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When we identify the motives or roots of discrimination we or another person is facing we are better able to describe and defend ourselves from these kinds of oppression and discrimination. When we are identifying these motive sometimes they are clearly communicated and sometimes they are considered passive aggressive. Social systems help uphold these discrimination tactics, so it's important that we are able to describe the ways that these systems are upholding specifically in order to create positive change.
Discrimination can be caused by any of the following below, and it's important to keep in mind the ways that these can intersect. We all have intersecting identities but not all are identities that are actively being persecuted. When we are experiencing more than one form of oppression due to multiple identities being persecuted we are call that intersectionality. Identifying these intersectional experiences can lead us to a better understanding as to why acknowledging and shedding light on discrimination is vital to its slowing in society.
First we must understand what kind of systems we are looking at?
Patriarchy has been founded on the preconceived notion to sex differences at birth and assumed placement in breeding or procreation for future generations, and the assumed placement of a labor source or provider. While this notion has been getting very old by this time, we have let it up hold several households and leave many spending years in emotional aguish over their true wants and the systems' need to stay alive. If men are home bodies who take care of the young, as their female partner have a larger corporate jobs that provide for the family you are actively breaking this norm. However, don't misguide your sense of praise for breaking away from the norm. The praise goes to those who also teach their children not to rely on a specific sex or gender to provide for emotional needs etc. There is a lot in this world that caters to the male ideology, but in many ways it dis-serves the male population the most by inappropriate expectations and emotional strangulation. This does not negate that the tole the Patriarchy has put on AFAB people and/or women is unattainable by most, and has caused death, abuse, and manipulation in the name of gender superiority. Sexual domination has always been apart of this historical fantasy, but the patriarchy uses this assumed domination to abuse and silence women all the time. Rape and abuse culture is an egregious act and it's important that we take the energy to deal with our biggest predators in the community.
However our systems journey does not lead us just to Patriarchal Systems, but also Racist Systems that further upheld the white male agenda for power and profits. We saw this throughout the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Fugitive Slave Laws, Emancipation Proclamation, and Jim Crow Laws that have only evolved through these systems to curate a similar access/impact black communities and gerrymander their counties. Racism has many different ways of manifesting itself in the psychology of white individuals. Racism is something every white person faces, because our environment inherently works for us. It makes sure that we are safe; instead of fearing us and therefore endangering us. Racism and Slavery gave white men with power the ability to control and manipulate the ways in which voting and many other forms of freedom were withheld. Black Communities have faced the most extreme of attacks in our nation's history. It's our job as people today to combat our learned racism and other social systems, so that people can be in this place of freedom with the feeling of actually feeling safe, protected, and free to do so as they please (within reason).
"Race" based discrimination that has resulted in the enslavement of Africans, hatred of people of color, and disabling of these communities to keep them in poverty. Racism is seen in institutions through their policies surrounding dress code, conduct codes, and lower wages. It's important to remember that race is not National Origin or Ethnicity, it is only the perception of one's skin tone.
People of Color in America gained Equal Civil Rights in 1965
Ability based discrimination that has resulted in the many eugenic-adjacent medical treatments for disabled individuals, lack, and disabling of these communities to keep them in poverty. Ableism is seen in institutions through their inaccessibility to services needed to conduct oneself, lack of respect for disabilities, and lower wages.
People designed disabled by the government in America gained Equal Civil Rights 1990.
People with disabilities do not have full autonomy or civil rights in America.
Homophobia refers to the prejudice against homosexual or queer individuals. It has grown in popularity recently due to it's use at a political tool in many areas. During the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the 80s the government believed that there was no reason to step in a help the community effected until heterosexual people were seen enough with the virus. Over several hundred years homosexuals and trans people have lived in fear, committed suicide, or been murdered due to their identity conflicting with the public view.
Sexism is a societal belief that women are inferior and it presents itself in everyday life, which creates dangerous outcomes for women all over the world everyday. Many women had to get their husband's permission to do anything they wanted to do, especially work. The workforce didn't fully accept women until 1945, and women weren't allowed to stay in all of their positions early on. By the 1970s people started accepting more women into more industries, but still no manual labor. In 1974, women were finally granted the right to have their own credit cards in their own names, even if they were not married. Women added several million dollars to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) that went, (and goes) unpaid & unseen in: housework, manual labor, childbarring, child raising, and sex (Etc.).
Xenophobia is when someone has a hatred or discriminated based on someone's identity being foreign to them or someone being from a physically foreign place. We see a lot of xenophobic discrimination in the form of anti-immigrant discrimination.
Classism is a social system that groups people based on their income and accessibility to certain things based on that income. Classism works in part with the other social systems to cause someone even more oppression.
Islamophobia is religious discrimination specifically done to people who are of Islamic faith. The Islamic religion is one of the three Abrahamic Religions (Christianity and Judaism). Often between these three religions we see a lot of influence from the Christianity-Related religious groups, to cause harm to the other two religious sectors. We see this in the form of discrimination against people who practice Islam, or represent Islam to the people causing the discrimination.
In some countries there is discrimination based on someone's national origin, typically due to history in that area. When it comes to ethnicity and national origin it's important that we separate the two, because for many these are different. National Origin is where you were born, which is often different than the parents ethnic-national origin.
Anti-Semitism is religious discrimination specifically done to people who are of Jewish faith and Jewish heritage. The Jewish religion is one of the three Abrahamic Religions (Christianity and Islam). Often between these three religions we see a lot of influence from the Christianity-Related religious groups, to cause harm to the other two religious sectors. We've seen this in our past as an active discrimination again Jewish people (both of religion and ethnicity); most notably the Holocaust can be cited as the biggest hate crime and ethnic cleansing against the Jewish people.
Religious Freedom is a foundational element and right to how the United States of America was founded. We often use it to refer to the access people have to practicing their own beliefs, in our county. While very few countries still do, some countries have religious beliefs that they expect their citizens to uphold.
In the USA, the access and safety surrounding freedom of religion isn’t always enshrined and people are often persecuted by the public for religious beliefs other than the forms of Christianity. Only in the recent years, has the America justice system taken hate crimes related to religious motives seriously.
In history, there have been many religious and ethic based injustices, so it important that we take our religious freedom seriously and hold our government accountable in upholding our religious rights.
Ethnicity refers to the geographic ancestry of our physical bodies (typically studied through genealogy) and the possible familial ties and cultural influence that it may have in our lives.
Nationality is social construct refers to the designated or "recognized" place the someone is from or originates from. This can be in reference to where someone's home currently resides, and to what nation, or the nation that a person has immigrated from.
We often see immigration status brought up in many debates across the political world, and throughout time has been a large piece of the world's function. People immigrate and emigrate and move around to have more access and bridging gaps between the nations through out the world. No matter why a person has had to immigrate, regardless of their status, all people are still deserving of a safe and caring community.
In our current day, the status of immigration for many Americans and Foreigners will always pose an imminent threat, when our country has policies to hurt, in-prison, and deport people even when they are seeking asylum.
In America, we have discrimination around immigration that goes the step further of calling people criminals, terrorists, rapists, and predators. It is important that we recognize how we have weaponized our views of people with immigration statuses we don't properly understand.
Precarious:
“Precarity (also precariousness) is a precarious existence, lacking in predictability, job security, material or psychological welfare. The social class defined by this condition has been termed the precariat.”
Precarity is a good gauge to use when looking at visible and non-visible identities, because we are gauging the level of danger for a given identity based on different situations. While some people may carry identity privileges, it does not take away from their precarious identities, or the impact they may have in someone’s day-to-day life. When discussing identities and power struggles, utilizing the lens of precarity can help us to navigate complex intersectional scenarios.
Equity as a concept differentiates from equality in that it is a way for us to view the necessity of not having equal support for each person, but rather finding the way for everyone to have equal access to the support they may need to meet their basic human needs and have access to the spaces and resources necessary for human spiritual health. A goal of equity is to acknowledge how the trades that we make of our energy for a common goal, may not always look equal, but have similar weight to each person and their ability to contribute. Equity is a large piece to understanding the best ways we can create more accessible spaces, as well as essential to addressing various kinds of power imbalances relating to hierarchies of race, class, citizenship, sexuality, assigned gender status, ability, and more.
In the modern era, hate crimes remain a serious issue globally. While civil rights advances have provided legal protections, incidents of hate-fueled violence persist. Modern hate crimes can range from vandalism of religious sites to violent attacks on individuals, such as the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting targeting LGBTQ+ individuals or anti-Asian violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The internet has also created new avenues for hate crimes, including cyber harassment and the efficient spread of extremist propaganda on new platforms.
Governments and international bodies have responded by enacting hate crime legislation, aiming to impose stricter penalties when bias is proven to be a motivating factor. However, enforcement and definitions vary widely by country. Tracking and reporting remain challenges, often due to underreporting or lack of legal frameworks.
Protest: A form of actions& behaviors that suggest/tell a group of individuals how they could be doing things differently-typically for the betterment of access, equity, equality, autonomy rights and/or treatment in facilities of work.
When this is done in peaceful, non-violent forms of action, we consider it to be a peaceful protest. Many philosophers have aruged back and forth as to the necessity of peacefulness in protest. For our involvement in activism -and our influence on you to do so- we are strictly discussing or influencing for peaceful, legal, protest.
The danger of police involvement with People of Color can never be quantified because we have seen some of the most atrocious racial hate crimes committed by police officers. This means that any time a person of color is involved with or speaking to a cop, there is an overwhelming fear for their life and the ability for them to get home safe that night. There has been a steady trend of people of color being targeted and seeked out by our police system. This means that if you are a white person, you should be taking all precautions when contacting the police to be involved in a situation with a Person of Color. If you are required to in an emergency circumstance of course thats fine. However, when white individuals threaten to call police officers, you are directly threatening the life of that person. Often times the police will even shoot before confirming if a Person of Color is armed (which should be illegal); this means that once you have contacted the police, you have no way of protecting that person from harm. Please take into consideration whenever you are calling the police on anyone, the police officers can be rough or harmful to anyone. Recognizing the fear that People of Color face when trying to interaction peacefully or casually with police officers, is recognizing one of the systems and institutions we have created to uphold that social system. If you know the police will be present and looking around, and you invite a Person of Color, please be curtious enough to let them know about the police presence. This has nothing to do with any involvement in illegal activities, but to point out how we can be socially aware of what others may face socially and being poite in recognition.
LGBTQIA2S+ and the history of violence with the police system have a long history as well. While the threat has seemed less threatening in recent pasts, the increase of anti-LGBTQIA2S+ legistlation has made it very unsafe for people who are within the queer community, when dealing with law enforcement. Further, its important that we remember the ways in which homophobia from other societal community member has caused atrocities in the LGBTQIA2S+ communities. We have to make sure that we are always cautious for the ways that police interact with certain identities as a long history of bias has existed agains the Queer community. There may be members of the Queer community who are not as effected by this fear of law enforcement; however, we must remain aware that the LGBTQIA2S+ community houses lots of other minorities within it. These other identities held by LGBTQIA2S+ individuals also posed a threat to their wellbeing when being around possibly hostile or biased law enforcement.
If you would like to help us write about commonly silenced areas or personal experiences you may have with these topics, contact us at thisisactivism2023@gmail.com or fill out our Comments page. We want our website to be a continuous growth of knowledge to share with each other in a positive way. There are so many things we don't talk about and we should!