The equality, as well as inclusion,
has been a difficult feat to achieve for some, where others are gifted with
some privileges, which provide them all the luxuries in a given social system.
So, inequality is something, which is creating difficulties for many groups of
people, and they are oppressed. The interesting thing is that inequality is
always measured with the concept of oppression, where the focus is always given
to victims, how they are victimized and oppressed. When people fighting for
equal rights voice their opinions, they always talk about victims and
oppression is highlighted by society. Different levels of victims and
oppression are always analyzed by researchers and experts so that they can see
how the lives of oppressed groups are being affected by oppression and what
kind of oppression is faced by them. The interesting thing is that experts and
researchers have not shifted their focus to privilege. It means that they
should also look at privilege as an important part of the discussion while
dealing with oppression (Mabry, 2016)
It is important to build this
narrative that oppression and privilege should be kept together and both should
be analyzed together as they are considered two sides of the same coin. If one
happens, then it has an effect on the other. For instance, if there is the
essence of privilege in a society, then it means oppression will be there. It
can be more or less in its severity, but still, it will exist because the
privileged class will show their power to get their privileges, and they can only
get it when they will oppress an underprivileged class living in their society.
It is important to understand both concepts and how they relate to each other.
Privileged class is a class in a society, which gets many resources and
privileges, just because of their social group and status; it means that they
don’t have to earn it with any considerable effort. On the other hand,
oppression is referred to as a group of people, who are not given access to
various resources and privileges, because they belong to a lesser portion of
society. The white class is a good example of a privileged group, and black
people are good examples of an oppressed group in the United States. The white
group of people had all the rights in the United States, where as blacks were segregated
from the society and they were deprived of their various basic rights and
resources. Such combination of oppression and privilege is devastating for any
society (Samuels, Ferber, & Herrera, 2003)
The issue is that when ways are
found to deal with oppression, the focus is only given to the concept of
oppression, where privilege is an associated concept and it should be used at
the same time so that both concepts are understood with a clear picture. It can
allow analyzing what aspects and factors play their part for a privileged
class, and how it makes an impact on the issue of oppression, faced by the
oppressed group of any society. Their relationship should be understood to find
pertinent solutions accordingly.
References of Privilege and Oppression
Mabry, J. (2016). WHEN PRIVILEGE AND OPPRESSION
INTERSECT. Retrieved October 31, 2019, from
https://www.everyday-democracy.org/news/when-privilege-and-oppression-intersect
Samuels, D. R., Ferber, A. L., & Herrera, A. O. (2003). Introducing
the Concepts of Oppression & Privilege into the Classroom. Race,
Gender & Class , 10 (4), 5-21.