The American Struggle: How Oppression Affects Us All
The oppression of one means the oppression of all.
Politics is never just about politics, policies, and legislation; politics is about people.
Throughout history, there have always been marginalized groups - there has never been a time in history when no one was oppressed.
My ideals and progressive views strive for a world where no oppression exists.
With the recent presidential election, it’s important for me to highlight moments of oppression in history when people were oppressed out of fear or because we didn’t understand.
Same-sex marriage was illegal in the United States until 2015, with the landmark Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in favor of marriage equality.
Slavery was legal in the United States until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865.
Discrimination was legal in many parts of the world, particularly in the U.S., with Jim Crow laws until the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Women were not allowed to vote in the U.S. until the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
Indigenous peoples were forcibly relocated, often violently, such as during the Trail of Tears in the 1830s.
In Nazi Germany, Jewish people, Roma, disabled individuals, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and political dissidents were oppressed and murdered during the Holocaust (1941–1945).
When we discuss oppression, it’s important to emphasize intersectionality, as all oppression is interconnected.
Intersectionality (noun): the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect, especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups.
Intersectionality highlights how various aspects of identity—like race, gender, class, and sexuality—intersect to create unique experiences of privilege and oppression. As Kimberlé Crenshaw explains, it's a lens for understanding how power structures overlap in people's lives.
This image by @sylviaduckworth is based on the work of Kimberlé Crenshaw, who introduced the concept of intersectionality to examine how overlapping social identities contribute to discrimination and privilege.
It seems like society is playing a vile game of who can get closest to the “white, male, wealthy, able-bodied, christian, straight” ideal, and on the way to getting closer to that, we’re stepping over those who are further away from it. So, men step on women. White people step on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). The wealthy step on the middle-class, and the middle-class steps on low-income people. Able-bodied people step on people with disabilities. Straight/heterosexual people step on gay/homosexual people. Gay/homosexual people step on transgender people. White immigrants step on BIPOC immigrants. Documented immigrants step on undocumented immigrants. Christians step on Muslims, Jews, and others, and so on.
Oppression can be similar to a hierarchy, where some are nearer to the top, enjoying privileges and freedoms, while others face multiple barriers based on race, gender, class, sexuality, or ability. Those near the top may not face oppression as visibly or as severely, but this doesn’t mean they are immune. Oppression isn’t a fixed condition for anyone, and because societal hierarchies change, a group that is privileged today may face discrimination tomorrow, or in specific contexts or regions.
A visual hierarchy of privilege and oppression, illustrating the impact of intersecting influences like patriarchy, capitalism, and colonization on various social groups.
This image is from the Encyclopedia of Social Work by Oxford University Press, which provides an analysis of social power structures and the interwoven effects of race, gender, class, and sexuality on systemic inequality. For further details, you may want to check the source on Oxford Academic’s Encyclopedia of Social Work website.
What I want people to understand is that true liberation and progress cannot come at the expense of others. Maybe right now, you’re in a community that has played the game and gotten closer to the “white, male, wealthy, able-bodied, christian, straight” ideal, but understand that this might be temporary. Those who are further along in the game can step on you and drag you back down to the state of oppression where you once were. We must remember that the fight for liberation must be for everyone, and unfortunately, this is not a game where you can fight only for yourself. The oppression of one means the oppression of all.
With an understanding of the history and interconnectedness of oppression, I personally cannot support the oppression of any community, whether I am a part of it or not. I cannot support restrictions on medical rights. I cannot stand against a woman's right to make decisions about her own body and her access to abortion. I will not support limiting access to gender-affirming care or the rights of trans people to receive medical treatment aligned with their identity. I simply cannot condone laws that prevent people from being who they are. Similarly, I cannot support policies that harm immigrant communities by restricting their access to essential resources and a path to legal status.
In the social structure of the United States, certain groups may experience less or different types of oppression at any given time. Those closer to positions of privilege or power often avoid some of the systemic barriers others face, but this can shift with political, social, or economic changes. Oppression can shift and/or evolve. Privilege in one area doesn’t eliminate oppression in another. For example, a wealthy LGBTQIA+ person may avoid economic struggles but still face discrimination for their sexuality. A white woman might experience sexism but avoid racial discrimination. Injustice toward any group ultimately impacts society as a whole—eroding empathy, justice, and stability for everyone.
In the end, true progress means standing up for the rights of everyone—regardless of whether their experiences are familiar to us or not. Each form of oppression chips away at the rights of all of us, and in defending one another, we help build a world where everyone is truly free.
