document updated 12 years ago, on Jan 17, 2012
This is an important lesson to learn — people can be BOTH oppressed and oppressor.
People have a mistaken belief that, once they've been hurt, their experience gives them special insight that innoculates them from hurting others. There are many examples that show this is not the case.
The fact is, privelege blinds us. Those who are privileged are never confronted about the fact they're privileged, while those who don't have a given privilege are constantly confronted with the fact that there's a difference in outcomes for them, based on skin color, gender, sexual preference, etc.
Groups
- Black feminists were an offshoot of both the feminist movement and the civil rights movement of the 1960's. White women didn't realize that, despite being intimately aware of prejudice against women, that they were capable of doing injustice to their black peers. And black men didn't realize that, despite being intimately aware of prejudice against black people, that they were capable of doing injustice against their female peers.
- Lesbian feminists, who fought against homophobia within the feminist movement.
Countries
Countries are an interesting case, because they exist long enough for history to repeat itself, but this time, with the perpetrators doing the EXACT SAME THING that they were initially victims of.