Category: Oppression

Introduction

In literature, writing back is a style where authors use their experiences and historical time lines to bring into light some of the cross cutting social issues within the context of the society of the time. Usually, the authors have the ability to point out various issues that they believe were not well addressed by the social, political and economic institutions.

This is specifically so when the issues relates directly to their lives. Typical of this style of writing is the portrayal of social groups whose voices were not considered in the mainstream society. Queer voices have been oppressed in the past and as such, most writers who have experienced this oppression have found it necessary to write back.

The oppression of social groups along the lines of gender, race, class and sexuality has been common. This paper seeks to make a comparison of Sarah Waters’ story, Tipping the Velvet and other British Literature texts used in this course.

Comparison of Waters’ works and Other Works

The story, Tipping the Velvet centers its themes on the queer voices of lesbians during the Victorian era. This period was typical discrimination of young women based on their sexual orientation. In fact, it was a criminal offense for the lesbians to come out openly due to the fear of victimization and punishment from the authorities (Waters 45).

However, this did not imply that the lesbians were non-existent. In fact, they lived within the society and could not raise their voices to appraise the social system. It is apparent therefore that the author writes back to recall the unheard voices of the lesbians in the 19^th century.

She appraises the social structures that allowed women to be victimized. Her literary work is similar to many works that authors have written to give a voice to the voiceless in the society.

In many ways, Tipping the Velvet can compare with the book, “A Room of One’s Own” that was written by Virginia Woolf. The latter book focuses on gender issues where women are oppressed and gives an impression of queer voices that were pertinent during the past of the British society (Wood 9).

In her book, Woolf emphasizes on the plight of women who were not allowed to participate in creative literature. Like in Tipping the Velvet, women’s access to education was the main theme around which the story revolves.

Wood says that the two authors have also experienced similar woes owing to their respective sources of discrimination (26). While Woolf was never allowed an education opportunity despite her father being well able to provide for her, Waters has an experience of facing discrimination due to her sexual orientation.

In medieval British society, Woolf explicates that entry to the field of fiction writing was a challenge for women living in the Britain. The rationale was that the access to the field of writing where women could be able to own property and have sources of income was mainly a men’s specialty (Kendler 36).

As an author, Woolf was a critic and she felt that her understanding of literature as a woman was not well acknowledged as compared to literature written by male authors.

For this reason, she wrote the book “A Room of One’s Own” where she takes the reader through her research and getting the reader to know the woman behind the many literature works she had written earlier.

Woolf, in her work, appraises the patriarchal system that only allowed men to acquire property while women’s roles were to act as custodians instead of having a voice in the choice of their livelihoods (Kendler 33).

The theme that parallels both works is sexuality and lesbianism. The society condemned homosexuality and the consequent punitive measures were dire. Hence, homosexuals during this era lived in disguise. Against the existing norms, Woolf invokes lesbianism by depicting Mary Charmicheal’s works in her literature (Kendler 39).

She explains that the lesbians during that period lived in secrecy and their voices were suppressed. In particular, she admits that there are instances that a woman loves other women and it happened in the context of medieval British society.

Her help of other women authors to portray lesbianism as a characteristic of any society was apparent. She appraises the power structures and affirms her support for the prevalent literature works like ‘Chloe liked Olivia’ that focused on the plight of the lesbians.

Similarly, Tipping the Velvet portrays Nan as a lesbian whose sexuality was in contravention of prevalent norms and values of the society. Indeed, Nan’s relationship with Kitty was a secret that they could not allow the society to know.

This is amplified further by Florence. Although she is a social activist, it was safe for her to remain within the society’s obligation of getting married and fulfilling her gender roles (Kendler 67). As such, Florence is married and has children notwithstanding her real sexual orientation.

Nonetheless, they begin a relationship secretly with Nan. Waters highlights this theme in a more explicit manner than Woolf does. The rationale is in the different eras that the two authors were writing back.

While the former was addressing the contemporary society, the latter was targeting the early 1930s’ society and hence, she opted to maintain a low profile of the theme in her works.

Another literature work that depict writing back similar to Waters’ work is the novel, “Decolonizing the mind”, by Ngugi wa Thiong’o. The novel give agencies and voice to community languages that have slowly become extinct as a result of the community members opting to speak English instead of their native languages.

Himself is a native African but his mastery in English has received applaud in many Western societies although he seems not proud of the achievement. Consequently, he uses this platform to appraise the power structures amongst the African societies that have imposed foreign languages on their citizens at the expense of the native languages like Gikuyu and Dholuo (Kendler 11).

Children enter into education systems where the languages of instructions have been borrowed from the colonial masters. These communities have no control of the content of what their children learn in school since the state agencies have rigid structures that remain unchanged for years.

In this sense, Ngugi compares with Waters in the manner they represent the power structures of their respective societies as ignorant of/and as a challenge to the voices of specific social groups.

However, the themes are dissimilar considering in the contexts they were addressing. Although they both utilize the style of writing back, Ngugi focus more on the effects of neo-colonialism in the African societies (Wesley 34). Wesley asserts that the novel is more of an appraising tool in which he uses subjectivity to derive the conclusion and highlight the themes (35).

Conversely, it is apparent that Waters is not appraising the power structures in the Victorian period to get back at external forces. Unlike Ngugi, she addresses a persistent problem that is embedded in the social structure of the British society.

Ngugi’s novel is only comparable to Tipping the Velvet in the lieu of the fact that the two writers are advocating for increased attention to the persistent queer voices of social groups. Against Ngugi’s notion, not all Africans wish to see a purely native approach to the longstanding social issues.

Other works by British authors are comparable to Waters work. Particularly, Waters’ work drew immense influence from Chris Hunt’s novel “Street Lavender”. Her intentions were to make her novel look like a female version of Street Lavender.

At the oustet, the two novels are set in the Victorian era when the Criminal Law was being amended in London. Hunt says that the major theme that comes out clearly is in the depiction of sexuality (4). As noted, Waters’ novel is set in the Victorian era in the late 19^th century and it focuses on sexuality.

Her novel has persistent lesbian themes, which revolve on self-discovery. In Tipping the Velvet, the characters with queer voices and sexuality differences interact with the surrounding rather than isolating themselves (Waters 87).

Besides, both writers chose to write on the Victorian era because they felt that the power structure in this era oppressed the gay and lesbian members of the community.

According to Waters, most of the things people know about this era are stereotypical and misconceptions. Waters considers herself as part of the gay and lesbian heritage since she portrays her support to homosexuality (Waters 14).

The two novels are against the infamous Section 11 of the law that re-criminalized gay behavior in London. They voice the homosexual minority in the society (Hunt 68). They speak for the queer voice of sexuality, which authorities ignore and assume at most times as though it does not exist within the social frameworks.

The novels display unapologetic celebration and open support for the gay and lesbian diversity. Gay and lesbian literatures are portrayed in the two books in a positive way. The two novels give agency to a sexuality voice that Victorian era oppressed and ignored.

It is notable that the similarity between Waters and Mary Prince’s work is overwhelming. Prince wished that the good people of England would hear and understand what she felt and suffered from as a slave. She felt that she and her mother were treated unfairly and hoped that one day people will understand what she went through (Prince 23).

Throughout England, it was normal for corporal punishment to be inflicted on slaves, slave owners believed that it was necessary to punish slaves because they (slaves) had a refractory nature that necessitate their punishment.

Throughout her life, she was sold to and by slave owners and spent her life serving them. Mary explains in her novel how she suffered as she was passed from one slave owner to another (Prince 44-56). Similar to Waters’ work, they both experienced this kind of antagonistic relationship with the members of the society.

Waters had experienced discrimination and used her voice in the book from her perspective of the broader society. It becomes apparent therefore that the two authors are hugely alike in their encounters with instances of social and political suppression.

The oppression of slaves was because of slave owner continued insistence to be superior to the oppressed. Oppression emanated from powerful men wielding power, which is inherent from their families. Hence, these people remained in power because they feel they must as it was a given right (Kendler 54).

The people holding this power are unyielding and exercise their power in oppressing others. In her work, Mary Prince sheds light on the issue of oppression that affected slaves in the Victorian era. Slaves were not allowed to own property or possess money, which made it difficult for slaves to make a living.

Mary Prince decided to voice the mistreatment that slaves experienced and felt that people of England should hear about the suffering she and other slaves underwent in a similar way like Waters.

Finally, a poem by Louis Bennett titled, “Colonization in reverse” is an example of a perfect writing back style. As the poet ponders, the issue of colonization comes to mind owing to the ways in which Jamaicans are shipped to go and work in England (Wood 73).

Indeed, the author points out that the roles the Jamaicans go to perform in the foreign land are demeaning yet they tend to think that ‘good time jobs’ are only found in England (Kendler 12). She appraises this notion and criticizes the West of using the power structures to simplify the transport systems that are used to ferry the Jamaicans to foreign countries to work as ‘slaves’.

Indeed, she sees no difference between this kind of colonization and the conventional colonization. As a former worker in England, she uses her experience to write back and advocate for change within the power structures. The poem replicates Waters’ work in the manner in which the two systems are used.

Conclusion

Throughout history, power structures have acted to suppress the queer voice of the minority. Writing back has become a stylistic device to appraise the pre-existing social and power structures. In their books and literary works, authors such as Waters, Bennett, Ngugi, Prince, Woolf and Hunt are seen to support the voice of social groups.

Tipping the Velvet by Waters assesses sexuality that was criminalized in the Victorian era. In her themes, Waters explores sexuality and openly gives agency to oppressed sexuality voices. Ngugi, Prince, and Woolf have portrayed their concern of suppressed communities, slaves and women respectively.

Ngugi highlights on the effects of colonization on the communities who have adopted foreign languages as their modes of instructions in the context of an education system. After being born as a slave, Mary Prince spent most of her life serving different slave owners.

She feels that people of London should be given an opportunity to hear what she and other slaves went through and the experiences they had, thus voicing people who have been oppressed as a result of slavery.

Woolf explains the issues that affected women at the time including gender discrimination in rather skewed educational and professional systems. As such, the authors write back on the issues and experiences that have influenced their lives and assert that the stylistic device is an effective tool of addressing social disparities.

Works Cited

Hunt, Chris. Street Lavender, Austin, TX: Bookpeople, 1988. Print.

Kendler, Hyslop. Anthology of British Literature, New York: McGraw Publishers, 2001. Print.

Prince, Mary. The History of Mary Prince, Teddington, UK: The Echo Library, 2006. Print.

Waters, Sarah. Tipping the Velvet. Kendal Street, London: Virago Press Ltd, 1998. Print.

Wesley, Fannon. Collection and analysis of books by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Nairobi: McMillan Publishers, 2007. Print.

Wood, Marcus. Blind memory: visual representations of slavery in England and America in 1780-1865, Sandton City: Routledge, 2000. Print.

Introduction

Langston Hughes was a renowned icon in the world of African American literature. He wrote numerous poems, plays, novels and newspaper articles during his career’s lifespan. His social activism was focused on creating a voice for the African American people.

Having lived momentarily in Harlem, he was quite familiar with the racial friction that existed at the time. He hence plays a major role in the Harlem renaissance movement of the 1920s and 1930s. The Harlem renaissance was a period in which various African American writers exploited literature to push for civil and political equality.

There is a jazzy/ blues tone in a number of his poems as they circulate around themes of racial oppression within the early American society. The main contributing factor to these chosen themes was his personal experiences. We shall thus explore how these experiences are expressed in some of his poems.

Negro

The poem speaks about the writer’s identity as a Negro. The tone of the poem is one of anger and, at the same time, pride. He voices the grievances of the enslaved black community throughout history by making references to their afflictions under several masters.

The poem has been written in the first person’s point of view and there is repetitive use of the words ‘I’ve been’ (“Negro”).

This serves to emphasize the manner in which the black race has been subjected to various experiences in each verse. It portrays the black man’s positions as a victim of these experiences. The writer also uses similes such as ‘black as the night is black’ and ‘black like the depths of Africa’ to create illustrations of different views of the African race (“Negro”).

Cross

The poem Cross voices the writer’s personal experiences of living in a cross racial family. He conveys the ideal of racial reconciliation amongst white and black people by showing his remorse and apologies for wishing the worst to his parents. His parents came from different races. He contemplates their contrasting fates wherein one died in a place of fortune and prosperity while the other died in an environment of poverty (“Cross”).

He then ponders his own fate by linking it to his mixed race. The message that is driven here is that racial background ultimately affects one’s fate due to the social setups that favored one over the other. The poem uses rhymes and meters in its structure thus setting up a rhythmic flow in its narration.

The Weary Blues

This poem is written in a very sad tone. It describes the poet’s encounter with a blues musician who, tired of his life, was contemplating suicide. The theme of death is prominent in this piece as it is featured in several lines. The song Weary blues contains the line ‘And I wish I had died’ which captures the theme of death (“The Weary Blues”).

The final line ‘He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead’ clearly presents another instance of this theme. The message that the reader is left with is that the singer discussed in the poem had died deep down because of the loneliness he has been forced to live with.

Lenox Avenue: Midnight

The setting of this poem is a high traffic street on a rainy day. This can be seen from the references of rumbling street cars and rain in the second stanza. It seems to be a poem that speaks in second person to a lady. This may be explained by the use of the term ‘Honey’ in referring to the person addressed (Bass & Rampersad 32). Once again, this poem, like others mentioned before, bears a melancholic mood.

Song for a Dark Girl

Song for a dark girl is a poem about the writer’s lover who was hung on a tree. The tone of the poem is one of anger filled with sadness.

The writer seems to have a grudge against Jesus for letting his lover get slain despite his prayers for her protection. The theme of racial hatred is also brought out by the reference that the writer makes to ‘white Lord Jesus’ (“Song for a Dark Girl”). There is a metaphor used to describe love as a naked shadow.

Red Silk Stockings

This poem is written in old African American dialect. The use of alternative spellings for words such as ‘gal’ and incorrect grammar such as ‘you’s’, which means ‘you is’, are a demonstration of this (Bass & Rampersad 105). The poem was written to ridicule African American female prostitutes who served white clients. Hence, there is an overall use of sarcasm in the poem.

This can be observed when the writer says that the girls are too pretty to find any other form of work. Langston further mocks the black women by pointing out that they need to wear red stockings to show themselves to the white boys. This implies that the girls have an inferior view of themselves

Theme for English B

The poem Theme for English B has a very rich yet unstructured rhyme structure which can be seen to flow throughout the poem. The poem is written in the first person point of view. It seeks to introduce the reader to the identity of the writer as a young black student in a class full of white students.

The writer hence responds to his English teacher’s assignment instruction to reveal his personality through his work. He points out that if he did, it might not be judged on the same background as other students. This idea is brought out by the symbolic reference of his work not being in the same color as that of the page he will write it on, i.e. white paper (“Theme for English B”).

Dinner Guest: Me

In Dinner Guest: Me, Langston explains how the powerful white personalities in the U.S civil society had been discussing the African American plight for equality during a dinner gathering. His reaction to the discussion at the dinner table where he has been invited is rather indifferent.

What he is more afraid of is the outcome of the discussion and what it will mean to the African American community. The African American community, in this case, is symbolically referred to as ‘darkness U.S.A’ to show that they are looked down upon by the white race (“Dinner Guest: Me”).

Conclusion

Langston’s jazz poems fall into two thematic categories. There are those that bear a racially conscious theme and there are those that are simply introspective and personal. Some have both a personal and a socially conscious message.

For instance, ‘Cross’ reveals Langston’s personal experiences in dealing with racial inequality and, at the same time, it communicates the message of racial tolerance by proposing forgiveness. Poems that have racial injustice as a central theme can be classified as either political or social.

The poem Dinner Guest: Me, for instance, is a politically influenced piece as opposed to Red Silk stocking which is dwells on the moral decay of the black community.

Works Cited

Bass and Arnold Rampersad. The Collected Works of Langston Hughes, The Poems: 1921-1940 (LH1). Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. 2001. Web.

Cross 2003. Web.>

Dinner Guest: Me 2003. Web.

Negro 2007. Web.

Song for a Dark Girl n.d. Web.

The Weary Blues 2003. Web.

Theme for English B 2003. Web.

The main theme in the story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose is resistance and oppression. The book revolves around the German resistance to the Third Reich, a military body used by Hitler to carry out his atrocities against the Jews and the German people.

The story follows the lives of five young German students who in 1942, together with a University of Munich professor mounted a campaign against Hitler rule. By doing so, they risked being tortured and killed by the Gestapo, but this did not deter their resolve to fight the atrocities being committed by Hitler’s regime.

Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans initially supported the Hitler’s rule and were former Youth leaders for the Hitler Youth wing. After seeing, the atrocities being committed by the government they decide to form a resistance group that tried to have the German people revolt against Hitler rule.

The White Rose group rose and protested in the name of the principles Hitler tried hard to kill. In their protest, they issued six leaflets that called for the Germans to rise and face up to the atrocities that were being committed by the Nazi regime. In the first leaflet, they pointed out the reasons why the people should rise against the government.

They wrote, “Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be “governed” without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to base instinct. It is certain that today every honest German is ashamed of his government.

Who among us has any conception of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes — crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure — reach the light of day” (Dumbach and Newborn 186).

In the ensuing leaflets, they continued their campaigns against the regime until February 18, 1943 when Hans and Sophie were arrested while distributing the sixth leaflet on campus. The sixth and last leaflet was written by their philosophy professor, Dr. Kurt Huber.

While distributing the leaflets a janitor in the school saw Hans and his sister Scholl and called the Gestapo. Hans and Scholl in an attempt to protect their friends claimed responsibility for the leaflets and were taken into custody. Another member of the group, Christoph Probst was arrested and the three were tried after four days in custody.

The three were summoned in front of a people’s court convicted and then beheaded. The authors are able to portray oppression in the Nazi regime when they write of the ensuing beheading of Hans. In his last words, before the knife of the guillotine is released, Hans screams “Long Live Freedom!” (Dumbach and Newborn 161). This showed the oppression being suffered by the people and Hans death was an inspiration to many to rise and fight against the regime.

After the death of Hans, the authors continue to tell of the rise of various revolution groups including a group of people in Hamburg who were inspired by the leaflets. From the beginning to the end of the book, the story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose is thrilling and the authors are able to capture the oppressions and revolution that took place during the Nazi regime.

The major falling of the book is that the authors rely heavily on the accounts of Scholl and Hans. They depend on the accounts of Hans and Sophie Scholl and the letters they wrote. The story is given on the accounts of this letters and, therefore, there is no verification on the reliability of the information.

The quote that sums up the book is the words uttered by Sophie Scholl during her trial, “Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don’t dare to express themselves as we did” (Dumbach and Newborn 157). The quote sums up the book in that it shows that the people had realized the oppressions caused by the regime and marked the start of resistance against the oppression.

Works Cited

Dumbach, Annette and Jud, Newborn. Sophie Scholl and the White Rose. Oxford: One world, 2007. Print.

Introduction

In the US, the concept of blackness is the key idea that defines the social, political, and cultural position of African-Americans, both in past and present periods of history. The Street is a novel that depicts the life of Lutie Johnson, a single mother with an 8-year old son, who lives in Harlem on 116th street. The life of the main character is full of challenges that include relationships with African-American men, financial issues, and hard work.

While the history and cognition of African-American women were subjected to race and gender oppression, the literary works were created to represent their struggles and address the barriers that limited their lives. This essay aims to discover the black identity of African-American women living in the 1940s based on the image of Lutie as well as the methods used by the author, including personification, naturalism, and setting.

Exploring Blackness in the Novel

The negation of humanity of African-Americans leads to various difficulties that ruin their relationships and lives. In The Street, Lutie, an ordinary woman, was married to her beloved man, but the financial issues caused by a low-paid job as well as other hardships affected negatively their interaction. When her husband cheated, the main character preferred to leave and raise her son independently. At the same time, she remains committed to the idea of the American Dream proposed by one of the founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. He stated that everyone who works hard can achieve success, yet the story by Petry shows that African-Americans have many barriers on their paths.

The author of the novel uses the method of personification to represent the feelings and emotions of her characters. While The Street is narrated via the voices of different persons, the one of Lutie is dominant. Accordingly, it seems to be appropriate to choose her image to associate with personification points. For example, the wind is depicted as a human being: “the wind grabbed their hats, pried their scarves from around their necks, stuck its fingers inside their coat collars, blew their coats away from their bodies” (3).

The fingers of the wind that touch people are related to the connection with negative emotions since some discomfort is evident. More to the point, Petry states that the wind “discourages the people walking along the street”, which helps the readers to assimilate with Lutie and her experience. The method of personification reflects everyday American discourse, reproducing and rooting racial ideology since it inevitably materializes both public and individual consciousness.

Along with the family issues, Luthier faces racism and sexism, which stem from not only White but predominantly African-American men. Jones, a navy veteran, becomes obsessed with Lutie, while he also has a girlfriend, min, whom he rejects believing that she not physically attractive. Smith, the bandleader of Junto, is also interested in sexual contact with the main character, promising false advantages. This sexual competition increases the novel’s tension.

Personification allows the author to show that her street could be any street in the city: “the snow … sent people scurrying homeward, so that the street was soon deserted, empty, and quiet” (182). In this case, personification does not break away from the real denotation but adds an essential characteristic, preserving all its real properties. The core meaning contextually expands due to the emergence of a new reality, which contradicts all other signs and is preserved only within this context.

The discussion of naturalism in this novel serves as the guide to understanding social reality. The Street demonstrates that the ideas about social reality are largely unconscious and built on the basis of inherited cultural stereotypes of a particular social group. The centuries of slavery inflicted a cultural trauma on African-Americans, depriving them of their human status and dignity. African-Americans had to rethink their past in order to reconstruct collective identity. Petry summarizes the complex ways of building black identities that are closely related to the consequences of racism in the US (292). In this novel, the author employs naturalism to effectively present the catastrophic and destroying reality of African-American women.

The ideological and stylistic tendencies generated by the cultural practices and the artistic method opposing realism are expressed in reproducing the phenomena of life outside their ideological socio-philosophical understanding. One of the trends in the theory and practice of the naturalistic trend was the replacement of social typing and social assessment of life phenomena with an impartial depiction of facts and events.

For instance, Petry describes small urine-strained rooms: “the hallways dank with the smell of urine” (). The term naturalism can also be associated with an addiction to an exaggeratedly detailed depiction of gloomy, shadowy phenomena of reality, especially scenes of cruelty, violence, and repulsive details of sexual life. Describing the reaction of Jones, the author notes that “the hate an danger that still burned inside him was so great that he could not even smile” (295). Not only places and events but also people’s behaviors that are given in a naturalistic style add to the deeply-rooted oppression towards African-American females.

The epoch of Jim Craw laws with its unequal approach to people whose skin color was other than white characterizes the setting of The Street. It is noteworthy to state that this literary work begins and ends with the description of 116th street in Harlem. Most importantly, the street is presented as one of the key characters of the novel, in which the author masterfully combines personification and setting methods of creating images. The following statement reveals the attitudes of Lutir towards her street: “the street did more than that. It became both mother and father and trained your kid for you, and it was an evil father and a vicious mother” (Petry 283).

During that time, African-American women lived in a highly oppressed society, although they were emancipated according to the law. Nevertheless, the American institutional practices made it impossible to exercise human rights for the mentioned population.

The inferiority of African-American women with regard to African-American men is another theme of the given novel. In terms of the patriarchal society, men were seen as the dominant human beings, who should have more rights and freedoms compared to females. These assumptions are reflected via the setting of The Street, where the author discusses the struggles of women and the tension placed by men. For instance, it is perceived by the novel male characters as a norm to incline women to sex by sung abusive methods.

The thoughts about the lower ability of women to create and consider were also made publicly: “‘you know a good-looking girl like you shouldn’t have to worry about money, he said softly” (Petry 334). In fact, this aspect of the concept of blackness seems to be much more complicated since many challenges are intertwined, and women had to resolve them, relying only on themselves.

The presentation of the environment of Harlem allows the readers to associate with it and better understand the lives of African-American females of that time. The setting helps the author to build the links between the people involved in the story and Luthier in a way that clarifies their intentions and feelings. At the same time, these connections are not used in a direct form, yet they focus on the environment. The words “dirt” and “dust” are often included in the novel, which makes the setting unpleasant and unappealing to the readers.

The actions of the wind, for example, point to the cold and harsh weather, which indicates the violent assaults of men who want to have sex with Luthier. On the contrary, the introduction of the main character is accompanied by such words as “warm” and “soft”. This confusing environment reflects different sides of blackness in females of the period of Jim Craw laws.

Conclusion

To conclude, The Street by Ann Petry is a powerful novel that sheds light on the essence of blackness, focusing on the fate of females who lived in the 1940s and 1950s in the US. The very state of racism that was inherent to all African-Americans previously was much more complicated and severe for women who faced discrimination from African-American men. One can undoubtedly state that The Street is a significant cornerstone in understanding the concept of blackness and further improvement of the position of women in the US.

Work Cited

Petry, Ann. The Street. Library of America, 2019.

Introduction

Religion is a critical constituent of human life, which has a direct influence on all areas of interactions with other people. Sometimes, it leads to conflicts and misunderstandings; in other cases, religious differences become the ground for oppression – prolonged unjust treatment and discrimination. That said, religious oppression is unequal treatment of those, who belong to differing confessions.

In this way, regardless of living in the modern world that moves in the direction of eliminating borders between nations, the problem of religious oppression in the medical field is complicated to overcome.

Public policy debates

Except for affecting social relations, religious issues are the subject of severe public policy debates. In most cases, public policies focus on avoiding oppression and minimizing the risks of religious segregation in the health care sector.

There are different levels of public policy debates: care acts guaranteeing the freedom of religion and equal access to the medical aid at the court level; legislation protecting equity in the society and determining exemption in the health care sector at the state level; and hospital statutes at the local level (Issues for debate in American public policy, 2017). Because of the criticality of religious freedom and equality, the issue is often discussed at the highest level (for instance, President Obama paid significant attention to the problem of religious oppression in health care during his presidential debates in 2012).

Racism and religious discrimination in different areas of social relations, including medicine, is the subject of numerous international conferences organized by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and the most influential actors of the global community (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, n.d.).

Arguments

Besides public policy debates, religious oppression has a direct influence on free access to professional care. Somehow, religious minorities are the most discriminated groups of the population when it comes to free and equal access to health care. Most issues are connected to the negative image of certain religious minorities and their lifestyles, which are acceptable in society (Aroussel & Carlbom, 2016). On the other hand, medical workers tend to ignore the individual needs of religious minorities, such as following a particular lifestyle or ignoring specific recommendations due to peculiarities of religious values, although it contradicts with the mission of a doctor or nurse, i.e. being faith-blind and oppressing patients subconsciously. Ultimately, oppression might be caused by the lack of knowledge about particular religious principles, thus leading to the failure of providing faith-acceptable care.

Nevertheless, sometimes patients themselves provoke religious oppression. In this way, discrimination is not always the cause of limiting access to medical care and professional aid. In some cases, doctors cannot help a patient because they do not understand how to respond to the faith-based refusal of conventional treatment, thus choosing to avoid similar patients in the future and oppressing them consciously (Rumun, 2014). In other cases, it is a patient that provokes a religion-based conflict and does not want to be treated by a doctor of differing religions, which still leads to oppression. After all, some patients refuse to be empowered through religious consciousness if they do not share the same religious principles, thus oppressing themselves and putting their treatment at risk (Rumun, 2014).

On the other hand, religious differences hurt access to employment. Just like some patients are oppressed in obtaining medical aid, religious minorities often suffer from discrimination while being interviewed for positions of medical workers and are limited in employment opportunities. Because of patient bias, some hospitals support the exemption of religious minorities, ignoring national legal frameworks and provisions of international legislation (for instance, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights promoting equal access to employment). In addition to patient bias, people of different religions are limited in employment opportunities because they are associated with a particular lifestyle and religious routines, such as prayers at a particular time of the day or missing work on particular days of the week, even if they do not follow them, i.e. without adequate grounds for refusal (Genuis & Lipp, 2013). Finally, they can be deprived of an opportunity to work at a hospital because of the belief that they are culturally incompetent, i.e. cannot deploy the patient-based approach because of their religious engagement.

Opinion and Conclusion

To sum up, religious oppression remains one of the most critical issues in health care provision. Even though it is broadly negotiated at different levels of public policy, the challenge is complicated to overcome. The problem is getting even more serious because of the unwillingness to recognize the uniqueness of other religions and accept others’ freedom to choosing their way in life as well as the lack of desire to change and support differing people.

Still, individual effort and focus on respecting equal freedoms and rights, as well as social and political coordination, might help to cope with this problem and establish equality.

References

Aroussel, J., & Carlbom, A. (2016). Culture and religious beliefs about reproductive health. Best Practice & Research: Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, 32(1), 77-87.

Genuis, S. J., & Lipp, C. (2013). Ethical diversity and the role of conscience in clinical medicine. International Journal of Family Medicine, 2013(1), 1-18. Web.

Issues for debate in American public policy. (2017). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Rumun, A. J. (2014). Influence of religious beliefs on healthcare practice. International Journal of Education and Research, 2(4), 37-48.

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. (n.d.). Racism and public policy. Web.

Introduction

The growth of global society and the reduction of barriers through globalization represent major vehicles for expansion. Capitalism is essential to consider in this case because it represents an economic system based on the private ownership of production means to earn a profit (Weiss 189). All countries worldwide operate on the basis of capitalism to increase their prosperity and ensure the well-being of their citizens. However, some may abuse their power in the global arena and use the resources of less privileged parties for the purpose of getting rich. Sweatshop Warriors: Immigrant Women Workers Take on the Global Factory by Miriam Ching Yoon Louie brilliantly discusses the growth and expansion of globalized capitalism through the direct testimonies of immigrant women workers. The analysis will aim to answer several questions regarding the gains from the book from a historian’s perspective, the events on which the work shed light, the point of view on the events, the accuracy of their representation, and the use in World History courses.

The book was chosen for the present analysis due to the author giving the voice to those people who were abused by the institution of capitalism and showing how they fought back against exploitation despite being at the very lowest step of the economic ladder. Sources used to write the review included Weiss’s Business Ethics and Logan’s “Emerging Ghettos” as they provide some insights into the economic and racial issues described in Sweatshop Warriors.

Analysis

Ching Yoon Louie explores the problem of the reemergence of sweatshops in the United States in the late twentieth century. It was assumed that sweatshops disappeared a long time ago, and their presence would not be accepted due to the increased awareness of society of the problem. Sweatshops represent an instrument to the development of capitalism both in the US and globally. The exploitation and oppression of workers that are put in inhumane conditions allow large companies to extend the production of their goods and become more equipped to compete with other capitalists. The extremely low pay that workers receive is the key to the success of organizations that abuse labor.

Historical Events

The creation of labor unions in the US was to end sweatshops in the country through collaborating with political allies, social institutions, and public supporters of no-abuse labor. In 1955, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) was established as a significant step in the labor movement to provide advocacy and support to workers. Ching Yoon Louie reflects on the AFL-CIO in 2000 and the speech given by Rojana “Na” Cheunchujit in front of 20,000 workers, demanding to end sanctions against employees (215). Na was among the seventy-two Thai workers who were kept at the El Monte, CA sweatshop and forced to sew garments for little to no pay in 1988. Their case terrified the nation because, by that time, everyone thought that sweatshops only existed overseas and not in the States.

Historians will gain a tremendous number of benefits from reading Sweatshop Warriors. This can be supported by the author’s attention to the stories of women and the role to which they were diminished in society. A particular significance of the book is reflected in the fact that the leaders of the anti-sweatshop movement depicted in the book were women. The stories associated with the analysis of workers’ oppression underline the impact of the patriarchy and male supremacy with which those women had to deal. In many instances and accounts told in the book, the immigrant women came to the US to provide for their families and, apart from work, had to take care of their children, cook, clean, and fulfill all other nurturing responsibilities (Louie 237).

Author’s Point of View

The women were placed in a disadvantaged position but still managed to persevere and challenge the status quo through establishing their own organizations that were run by women, with the majority of members also being women. Historians should account for the fact that women were in the center of numerous social movements, and Sweatshop Warriors is instrumental for analyzing the role they had played. The challenges that women had to address were not only concerned with the problem of labor exploitation but also with gender stereotypes existing in their communities. In quoting the statement of the Sewing Sisterhood, “But when we ask listen learn cry belly-laugh with women, we can slice chop cleaver clean through such simplistic stereotypes” (Louie 254). The women understood that they could not stay silent about the disrespect and oppression and should organize themselves to stand up and win the battle.

The author manages to identify several workforces that the general society of the United States sees as vulnerable. These include predominantly Mexican, Korean, and Chinese workers who arrived in the country both using legal and illegal means. This has occurred not because of the idea that everyone comes to the US because it is considered a great achievement; rather, Louie quotes British activists from the United Kingdom: “We are here because you were there” (12). Put simply, immigrants from around the world are in the US because the country has played a significant role in suppressing the economies of their countries and giving them no other choice.

Accuracy of Representation

Sweatshop Warriors is an accurate representation of the events and processes discussed in it as it is based on the reflections of real-life people. The story of the Thai workers captured in a sewing sweatshop is proof that the author approached the problem of oppressive labor from the perspective of personal experiences. In addition to this, the book includes multiple references to the literature of historical value, such as the documents of the Committee for Asian Women, which means that she connects her work with what has been done previously. This is a valuable point since drawing references from other historic books enhances the narrative and makes readers more engaged in the story that is being told.

Use in World History Courses

The insights into the racial distribution of immigrant labor represent the proof for the book to be used in World History courses. The reflections of real women and their accounts of events that occurred ten and more years from now are invaluable in terms of historic literature since they offer much more than facts. Having a resource that provides both a historical and biographical look on such issues as immigrant sweatshop labor can be a positive contribution to learning. Sweatshop Warriors is also important for the representatives of different ethnic backgrounds. For black America, there is a need to participate in discussions regarding the role of immigration in the establishment of communities. For those who came from the global South, it is necessary to establish how the United States changed the political and demographic composition of the countries.

Concluding Remarks: Takeaways from the Book

The value of Sweatshop Warriors is attributed to the author accurately putting the question of immigration on the table. For the majority of African Americans, the issue of immigration is a problematic point insofar as they were often pushed to believe that they had to compete with immigrants from other backgrounds. However, the author’s analysis puts immigration in a larger context using the examples of women who worked at sweatshops. Capitalism is among the drivers of competition not only among large corporations but also among employees who work for such corporations (Weiss 120). The institution of capitalism thrives when workers participate in competition among each other to win limited resources. US capitalism, in particular, is racialized and therefore enables the development of ethnic niches, which evolve over the years. For example, janitors in New York City were predominantly Irish at the beginning of the twentieth century, African-American in the middle of the 1900s, and mainly Latino at the beginning of the twenty-first (Logan et al. 1057). This shows that capitalism ‘finds’ the most vulnerable populations and uses them for labor.

The current exploration will be concluded by noting that Louie should be applauded for the work that she did for Sweatshop Warriors. The book provides a vast array of insights into the lives of immigrant women forced to stay at sweatshops. The work is both informative and inspiring to read because it underlined the fact that despite the array of issues, the women fought back against oppression. In many ways, Louie’s contribution is a call to arms of challenging the status quo and ensuring that the oppressed individuals are getting heard. As the late twentieth century was seen as an era of new beginnings that will come with the start of the millennium, Louie wanted to impose inspiration to fight against the unfairness in society and ensure that all people have access to equal opportunities and are not forced to work to make capitalists richer than they already are.

Works Cited

Logan, John, et al. “Emergent Ghettos: Black Neighborhoods in New York and Chicago, 1880-1940.” AJS, vol. 120, no. 4, 2015, pp. 1055-1094.

Louie, Miriam Ching Yoon. Sweatshop Warriors: Immigrant Women Workers Take on the Global Factory. South End Press, 2001.

Weiss, Joseph. Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2014.

Introduction

Discrimination against race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation is openly discussed in modern society. Despite the declaration of human rights, many minority groups still experience oppression in some countries. For example, African Americans had to march on the streets during the COVID-19 pandemic to fight discrimination and protect their rights. Although homophobia is more prevalent among religious communities today, people who self-identified as gay, lesbian, or transgender were marginalized and discriminated against in the United States in the past (Sugarman et al., 2018). Indeed, the film Philadelphia is one of the first movies that raised issues of marginalization upon sexual orientation and a positive HIV status. Philadelphia illustrates how the lack of understanding about the disease can create prejudice and discrimination against minorities by the privileged groups, creating oppression that violates fundamental human rights.

A Synopsis of Philadelphia

The central theme of Philadelphia is discrimination against the LGBT community and people who had HIV/AIDS back in the 1980s and 1990s. The film’s main character is Andrew Beckett, a brilliant lawyer working for the largest law firm in Philadelphia (Demme, 1993). The movie commences with Andrew winning a construction company’s case in which his opponent was a lawyer Joe Miller. Becket is a gay man who was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and later developed Kaposi sarcoma. His family and friends are very supportive; thus, he does not feel emotional pressure. Moreover, he manages to withhold this information from his employers and colleagues for some time. However, when the company officials learn about his disease, they decide to compromise his professional reputation to have a legitimate reason to fire him.

Andrew realizes that he lost his job because he had HIV/AIDS; thus, he decides to file a suit against this firm. However, he struggles to find an attorney who would agree to defend him in court; therefore, he decides to protect himself after Joe Miller refused to take his case. Miller changes his mind after seeing how Andrew was discriminated against in the library for his illness. Andrew and Joe start working together to find evidence of the illegitimacy of the firm’s decision to dismiss Andy from his position. Although the judge reassures Miller that there is no discrimination in the courtroom, Joe says, “We don’t live in this courtroom, do we?” (Demme, 1993, 1:07:10). By the end of the trial, Andrew is exhausted by the disease; he collapses during the last hearing and is immediately hospitalized. Eventually, Becket wins the case and receives about $5 million of compensation, but he dies in hospital soon. The film ends with Miller coming to the funeral and watching a home video about Andrew’s childhood.

Prejudice, Discrimination, and Privilege

Prejudice, discrimination, and privilege are the primary topics, which the conflict of the movie revolves around. Privilege can be defined as an advantage provided to a group of people for some social characteristics that are not earned, causing a sense of entitlement among them (Sugarman et al., 2018). Prejudice and discrimination elicit a negative attitude towards a group of people who are different in race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and sexual orientation (Sugarman et al., 2018). These issues still exist in the United States, challenging American democracy.

One of the classic examples of prejudice in Philadelphia is homophobia. The main character was a gay working as an attorney for the most prestigious firm in Philadelphia. Andrew wanted to confess to his boss about his sexual orientation, but he decides not to do it after hearing jokes about gays from the company officials. It appears that homophobia stems from the fact that heterosexuality predominates for evolutionary reasons; therefore, many people view homosexuality as unnatural and immoral behavior. When Becket was asked about a gay theater, the counselor claimed that “this line of questioning is vital to the issue of credibility,” exposing the stigma that gays cannot be professional (Demme, 1993, 1:31:55). Moreover, Wheeler testified that Becket was not fired because he had AIDS, but further questioning revealed his prejudice about gays. Indeed, homophobia was the main reason for the firm’s leaders to ask Andrew to leave despite his professional excellence.

Andrew Becket’s case of being fired for being homosexual is also a representation of discrimination against sexual identity. Bias often leads to hatred and violence against marginalized communities (Sugarman et al., 2018). Indeed, prejudices lead to discrimination, indicating the fact that these two terms are closely related because the stereotype about gays created a negative image of their professional credibility, resulting in violence against these people.

As previously mentioned, privilege creates a sense of entitlement in a group of people provided with an unearned advantage. For instance, historically, white Americans were a privileged group for a long time, placing other races living in the United States in an inferior position (Sugarman et al., 2018). Andrew belonged to a distinguished group until those who offered him this job found out about his sexual orientation and his disease, causing his dismissal from the privileged circle. The company leaders recognized this young attorney as a promising candidate who proved them right in every assigned case. Moreover, he was the only young employee allowed to participate in all formal and informal meetings with the firm’s officials. However, their attitude changed when old white conservative men learned about Andrew’s homosexual predilections, re-qualifying him to the underprivileged group.

The Five Forces of Oppression

Philadelphia also demonstrates the problem of oppression in American society. Oppression can be defined as the form of tyranny that dehumanizes some population groups (Young, 2004). Five forces of oppression were described in the literature: exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence (Young, 2004). The five forces are presented in this film through various lenses, allowing viewers to see how minorities can suffer from prejudices invented by conservative groups.

Although this film is about attorneys, who belong to the affluent class, the exploitation and powerlessness issues are demonstrated in the background. Indeed, the opening scene of the movie shows black communities who were primarily in low-paid service jobs. This scene is very subtle, but all referrals to black people’s exploitation were made unobtrusively. Moreover, these people appear to accept their powerlessness and do not want to change this situation. Powerlessness is equivalent to the absence of decision-making capacity among those who are being oppressed (Young, 2004). There is no doubt that powerlessness is the worst form of oppression because people are not aware of injustice being done to them by others.

Marginalization is one of the central problems raised by this film. Marginalization can be defined as excluding some groups of people from participation in social life (Young, 2004). Andrew, like many gays, was marginalized for being different than the majority. Becket was sabotaged and asked to leave the company after his employers learned about his sexual orientation and disease. He was no longer a member of their superior circle, and that sharp demarcation was shown when Andy came to their office and was asked to sit at another side of the long table.

Heterosexuality is an accepted form of relationship worldwide and an example of cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism means establishing a ruling class’s culture as a norm for everyone (Young, 2004). Therefore, anything that deviates from the standard is amoral and unnatural. Indeed, many people in this film have an aversion to gay men viewing them as “a danger to little kids,” which was “the general thinking” in this country (Demme, 1993, 1:16:45). However, the main issue of this thinking is violence against minorities.

Violence is often the consequence of continuous discrimination and oppression. People who are different are hated and may frequently experience emotional and physical abuse. For example, about 20% of hate crimes are committed due to sexual orientation issues (Sugarman et al., 2018). Andrew experienced emotional violence in the courtroom: “You’ve spent your life pretending that your something you are not, so much so that the art of concealment and dishonesty has become the second nature” (Demme, 1993, 1:34:01). It appears that the defendants wanted to portray gay men as immoral, distrustful, and incompetent people.

Conclusion

To sum up, Philadelphia was the first film to demonstrate all inadequacies of our society which is ruled by the privileged groups who create rules for discrimination and oppression. Analyzing this movie helped me to understand the importance of self-identity, which is the essence of cultural humility. I am prejudiced about people who are different, but diving deep into this issue helped me grow to the point that I will not ignore when others are oppressed or discriminated against.

If I need to discuss prejudice, privilege, and discrimination in the future, I have three points to add. Firstly, all people are born equal; thus, discrimination and marginalization are illegitimate. Second, children should be taught that their voices are essential to eradicating the powerlessness issue. Finally, violence against minorities stems from the privileged groups’ entitlement, which establishes cultural imperialism; therefore, violence will be terminated when people stop creating artificial higher and lower circles.

References

Demme, J. (1993). Philadelphia [Film]. Clinica Estetico.

Sugarman, D. B., Nation, M., Yuan, N. P., Kuperminc, G. P., Hassoun Ayoub, L., & Hamby, S. (2018). Hate and violence: Addressing discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Psychology of Violence, 8(6), 649-656.

Young, I. (2004). Five faces of oppression. In Heldke, L. & O’Connor, P. (Eds.), Oppression, privilege, & resistance (pp. 37-63). McGraw Hill.