Examples Of Internalized Oppression

Landon Davis
Prof. Becca Klaver
WRIT 120A
11 March 2023
Internalized Oppression, Hierarchies, and the Cycle of Discrimination
So often we only focus on the direct line of oppression from groups in power, but it is a cycle that continues through the oppressed themselves. Internalized oppression within marginalized individuals creates hierarchies within marginalized groups. This internalized oppression, which can be expressed through racism, homophobia, sexism, etc, can be buried deep within a person and it is difficult to recognize. It’s all about power, and because there are so many power structures within oppression that those discriminated against are at the bottom of, many will try to find power in the spaces they can. Furthermore, many

In Cherríe Moraga’s essay “La Güera” in reference to Moraga’s mother, she writes: “She often called other lower-income Mexicans “braceros,” or “wetbacks,” referring to herself and her family as “a different class of people.” And yet, the real story was that my family, too, had been poor (some still are) and farmworkers” (23). This is one example of internalized racism and creating a hierarchy within an already oppressed group even if you are a part of said group. This is also an example of how oppression can seep and corrupt the oppressed and continue to live and breathe within them. Likewise, in the Poem entitled “We’re All in the Same Boat” by Rosario Morales, she states: “O we are all racist / we are all sexist / some of us only some of us are the targets of racism of sexism of homophobia of class denigration but we all / all breathe in racism with the dust in the streets with the words we read” (88). Internalized racism, as pointed to in this passage, is within everyone. These two quotes complement each other perfectly because one builds off the other by adding broader context. Moraga quotes a specific aspect of her mother and subtly hints that her mother is one and the same as those she is hounding. Furthermore, in Morales's quote, she dives specifically into what Moraga’s mother is showing, saying “O we are all racist” in reference to Moraga’s mother’s internalized racism towards other Mexicans.

Near the beginning of the essay, Moraga quotes “No one ever quite told me this (that light was right), but I knew that being light was something valued in my family” (23). Moraga’s family observes how white privilege operates, and even though Moraga is still of Mexican descent, her family almost tries to erase her lineage. It is later stated by Moraga while talking about her mother: “for to her, on a basic economic level, being Chicana meant being “less.” It was through my mother’s desire to protect her children” (23). It’s demonstrated in this quote that internalized racism and oppression may also come out of a good place; a practical place. In the midst of discrimination, trying to pass as white or appear more anglicized may be the difference between prosperity and hardship. Furthermore, it is sociologically proven that when one is part of an environment for long enough, one starts to bend to that environment, and this can be applied to Moraga’s family. There are other motivations to want to pass closer to the status quo, and while it may be a need for superiority in comparison to other people of color, it may also be an effort to hide one’s color completely. A little over halfway through “We’re All in the Same Boat” Moraga quotes: I carry a shell / a white and crisp voiced shell to hide my brown golden soft Spanish voiced inner self / to pass / to hide my puertoricanness” (88). Morales isn’t