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VIEWPOINTS
Guest Editorial
Yanking the Plug on Oppression
by Sabrina Sojourner
Author's Note:
Oppression sickness - n. 1. The intentional
or unintentional infliction of bias action
against an individual or a group on the
basis of skin color, race, ethnicity, nation
ality, age, ability, gender, sexual orienta
tion, creed or socioeconomic status. 2. The
the internalization of covert and/or overt
actions based on the above.
I want to invite you to be provided with a
perspective which seeks to empower all of
us to be more accepting of difference. We
are different and yet we are all the same.
However, we have been taught that how we
differ from the norm—white, male, hetero
sexual; able-bodied Protestant; upper-mid
dle class; and college educated—determines
how society acknowledges or denies our
humanity.
I am one of many searching for ways to
move us to a place where we can talk about
difference in terms of color, race, gender
and class—to name a few.
We do not live in a perfect world. All
people are not created equal. Economics,
education, gender, color and physical expe
rience are just a few of the barriers erected
by a system determined to perpetuate itself
at our cost. Our ability to make an honest
living; raise families in healthy and safe
environments; have satisfying work and so
•on is the price many of us pay so that too
few can actually live out those dreams that
we all are entitled to possess.
I continue to have a difficult time with
groups who are themselves oppressed and
who themselves become oppressors. This
seeming paradox has become less perplex
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Snell 11|
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ing as I begin to understand oppression as
an illness which victimizes the perpetrator
as well as the human target. It is important
to note that victim and perpetrator are vic
timized differently. The perpetrator, of
course, does have more power in the imme
diate situation.
The power in these situations may be
positional, physical, economic—any of a
number of actual or perceived variables.
An individual or group of individuals
who refuse to participate in their own vic
timization are often accused of; not know
ing their place; being overly sensitive; or
misunderstanding the intention of the perpe
trators. They are characterized by the insti
tutions which support the perpetrators as
rabble rousers, boat-rockers, troublemakers,
anarchists, undesirables or whatever the lat
est brand name taken up by the dominant
culture to keep people in line. Witch, com
mie, nigger, nigger-lover, feminist, liberal,
dyke and fag are just a few of the terms
used for this purpose.
People who refuse to live their lives as
victims without resorting to victimizing oth
ers, people working to free themselves of
intangible internal and external bonds, have
the potential of being the true visionaries,
teachers and leaders of our time.
However they are rarely recognized as
such because oppressors see them as mon
strous threats to the status quo.
Lateral oppression occurs when people
who are forced to confront their own issues
of visibility act out of jealousy and become
fixed on their way of soliciting change as
the way things are to be accomplished.
Oppressive attitudes perpetrated by those
within our affinity group(s) are the attitudes
we most often understand as they impact at
the deepest level.
How do we begin to break our participa
tion in oppressive behaviors ? By recogniz
ing the pervasiveness of the problem.
Oppressing others is a learned behavior
which can be unlearned. We learned it from
a variety of social, economic and govern
mental institutions which teach us in covert
and overt ways to ascribe to a narrow value
system, in order to feel a part of the
American dream. And that any and all who
desire to change, alter or transform that
dream to be more inclusive are suspect.
This kind of thinking perpetuates a
schizophrenia whose primary purpose is to:
divide and conquer; foster the notion of
humans (those who agree with us ) and
monsters (those who disagree); and promote
the false notion of scarcity (there's not
enough of anything to go around.) An addi
tional important by-product of self-hate.
Once we have made a conscious decision
to begin the process of unlearning our
oppressive behavior(s), it is important to
recognize that, despite our best intentions,
there will be times when our actions or inac
tions will be perceived as inappropriate.
(After all, we are human and do make mis
takes.) Therefore, when we are called on
our bigotry in whatever form it may mani
fest, the appropriate response is, "Yes, I am
(racist, sexist, classist, etc) because I am a
product of this society. And I am trying to
unlearn that behavior." This response defus
es the charge, putting the focus on the insult
and its potential resolution while moving
away from care-taking the offender.
hi other words, when we begin to recog
nize our own sincerity in wanting to behave
in responsible and inclusive ways, we have
no more need to defend our errors. Rather,
we need to appreciate, however momentari
ly uncomfortable, the opportunity to have
our awareness broadened.
She Likes What
Our Editorial Said
Dear Editor:
It was thoughtful of you to compliment
those ACT UP people from other cities. They
came to Atlanta to add numbers and input to
our demonstration here. They came to help us
with this, a common cause.
I was at a NYC ACT UP meeting last
Monday and they do have their act very much
together. If they want to puff up, they have
every right
There's a lot to be learned by everybody.
Compliments to people on our side do a lot
more than criticism. Keep up the good work. I
love the paper.
An Unidentified Reader
...and She Doesn't
The Editor:
Poorly done, Southern Voice; in reference
to your staff editorial in Vol. 2, No. 25, pg. 6.
Many of my friends as well as myself take
offense to the third paragraph of your editorial
which states, 'Activist from N.Y., Boston, San
Francisco and L.A. got to come south, puff
themselves up with pride and pretend that they
were showing us com pone types just how
such actions ought to be orchestrated. Local
activists were able to see that, while their out-
of-town guest might have more experience, us
Coke guzzlin' yokels can act up pretty damn
well on their own, thank you very much!’
First of all, as a woman bom and raised in
the South, I feel that your remarks regarding
our guests to be rather impolite and derogato
ry. Especially when one considers the personal
time, effort, and expense put forth by these
visitors. Second, I would like for you to real
ize that the force of some of Atlantan's actions
emotes from individuals like Judy Siff (a
recent transfer from California who presently
coordinates the media of the Atlanta Chapter
of ACT UP) who are pouring their energies
and resources into the community of Atlanta.
As a recent arrival, I find offense in the edito
rial's statement "puffing up with pride and pre
tend" because as a photographer I saw direct
ed, determined, organized forces that were
composed three-fourths of so-called outsiders,
and no one present was certainly puffing up
more than the other. It would appear to me
that we are one people united in cause.
Third, I do not comprehend what purpose
is served in putting down Atlantans with this
com pone coke guzzling yokel typecasting
language. Are these images that Southern
Voice wishes to perpetuate? I am a woman of
the South who has taken the time to
live/understand the cities and it seems we are
one community. Let everyone praise them
selves and others in the directed effort.
Let the South rise again as the best of new
and old. Making a difference involves com
munity, statewide, international endeavors.
Together, united we will only aid the process
of redirecting forces which determine our
future.
Sincerely,
Barbara Snell
An "Outraged” Reader
Editor:
For the first time in quite a while some
thing has inspired—or incensed—me enough
to write to the great "Editor" in the sky.
Steve Warren's article, the "Tales of
Armistead Maupin," was quite an eye-opener.
Mr. Maupin's comment concerning
"...expressing your impatience to other gay
people who are in the closet, telling them you
feel that they have a moral responsibility to be
more honest about their lives because it will
make the world a better place for everyone
outraged me.
Why would anyone feel compelled to tell
another person how to live their life? ‘Will my
"coming out" put food on the table for the
starving people in this city? Does nuclear war
hinge on who's sleeping in my bed tonight? I
think not.
Those individuals in the public eye who
choose not to add homosexuality to their
resume are not committing a crime against the
gay community. They are simply participating
in life as human beings. Would an admission
of homosexuality suddenly make them better
actors or writers or politicians? No. Would it
make them any more bankable? Definitely
not
Mr. Maupin was also quoted as saying,
"That's why we have something like the Gay
Engagement Calendar that brags about the
people who are gay, because we're proud of
these people." Are we proud of these people
because they are gay? Should we be excited
because they are gay and have accomplished
something in life? I didn't realize that homo
sexuals were somehow disabled because of
their sexual preference and accomplishments
should be rewarded at every opportunity. Why
can't we just be proud of the fact that these
people have done something with their lives?
Why is it necessary to label these people at
all? Isn't that one of our strongest complaints
against the heterosexual community?
I am a human being, a woman and a les
bian. In that order. My lesbianism doesn't con
trol or dominate my life; it just happens to be
a very good part of it. I can't remember the
last time I put my feet up, lit a cigarette and
said, "Damn, I'm glad to be a lesbian." I'm
simply glad to be. I want to be accepted (or
not accepted) based on my actions, ideals and
achievements. With whom I share my bed
should never be taken into consideration in
that process.
Mr. Maupin's attitude of "If you won't tell
all, I'll do it for you" is frightening. Those
individuals in the public eye have worked
long and hard to establish and maintain their
careers. They have made choices and they are
prepared to live with them. It angered me to
read about one man's plight to "expose the
world" for the good of mankind.
He said, "If my career doesn't go any fur
ther than this, I don't give a damn.” Fine, Mr.
Maupin, but other people do. Why not just
leave them alone and concentrate on your own
life for a while?
A. Akins
Atlanta
Tender Truth
Dear Editor,
New York City, tourist hotel, 26th floor,
it's a small room with a large open window.
The phone rings: Doug is dead. The family is
packing his body off the same day. I won't
even be able to see him. The room shrinks, the
window looms larger. I am pressed to the sill.
Powerless. Shamed.
There is nothing left to me but anger.
Death and waste abound. Seeds of activism
root deeper in my being with every body I
bathe and every grown man's diaper I change.
I must fight back. If I don't, I just throw
Doug's body on the heap with Cal's and Gary's
and dear David's and Keith's.
Able-bodied gay people must learn to
fight. We have the power to demand a cure
for AIDS now.
Truth sucks wind when we do not speak
out because we falsely believe that truth is
divisive.
Our great ally—truth—is slain by the egos
6/Southern Voice • February 15,1990