Concepts of Privilege and Oppression

Concepts of Privilege and OppressionNathon D. Camacho-MorfinThis paper will dissect a passage from Monica Caspers No arbitrator for Trayvon whiteness Women in the Jury Box, and argue that those of claim argon blind to the oppression of others or choose to stay ignorant of these matters. It will upgrade argue that racism, capital, and the prison industrial complex, all contribute to sustaining perquisite and the oppression of others.In No Justice for Trayvon White Women in the Jury Box, Monica Casper writes about her consider when she and her colleague, a white woman, had a conversation about the infamous Zimmerman trial. In this conversation, her colleague stated, We need to trust the justice system . . . this was a case we neer should have k instantern about it was blown up by the media and it never even should have come to trial (No Justice for Trayvon). Casper goes on to say how they twain had different feeling about this matter, she also points out how her colleague uses th e term we say that it is used for inclusion as often as it is of exclusion (No Justice for Trayvon).It is the very same we that Dorothy Allison writes about in A Question of Class. Allison talks about how household and privilege are sustained by the Us vs. Them mentality. In that mentality, there is always a we and a they, this creates a disconnect from others and makes one ignorant of what privileges others lack. It also perpetuates the false belief that in order to maintain privilege and security the they must stay oppressed. Allison writes that the horror of class stratification, racism, and prejudices is that some people begin to believe that the security of their families and communities depends on the oppression of others, that for some to have heartfelt lives there must be other whose lives are truncated and brutal (35). Allison points out class stratification as one form of the oppression of others, class stratification can be characterized by the three forms of capital, w hich are economic capital, social capital, and cultural capital.Another form of oppression that Allison points out is racism, which can be suss outn in the transcript of George Zimmermans call to the police. He looks black Now hes just staring at me These assholes always get away (No Justice for Trayvon). Again, we can see a display of the Us vs. Them mentality in this quote. Another way racism is displayed is in the prison industrial complex as described by Angela Davis in Are Prisons Obsolete?.Davis discusses that prisons are ideologies of the middle class, but most importantly the white middle class. Consequently, the majority of the prisoners are people of color because they are seen as undesirables. This is a tool of oppression, which is then used to exploit prisoner labor force and generate profit for private corporations. Davis states, The fact, for example, that many corporations with global markets now rely on prisons as an important source of profit helps us to understand the rapidity with which prisons began to proliferate when official studies indicated that the crime rate was falling. The notion of a prison industrial complex also insists that the racialization of prison populations and this is not only true of the United States, but of Europe, South America, and Australia as well is not an secondary feature (Davis, p.85)In Racism and Feminism,, Bell Hooks, states that The first white womens rights advocates were never seeking social equality for ALL women they were seeking social equality for snow-white women (p.124). Indicating that white women did not consider black womens oppression or black womens concerns, as their own concerns. We can see from Caspers colleagues response that she too does not post the Zimmerman verdict at all upsetting like Casper does, showing that she does not consider, or chooses to be ignorant in the oppression of black people, because of her white privilege just like the early womens rights advocates were.Works Cit edAllison, Dorothy. 1994. A question of class. In Skin Talking about Sex, Class Literature. Ithaca, NY Firebrand Books pp. 13-36.Casper, Monica J. 2013. No Justice for Trayvon White Women in the Jury Box. The Feminist Wire. July 17Davis, Angela. 2003. Are Prisons Obsolete? New York Seven Stories Press. 9-21 and 84-104.Hooks, bell. 1981. Ch. 4 Racism and Feminism. In Aint I a Woman? capital of Massachusetts South End Press. Pp. 119-158.