Challenging Social Structures That Perpetuate Oppression

What? All three authors of this week’s readings actively challenge social myths and structures that perpetuate oppression. In his piece, José Ángel N speaks to the American “pursuit of happiness” immigrants come trying to achieve, but really “sets us all, like donkeys, chasing after a carrot.” When speaking of the myth — the “cup of promise” — of economic growth that drew so many to immigrate to the United States, José Ángel N draws on the idea of the “American Dream” told to people outside of the United States. These people, in hearing of the American Dream, believe America is the answer to their problems, whether it be economic, familial, or any other kind of issue. Little do these people know, the only people who have truly achieved this so-called American Dream are the 1% — the richest of the rich population of the world. The sad truth is that to be really and truly “successful” in America (though, obviously, everyone’s definition of successful differs), you have to start off that way, or at least start off with some type of advantage — a family name, having a preexisting fortune, or knowing the right people are just a few examples. The idea of starting from the bottom and clawing your way to the top is a nice story to tell and an inspiration of hope to so many people but the truth is that just can’t be the case for everyone.

In her piece, Audre Lorde speaks to the invisibility she, as a Black lesbian, has faced and the invisibility faced by Black women in America. She speaks of how “Black women have on one hand always been highly visible, and so on, on the other hand, have been rendered invisible through the depersonalization of racism.” (Lorde, 42) In saying this, I understand her to mean that Black women are always seen, but usually not heard because of the depersonalization they face because of their race. In America, Black women are scrutinized for things White women are praised for, examples being everything from having a big family to being the “angry Black woman” persona while no stereotype exists for the “angry White woman.” Today, one of the biggest issues women of color face is the disbelief of their pain and feelings by medical professionals, seen in the video used in Critical Reflection 2 titled “Cultural Humility.” That can easily become a danger for women of color coming in with serious conditions that fail to be treated, that can oftentimes result in death. In America, women of color and Black women especially have such a lower rate of survival in childbirth that the NY Times, CNN, and many other news sources have reported on it, but it is still an issue. Yes, these women are seen, but when they try to voice their concerns, they aren’t heard, bringing it back to the writings of Audre Lorde in which she states: “Even within the women’s movement, we have had to fight, and still do, for that very visibility which also renders us most vulnerable, our Blackness.” (Lorde, 42)

James Baldwin, in his piece, speaks to the “paradox of education,” which he describes to mean: “as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.” (Baldwin, 1) I understand this to mean that because Baldwin says man is a social animal that can’t exist without a society and a society depends on things people in the society take for granted, as one gets educated and becomes conscious and starts to look into the society, they are going to have to realize and put a focus on the things that they as a society take for granted. Baldwin states his idea of the purpose of education is “to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions, to say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not.” (Baldwin, 1) This definition ties itself into the paradox of education, fittingly, as it is the definition of education itself. As one becomes educated, they take the steps away from looking at things from a societal viewpoint and more of an individual viewpoint and form their own ideas and thoughts. One myth that Baldwin believes education should counter and dispel rather than reinforce is the idea of teaching in schools about the contributions made by people of color in society. A lot of the time, people of color have to work twice as hard to get the recognition awarded seemingly automatically to non-people of color. Teaching about the advancements and contributions made to society by people of color are so important to teach because of that reason, and because of the simple fact that what they did made a change to society.

So What? Each author uses their own personal experiences and stories to tell these truths. By using their own personal experiences and stories, it gives the truths they tell that much more of a personal truth showing that yes, these things do happen — they aren’t just some type of warning story. José Ángel N tells his story of growing up in a neighborhood of Guadalajara where he “. . . drank from the cup of promise, economic growth . . . but now, more than twenty years later, the phenomenon of circular migration — which had allowed my neighbors annual visits to their families — is to be found mainly in history books. The lax border regulations that permitted them to come and go freely (though informally), according to the demand for labor, no longer exist. What exist instead are about 11 million undocumented individuals like me, trapped behind an increasingly militarized border.” He tells his story of the changing border regulations over the course of his life. In the beginning, men coming back from America “glowing with success” after going for work was an exciting event, while now, people are scared to come back to their home countries out of fear that they can never come back to America. Telling his truth allows José Ángel N to realize his sense of meaning and realize how he chose to live his life as an ethical being in the world because it connects him to the whole topic of his article.

In telling her truth, Audre Lorde is allowed to take back some of the visibility she as a Black lesbian is often robbed of. As Malcolm X once said, “the most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected woman in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman,” something seen in the personal experiences and stories shared by Audre Lorde in her writing. At the end of her passage, Lorde describes how “we rob ourselves of ourselves and each other” because of the women contributing to the invisibility of women. (Lorde, 44) Just because our experiences are different than that of another doesn’t mean we should brush it under the rug or ignore it completely. We all do share different experiences, so why wouldn’t we want to share and tell people about them so they can understand? And even if they fail to understand, them trying to can enlighten them in a way like never before. A possible shift in consciousness in the understanding of other people’s experiences can indeed lead to a greater humanity, equity, and justice because understanding is the underlying cause of why we don’t have any of those things. People find the differences in themselves and others and cause the inequity and cause the injustice we are so familiar with today because they recognize but fail to understand them.

Lastly, in telling his truth, James Baldwin relays his sense of meaning and shows how he chose to live his life as an ethical being in the telling of how the society we live in is menaced by ourselves. He speaks of his own experience and believing early on in his life that he wasn’t the “n-word” even though people would call him one. He listened to the stereotypes of Black people and did everything to avoid it, even avoiding eating watermelon because of the stereotype behind it. He realizes that the sense of identity people had given themselves (the n-words versus the non-n-words) didn’t mean anything if you didn’t let it. “Because if I am not what I’ve been told I am, then it means that you’renot what youthought you were either! And that is the crisis.” (Baldwin, 4) Education and learning allows him to realize and identify the problems with identity.

All three of these authors’ stories and writings are relevant for me and my story because as a mixed-race American with an immigrant family, I relate to the stories of the “pursuit of happiness” that can be found in America — it’s a story I’ve been told as long as I could remember from my grandma. She would always speak of how she knew she had to come here to give a better life to her children and would do anything to do such, and she did, including marrying one of her father’s American friends twice her age just do get here. In terms of working with my community partner, this is relevant because most of the kids I work with are immigrants themselves or children of immigrants. Because I am a woman, I am often thought of as lesser. When I first started working at my job, many of my male coworkers would make jokes about me not being able to carry in heavy boxes when we would get deliveries or make jokes about how I get more tips because I’m a woman, making me feel like my gender was holding me back, or I only got to where I am because of my gender, both of which are false. I’m good at my job and successful at what I do and that’s why I got to where I am. In terms of working with my community partner, I want to make sure the young girls and boys are treated the same and treat each other the same and don’t use gender as a reason to discriminate. The paradox of education is something faced by college students every day. As we learn more and more about ourselves and the world, we often have to let go of what we used to know and keep expanding and keep learning even if it isn’t something we’re used to or ready for. In terms of my work with my community partner, I want to make sure the kids I work with are always open to learning. Oftentimes, kids end up hating a subject because of one bad teacher and that stays with them throughout life, and I want them to know learning is such an integral part of life and never stops and to stay open to it.

Now What?1) In her writing, Audre Lorde outlines the first three principles of Kwanza. I would like to take collective work and responsibility and apply it to my work with Canal Alliance this semester. Because at Canal Alliance I work with other volunteers to watch over and help the kids that come there, the work we do has to be collective. At the same time, the volunteers are assigned one to two kids to take care of while they are there. I got assigned two kids. Last week, I had a great time with one of them while I was helping her with her math homework. We all started off in a big room with many other kids and volunteers doing homework and I could tell she was struggling as it was getting louder and louder as more and more kids were finishing up, so I asked if she wanted to go to another room to finish her work and said I would go keep her company. When we got to the other room, I could tell she was getting frustrated and wasn’t really grasping the full concept of what she was doing, so I had her start over and go through her notes and find out what she was doing wrong. I thought it was important for her to figure it out for herself what she was doing wrong and fix it herself rather than me telling her what to do without her actually learning. At the end when she finished it all correctly, she told me that she’s never had someone here actually help her learn as opposed to just telling her what to do. It made me really happy that I could help her actually understand and hope I get to keep doing that and get more chances to do that.

2) As an educated person, I feel it is my responsibility to encourage others to want to learn, and teach when I see fit and comfortable enough in the information. My work with my community partner this semester supports how I wish to use my education because of experiences like my experience last week stated above where I was able to help one of the kids assigned to me with her math homework. It made me feel good that I was able to actually help her understand the information for herself rather than just telling her what to write. José Ángel N’s analysis of the current state of “negative growth” he describes informs and expands my understanding of the larger context that impact people I am working with: “When this happens in the U.S., it is not uncommon to blame the problem on the undocumented. Cast as the negative growth of the nation, we have come to be regarded as a disease, an unwelcome presence that must be removed immediately, like a cancer. This signals another kind of negative growth: a contradiction of America’s promise to welcome the tired, huddled masses.” This statement helps me realize the bigger picture: it’s more than a “negative growth,” it’s racism, it’s being scared, it’s lies, it’s being deported, it’s people not caring about the lives of other human beings, and that needs to change.

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