Differences
must be understood, overcome
Danielle
Sawyer
Rhythms
for Womyn
To
discuss the oppression that revolves around
social class is similar to discussing the
oppression that revolves around race. In
the latter, one is "invisible"
in white society if one is not rich, or
of the middle class and of white descent,
unless visibility only through one's oppression
counts as an identity. But one of the major
differences between race and class is that
one is born to a color, something uncontrolled,
yet with social class or poverty, the vast
majority of people in society believe it
to be a "voluntary condition."
Regardless, class, gender, sexual preference,
and prejudice -- racial, ethnic, and religious
-- form an intricate lattice that restricts
and shapes individuals lives. All are interlinked
indefinitely and complicate one's claim
to an identity.
The
myths and hatred that are combined with
these structures become internalized not
only within the oppressor but within the
oppressed as well. One is constantly living
a life according to someone else's rules,
with no chance of getting out, unless one
can resist that omnipresent fear, that urge
to hide and disappear, to disguise one's
life, one's desires, and the truth about
how little any of us truly understand it's
power. We all need to start to excavate
the categories, constraints and fears of
class, race, sexuality and gender from the
inside first, in order to then move on and
out towards working together to defeat our
fears and move into a state of equality.
So
how do we work together knowing the overwhelming
power of fear and its existence within all
of us? How to we work together within such
diverse groups, along side people we are
taught to fear and hate?
First,
we must acknowledge the critical differences
among people as well as learn to use these
differences as a starting point for coalition
building. Second, we need to then find the
commonality in our political goals rather
than within personal identities in order
to succeed. This shift from identity politics
to the identification of political goals
gives us space for differing expressions.
And last but most important, to quote Papusa
Molina, "coalitions are necessary as
long as we keep in mind that they are temporary,
formed with specific goals in mind, and
that they need to be disbanded as soon as
the objective is achieved."
I
am aware that we are all living in reality
and that no one wants to be "stuck"
pretending to be something that we are not.
You and I are close, we intertwine, yet
only for a moment. For you are what you
are and I am who I am. We are different
yet the same, at least for an instant.
Danielle
Sawyer is a women's studies major at Cal
State Long Beach.
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