Black American Oppression Analysis

The systematic oppression of black Americans is deeply woven into the fabric of US society. Oppression is explained by Marilyn Frye in her 1983 article “Oppression,” by first breaking down the word into its root: press (p.130). Much like commercial clothes pressing, when something is pressed: “it is between two forces and barriers working together to restrain it, restrict it, prevent motion, to mold it, and reduce it” (Frye, 1983, p.130-131). This concept of pressing translates into the oppression of people caught between two “networks of forces and barriers that expose one to penalty, loss, or contempt” regardless of circumstance (Frye, 1983, p.130-131). Another illustrative example Frye (1983) used to describe oppression was a birdcage, formed wire-by-wire, through discriminatory policy and practice almost unperceivable to the untrained eye, but when put into perspective, it collectively traps (p.132). Black Americans, as a result of systemic oppression, compete on uneven ground. Black Americans fight unduly to avoid incarceration, secure quality homes and jobs, and to rise in social class.
Black Americans are disproportionately incarcerated relative to the rest of American citizens. As interviewed by Bill Moyers, (2012) author …show more content…
In “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Dr. Peggy McIntosh (1989) unpacks all the ways in which she has an unspoken advantage as a white person reflecting that “[i]f I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in any area which I can afford and in which I would want to live” (p.177). Activist Barbara Ehrenreich and phycologist John Ehreneich (2011) supplement this notion when they show that minorities across all classes lost more homes and jobs in 2007 and 2008 than did whites (p. 344). The cage is not complete without the lock of ever-increasing debt to shut out all possibility of release from financial