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Recently all I& #39;ve noticed on this app is people from the oppressed gate-keeping for the oppressors. It consistently reminds me of a parallel from Malcolm X& #39;s speech.
Note: This would be a long thread, I& #39;d say some 30-40 tweets. And I am not as eloquent as the rest are!
Note: This would be a long thread, I& #39;d say some 30-40 tweets. And I am not as eloquent as the rest are!
Every other day some random person crops up, either says that we aren& #39;t oppressed or offers a ridiculous way of protesting, denigrating every other person fighting the good fight and enjoying cheers from the oppressors.
So I felt that I should just put up Malcolm& #39;s speech and draw the parallel than keep on saying that his speech fits perfectly here.
On 23 January 1963, Malcolm gave a speech in Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. This is what it was.
On 23 January 1963, Malcolm gave a speech in Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. This is what it was.
To ensure the this doesn& #39;t trigger some algorithms in Twitter and elsewhere I& #39;ll use substitute words in some places while retaining the speech.
"You have broadly two types of oppressed. You have the oppressed who live in the house and the oppressed who live in the field.
"You have broadly two types of oppressed. You have the oppressed who live in the house and the oppressed who live in the field.
The one in the house usually lived close to their master. They dressed like their master. They wore their master& #39;s second-hand clothes. They ate food that their master left on the table.
And they lived in his master& #39;s house - probably in the basement or the attic; but they still lived in the master& #39;s house.
So whenever this one identified themselves, they always identified themselves in the same sense that their master identified themselves.
So whenever this one identified themselves, they always identified themselves in the same sense that their master identified themselves.
When their master said, "We have good food," this one would say, "Yes, we have plenty of good food." "We" have plenty of good food. When the master said that "we have a fine home here," this one said, "Yes, we have a fine home here."
When the master would be sick, this one identified themselves so much with their master they& #39;d say, "What& #39;s the matter boss, we sick?" Their master& #39;s pain was their pain. And it hurt them more for their master to be sick than for them to be sick themselves.
When the house started burning down, this type would fight harder to put the master& #39;s house out than the master themselves would.
But then you had another oppressed out in the field. The oppressed who lived in the house were in the minority.
But then you had another oppressed out in the field. The oppressed who lived in the house were in the minority.
The masses, the oppressed in the field were the masses. They were in the majority. When the master got sick, they prayed that he& #39;d die. If master& #39;s house caught on fire, they& #39;d pray for a wind to come along and fan the breeze.
If someone came to the oppressed who lived in the house and said, "Let& #39;s go, let& #39;s separate," naturally that oppressed would say, "Go where? What could I do without boss? Where would I live? How would I dress?
Who would look out for me?" That& #39;s the oppressed who lives in the house. But if you went to the one in the field and said, "Let& #39;s go, let& #39;s separate," they wouldn& #39;t even ask you where or how. They& #39;d say, "Yes, let& #39;s go."
The problem is that both are oppressed, the magnitude of oppression may be different, your oppressors might oppress you in different areas, in some cases you wouldn& #39;t even know that you& #39;re oppressed and in very few cases you genuinely might not be oppressed at all.
But the system around your little fort is still oppressive.
To those that are genuinely not oppressed, I am incredibly happy for you that everything has worked out fine.
To those that are genuinely not oppressed, I am incredibly happy for you that everything has worked out fine.
You can stay out of this conversation because you are minority of the minority and your lived-experience cannot even try to negate the lived-experience of the majority who are oppressed.
You have no say in this, you can rant in the name of freedom of speech, but all you are doing is saying 1 person out of a several thousands has a good life so the rest must give up fighting and that feminism is achieved. That is how ridiculous you are.
Now coming to the other two types, oppressed in the house and oppressed in the field.
The oppressed who lives in the house, your oppressor has created a very good environment where it is easy to mask the oppression as being the norm.
The oppressed who lives in the house, your oppressor has created a very good environment where it is easy to mask the oppression as being the norm.
Things like what you should do, what you should wear, what you should eat, how you should behave, what you should talk, who you should talk to, all under the garb of protecting you. Because "it& #39;s good for you".
There is a massive difference between advising someone and controlling someone. Oppression is when the controlling happens. Just sit-down and think, when was the last time you have heard "it is for your own good" as the reason for why you "should" do something?
That is how its normalized and that is how misogyny is internalized. Using your imaginary utopian lived-experience to discard the lived-experiences of the oppressed is the most stupidest thing you could do.
Because for the start, you don& #39;t know that you are oppressed or you deliberately choose not to see the truth that you are oppressed. You fear seeing your oppressor as the bad person, because they are all you have and "everything is good".
And secondly, you are asking the rest to accept oppression without considering the magnitude to which they might be oppressed. Your argument basically boils down to "I am ok with it, you should be too".
They aren& #39;t out there fighting to take away your idea of utopia, they aren& #39;t there to take your dad, husband, boyfriend, brother, cousin away.
Their protest statements do not even apply to your people, unless of course they are an oppressive bunch, which in your case they aren& #39;t, right?
No one is breaking into your houses to take away your oppressors by this activism.
No one is breaking into your houses to take away your oppressors by this activism.
If you like it, you can stay in it. All you are doing inherently by jumping into these conversations is that you are proving your loyalty to your oppressors so you little "gifts" don& #39;t get taken away.
If that isn& #39;t fear of self-preservation showing, I don& #39;t know what else it is.
Stop standing up for the oppressors just because the one with you doesn& #39;t oppress you enough to feel that way. Good that no one has a foot on your neck, or at least you aren& #39;t suffocating yet.
Stop standing up for the oppressors just because the one with you doesn& #39;t oppress you enough to feel that way. Good that no one has a foot on your neck, or at least you aren& #39;t suffocating yet.
But you don& #39;t know about the majority& #39;s state so sit down. There are others out on the field who suffer beyond what words could express.
The people who fight to educate the masses are trying to change the system so that it will help & #39;everyone& #39;.
The people who fight to educate the masses are trying to change the system so that it will help & #39;everyone& #39;.
As much as you& #39;d not like it, it includes making things easier for you. But most importantly for future generations. I& #39;d even go to the extent to say they are not doing this for selfish reasons. Such fights don& #39;t end overnight and bear fruit the next day.
These are seeds being planted for the betterment of humankind.
And you are here with your little toys that "you were given", throwing a tantrum about how equality has already been achieved and that there is no systematic oppression anywhere because you have your little fort.
And you are here with your little toys that "you were given", throwing a tantrum about how equality has already been achieved and that there is no systematic oppression anywhere because you have your little fort.
Every time you stand against these people who are trying to fight for a good cause, you are siding with the most heinous of oppressors, every single one of them.
Your good lived-experience is a great gift for you and I am happy for you.
Your good lived-experience is a great gift for you and I am happy for you.
But what you do not recognize is that you are in the minority. So you need to learn when to zip up and let the majority who see the system, who feel the wrath of oppression speak.
The majority who are oppressed already have to go through hell and back to spit out their stories. Being in your little fort it is very easy for you to sling mud all over their lived-experience. It is very short-sighted and insensitive.
If you can& #39;t stand for the movement, the least you could do is not stand in the way. Those that cheer you on when you stand in their way are actually oppressors or are wanna-be oppressors.
Just because the oppressor has a very good strategy to subtly oppress you doesn& #39;t mean that oppression isn& #39;t there. Also, just because you feel "some" oppression is ok doesn& #39;t mean rest should follow you like you follow your oppressor.
Don& #39;t try to invalidate oppressed with your lived-experiences. If someone accuses your oppressor, of course go on that and cry your heart out about how they aren& #39;t one of the oppressors.
Stop taking protest statement personally, creating a straw-man out of it and defeating it to get cheers from your oppressors. Your oppressor is the ringleader, the rest of the oppressors are the audience.
You& #39;ll not find any oppressed circus animals applauding you, just the audience. And the best part of it is that they aren& #39;t even applauding you for your tricks, but they are applauding how well the ringleader has done their job.
If you are still proud of yourself, you should continue to be. No one can make you see the reality. After all, not forcing you to do things is what the oppressed are fighting for. Forcing you to dance to their tunes is what the oppressors are all about.
Your oppressor loves you, cares for you and will give you gifts as long as you worked as per their expectations. The minute you stray away from "duties", it is "you" and not "we".
Same as the master& #39;s love from Malcolm& #39;s speech.
Same as the master& #39;s love from Malcolm& #39;s speech.
And yeah, ignore any typos or grammatical mistakes, didn& #39;t really have time to go through it twice.
Original speech by Malcom X:
https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/mxp/speeches/mxt17.html">https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/...
https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/mxp/speeches/mxt17.html">https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/...
