Oppression

Ethnocentrism is defined by dictionary.com as, “The belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture.” Even though this sociological term was first introduced in the 1900’s, this concept was present in some of the oldest human civilizations. This is why we had wars over religion, territory and later slavery. The practice of this superiority and absolutism is the reason that there are such thick dividing lines between classes, ethnicities, cultures, races, religions and genders. Although I can confidently argue that no group is superior to another and all humans are created equal – unfortunately the rest of our vast societies do not hold the same mindset. 

Oppression and discrimination are bred off of the societal need for a hierarchy of its people. We are in this continuous cycle of being socialized to believe that we are superior to some others and treat them accordingly. So much that we don’t even realize we are doing it. What we have created is social oppression, defined by Wormer as, “the personal forces that keep people from achieving their potential.” Every group is fighting to climb the social hierarchy and will metaphorically crush other groups on their journey up. 

There is a very apparent unequal distribution of wealth. Otherwise called “class polarization” (disparity between the poor and the wealthy as a result of the increasing economic gap). The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, only further gapping to the divide and breeding grounds of oppression. Most will often play the discrimination card in reaction to this oppression. For example one would say the person was put into the situation because of certain qualities that are out of their control. Thus class, racial, ethnic and gender divisions are reinforced and given more air to stay alive even longer.

Eradicating stereotypes, prejudices and oppression would be nearly impossible. As long as we continue to use these concepts to generate and reinforce political decisions, these labels will continue to be present. We are giving ourselves excuses to still use concepts that put one group below another. This is seen in present time with the discrimination of African Americans. They are a race that has been oppressed since the beginning of slavery, yet they have still not found true equality in the United States. As stated by the reading, “It is truth of social psychology that once people have been mistreated in this way, they are hated as a way to justify the mistreatment.”

The government creates a political climate that reinforces the idea of superiority and most importantly, the division of people (sometimes its own). Most political leaders do not say these things clear as day, but is still very present in most political agendas. I truly believe that governments are always looking for small ways to keep the hierarchy alive and try to convince the people that their country is better than others. As long as they can keep hate alive, the citizens will not notice other issues and will be okay if a war arises.  

As individuals our responsibilities are to reverse the flow of the societal structure we are used to. As Wormer suggested, oppression is engrained – so we must actively work hard on de-socializing ourselves on letting socioeconomic class, race, gender, etc. be a determinate of one’s life chances. Although I do not believe the world will ever be 100% ridded of stereotypes, discrimination, or oppression, we do have the opportunity to make a push towards small change. It just has to start with us.

“6.” SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL WELFARE: a Human Rights Foundation, by KATHERINE VAN WORMER, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2018.