subordination.

Sexism: what does it look

like?
Pay rates:
Women still make less
money than their male
counterparts*

Does not reflect our

population

Advertisement (media)

Domestication of
womens societal roles.
Housekeeping, motherly
roles, caretaking, teaching

Government

Leadership Positions
Accepted Language

When men speak up

their seen as leaders.
When women speak
up theyre seen as
bossy or bitchy.

Key terms to understand

Heterosexism

Heterosexism
The individual, institutional and
societal/cultural beliefs and practices
based on the belief that heterosexuality
is the only normal and acceptable sexual
orientation.

Homophobia
The fear, hatred or intolerance of
lesbian and gay men or any behavior
that falls outside of the traditional
gender roles.
Homophobic acts can range from name
calling to violence targeting lesbian or gay
people. (Queer Identified)

Homophobia:
What
does
that
look
like?
A number of other surveys
of LGBTQ youth in the UK,
Bullying:
USA and Australia indicate,
between 30-50% of lesbian,
gay, and bisexual youth
have directly experienced
homophobic bullying at
school.

Furthermore, one of the

largest safe schools studies
conducted to date,
involving 237,544 students
in grades 7-9, revealed that
7.5% of students reported
being harassed because of
their actual or perceived
sexual orientation.*

Of those students who were harassed, they

reported lower grades (24%), higher
absentee rates (27%), greater depression
(55%), and were more likely to make plans
to commit suicide (35%) when compared to
their heterosexual peers.

Homophobia:
What does that look like?
In relation to
sexism

Gender Roles

Man Box Women Box

Men trying to fit in to not
be attacked

Language:

Queer identity has been

substituted for acts of
stupidity, embarrassment,
degradation, etc

Other forms of
oppression
Classism
The system that gives power and privilege to
the rich at the expense of the poor

Ageism: Oppressive acts against youth

& elderly (mostly used to talk about
youth)
Xenophobia: Oppression acts against
immigrants (mostly people of color).

Language of the
Oppressed
Power Group Oppressed
Group
Racism
Sexism
Ableism
Homophobia

Institution
power

Words of the
oppressed

Where do we go from
here?
How can we stop oppression in our daily
lives?

What can you do?

Take responsibility to learn
Do

about the history, culture

and struggles of other
groups as told by them

Make sure the context

welcomes everyones voice
and listen

Appreciate efforts to point

Unilaterally set the

Dont

agenda

Assume youre more

capable

Defend mistakes by
focusing on good
intentions

out mistakes

Try to guess what

Ask questions

someone needs

Respect disagreements
Appreciate the risk a

Assume everyone has

person takes in sharing

their experience with you.

the same opinion as you

Take everything
personally

What can we do?

Ally

A member of a dominate social group who

rejects the dominate ideology and takes
action against oppression out of a belief that
eliminating oppression will benefit all
groups.

Decolonization

Rediscovery and recovery is the phase that

sets the foundations for the eventual
decolonization of the society. This phase of
rediscovery of ones history and recovery of
ones culture, language, identity, etc..

What can we do?

Empowerment: When oppressed Group
members refuse to accept the dominate
ideology and their subordinate status
and take actions to redistribute social
power more equitably.

Unlearning
We might have oppressive behaviors that we
are unaware of, take time to learn about our
oppressed friends and learn to love again.

RE-LEARN YOUR HISTORY! Most of the

history weve been taught has been through
an oppressive lens. Often leaving out key
historical figures and events that often leave
out POCs, women, young people, and
disabilities.

Unlearning
Check your language!
Find the courage within yourself to challenge
forms of oppression.
Find others to join in with you. Power in numbers

Stand up for others! Make yourself aware of

oppressive acts in public and SPEAK OUT!

Learn about and become an Ally