Identify six of the common mechanisms of oppression and define them. How does understanding these mechanisms of oppression help you to recognize injustice when you see it?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Mechanisms of oppression include myth of scarcity, defined norm, the other, invisibility, distortion, stereotyping, violence and the threat of it, lack of prior claim, blaming the victim, internalized oppression, horizontal hostility, isolation, assimilation, tokenism, and emphasis on individual solutions. Students may define any of these. Recognizing the multitude of mechanisms can help us to be aware of the challenges faced by our clientele and our fellow people, especially those who may not share some of the privileged dimensions we experience in our own lives. As an example, the myth of scarcity is used to pit people against one another by suggesting a certain resource is limited and some people are taking more than their fair share (e.g., poor people cost us too much tax money because they are too lazy to go out and find jobs for themselves). Tokenism can be observed when people claim that the majority of NBA players are nonwhite, and most of them are millionaires with tons of fame and prestige; therefore, racism can be argued to be nonexistent, and those who suffer as a result of it can be blamed for their lack of status due to personal shortcomings instead (blaming the victim).