Oppression Vs Oppression

The black man woke up, wishing he had not, knowing that he was viewed and treated as less than human, figuring that death could not be much worse: ¨What if I was not black?” A woman went to bed, dreading having to lay next to the same man who beat her hours earlier, telling her that she was nothing without him: ¨What if I was not a woman?¨ These questions prompted Frederick Douglass, author of ¨My Bondage and My Freedom,¨ and Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, to explore the roots of oppression and its effects on humans. Although Douglass focuses on slave culture and Stockett on racism and sexism of the twentieth century, both make it clear that oppression is wrong in all of its forms. But the question still remains, who is to blame? Through
In Carl Ratner’s psychological journal article, “The Psychology of Oppression,” he explores the roots of oppression and discovers that discrimination is acquired, not instinctual. Ratner explains that oppression is “only possible because consciousness… has been mystified and manipulated to not perceive, understand, or resist the oppressive society” (Ratner 8). In another journal article, “The Oppressor’s Pathology,” written by Pedro Alexis Tabensky, explores the motives behind oppressors’ actions. Tabensky states that oppressors put others down and take rights away from other humans because of a weak, low self esteem: “Rather than primarily tracking truth, racist beliefs paradigmatically serve the pragmatic function of keeping psychic pain at bay and contributing, deceptively, to the subjects sense of well being” (Tabensky 80). Because becoming an oppressor is a choice, oppressors should be blamed and punished for their actions, instead of blaming culture or society. Society is formed by the people, people are not formed by society. Writers, such as Frederick Douglass, further support the idea that people are influenced by society, but in the end, people control people, society does
Through Stockett’s dynamic characters and Douglass’ discernment and understanding, it is made clear that oppression is a chosen action, not an inherent tendency. Because oppression is learned, not inherited, people should be blamed for their oppressive actions and the only people to blame oppression are the oppressors