Seeds of the Future

Prior to attaining a higher education, I had no idea of what the true nature of systematic oppression looked like. I believed that living a middle-class life, having food on the table, and being able to essentially do what I desired made me a free being, who was privileged, with no constraints holding me back.

Being so stuck in my own existence and ignorance, seeing homeless, poverty -stricken people on corners meant that they didn't work hard enough. Witnessing young black and brown men at war with one another as well as law enforcement meant that they were apathetic and asking for trouble. Seeing the use and distribution of drugs in my community meant that people were lazy and lacked ambition to get a real job. Witnessing classmates lacking basic reading and writing skills simply meant that they didn't pay attention in class or study hard enough. In my view, people were 100% accountable for their behaviors, misfortunes, and position in society, and that I shouldn't necessarily feel sorry for them but that they should stop feeling sorry for themselves. And while it can be argued that to a certain degree we are the masters of our destiny and the things that we do will determine where we will end up, we must recognize that there are underlying ,systematic factors in our society that work to contribute to issues faced by those aforementioned (and the rest of us) and speaks to as to why certain people, of certain areas, of certain circumstances, find themselves in common unfortunate predicaments.

 Thankfully, I am no longer blind to my own oppression and the oppression faced by those around me. Instead of viewing the homeless and those living in poverty as people who just don't work hard enough , I now question why 1℅ of the richest people own half of global wealth. Instead of viewing drug dealers as people who are too lazy to get a real job, I question how the drugs got into the community in the first place. Instead of thinking that students who just didn't study hard enough were to blame for their lack of basic skills, I question how they were passed along and swept to the side by the educational system. I now know that there is always a ROOT to large scale issues affecting these people, a systematic, institutional, economic, and social issue of oppression that stems from this countries history of domination, racism, white supremacy and capitalistic greed.

I find it extremely sad and disappointing that mainly (but of course not exclusively because everything is circumstantial) men of color have to face profiling based on what they wear. Embracing black culture and the hip hop style that tends to be more baggy, and sporty than traditional clothing means that you are more likely to be criminalized and be the target of harassment because of the way you "look". Ironically, we all know the major influence that hip hop culture and style has had on mainstream, white america, yet we are still criticized for projecting our own culture that influenced fashion and art across the globe.

The idea of people of color having to take precaution because of what they wear directly correlates with the rape culture and women's choice in clothing. If a woman chooses to dress sexy or revealing in the least bit our patriarchal society says that she was "asking" to get harrased or "asking" to get raped. A woman must carry keys and pepper spray as weapons to feel safe and prepared for attack, they feel the need to "partner up" with someone to feel more safe when doing something as simple as going to the store or public restroom (which starts at a young age). Similarly, people of color must stay out of certain areas, speak a certain way, and project a certain demeanor to not be viewed as a threat to society.