There is evidence in this article of the implied ability to relate among different minority/oppressed groups because of a shared experience of oppression. In referencing the anonymous letter of apology written by the maker of the noose to the community, the writer apparently identified herself as a minority, but not African-American. The fact that this piece of information is included not only in the letter itself but in the news report provides further evidence for the idea of a shared experience of oppression.
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One thing that jumped out at me was that the the girl's apology seemingly sought to justify her behavior. The article explains,
ReplyDelete"One of the students responsible for the noose apologized to the university community in an anonymous letter published Monday in the campus newspaper. She said the noose was formed while she and friends were playing around with a piece of rope and had no meaning as a lynching symbol.
The student said she is not black, but is a minority."
While the article could be suggesting that the student was of a minority and therefor must not have intended the rope as a noose, it appeared to me that the fact that the student was a minority was being used as a justification for her behavior. This seems rather counter intuitive. If an individual knew and understood racial oppression wouldn't that seemingly make the individual less justified in committing racist acts?
I want to be clear what I mean by 'justified' here. I do not mean justified under the law or even ethically justified. I am simply referring to the individual's intent. In other words, I am saying that it reflects worse on an individual if they are aware of the consequences of a bad act but still commit it.
So just to reiterate my question. Why is it that a sense of shared oppression is socially suitable as a justification for this sort of behavior?
Reading the article and coming accross the KKK thing was scary, I did not know about before coming to the US,and it is the most scariest thing to me, and i was told that it exists in Maine too, is that true?
ReplyDeleteAnyways, good question Matt. The article does give an impression of justification for racist behavior as long as you are a monority, Personally, i do not believe anyone should be justfified for racist acts, racist acts should not be tolerated period. But that in itself is unrealistic, because there are so many factors involved and intention stands out as a big thing there. When a person does something out of genuinely not being aware of the implications or the meaning of what they are doing, maybe that case could be argued in view of making it clear to that person that such is offensive and not acceptable.
in this case though, i do not find this act excusable,maybe they started out just joking about this and did not realize the impact it would have, and now they do, which should be recognized
in short, racist acts, whether by a minority or not, are to be addressed and treated accordingly, otherwise how are we to move forward in making the world a better place?