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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mph who wrote (223248)	10/10/2007 10:21:48 AM
From: Oral Roberts	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794049

You have put down in words exactly why Hillary scares the daylights out of me. She makes so many socialist comments that the press just ignores that it's incredible. Going to take those profits from Exxon once she's in charge. Well okey dokie there Hugo, you go girl. But nobody including the republicans calls her on it. It's maddening.

To: mph who wrote (223248)	10/10/2007 11:35:22 AM
From: goldworldnet	Respond to of 794049

Just out of curiosity I decided to google "The Oppressor" and this is what I came up with. This fellow has bought into liberal dogma hook, line, and sinker. Oppression Harms the Oppressor February 26, 2006 @ 9:16 pm Oppression Harms the Oppressor I am a member of several oppressor groups. I am white and heterosexual. I am a man. I am temporarily able bodied. Am I harmed by oppression? You bet I am. In this essay I will attempt to outline how oppression harms the oppressor. Be prepared for personal examples. I have existed for most of life as an oppressor. Thankfully I have begun a personal paradigm shift that has allowed me to take on dialoguing about oppression as well as my own personal position within the dominant paradigm. My experience is wrought with examples of homophobia, heterosexism, racism, and sexism. I believe that I have been harmed by my participation in these “isms.” The harm that comes from this experience is a soul sapping, slow dripping obliteration of my humanity. Fortunately, I have had two experiences that have jogged my oppressor identity into an anti-oppressor self-awareness. Homophobia The first experience that illuminated to me that oppression harms the oppressor happened when I was working in Chicago. The Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues (CCSLGBTI) was sponsoring an open microphone event in the quad. It was UIC’s Day of Speaking Out. It was a sister event to the Day of Silence. I sat in the quad and reflected on my journey from high school to work force. In high school I would frequently describe things as being “gay.” My high school thrived on homophobia. Less than sixty kids were in my graduating class and some of them were gay. Of course, no one was out or openly gay. It would have been too dangerous. I remember picking on a classmate who we thought was gay. I myself was not macho by any means and I think making fun of Adam deflected negative attention from me to him. My homophobia definitely came from my environment. It was part of the culture of my home town. A few years later, a friend would end my homophobia. It seems like she was able to make me realize that I was oppressing people. I had unknowingly “othered” homosexuals. I realized that my self-identity as a “nice person” did not allow me to continue to be homophobic. As I walked up to the microphone at UIC, I knew exactly what I needed to say. I apologized to Adam and to all of the other “Adams” that I had oppressed. It felt good to regain a part of my humanity that had begun to erode away. I continued to plan events, volunteer, and be an active ally to the LGBT community at UIC. When I oppressed folks who were gay, I hurt them and I hurt myself. I was destroying multiple humanities. In fact, I think I regained some of my dignity that had been lost during my high school and college years. I’ve also benefited from relationships with people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. Oppressors lose when they cause harm. We lose knowledge, love, and support. Sexism I have been raised in a patriarchal culture. I am a man and thus part of the patriarchal oppressor group. I have been cut deeply by my contributions to patriarchy. My marriage lasted for more than four years. We married young and like most men, I was a raging vat of sexism. Sure, I never said anything blatantly sexist, but I was still extremely sexist. Looking back, I feel that the biggest reason that my ex-wife divorced me was that I was sexist. I would talk about “helping her with housework” and say things like, “I can’t cook as well as you can so you will have to cook instead of me.” In my patriarchal mindset, I believed that it was completely normal to talk in this manner. The women in my life had all been the primary cooks, cleaners, and house keepers. I did not know any better. I was a nice guy but I was still a patriarchal bastard. My divorce was finalized during the summer. In the fall, I took a class called Feminist Philosophies. It was like a roadmap for my soul. I learned why my ex had left me. I had oppressed her and she had done the right thing. It was the epitome of oppression harming the oppressor. Parallels I think my experiences with homophobia and sexism parallel other scenarios that confirm that oppression harms the oppressor. For example, a White man who engages in racism loses out on the breadth and depth of experiences that an all encompassing anti-racist identity can provide. A racist White man turns into something that cannot be full of dignity. The humanity of said person is silently removed. Lessons My personal experiences have been almost completely framed by my self-awareness. Being an oppressor is not easy. It takes away your soul and harms someone else. I have learned that it is much easier on my soul, humanity, and dignity if I am an ally, an anti-racist, and a feminist. White supremacist patriarchy would like me to believe otherwise but I resist/persist because I do not want to harm myself or anybody else anymore. ericstoller.com * * *