The Battle to Obtain Egalitarianism
Throughout history, individuals have
faced immense challenges brought upon by the demand for one's
freedom. Many forms of oppression have circulated in societies
within the categories of gender, social status, race, and more. For
example, Martin Luther King is visibly one of the most influential
speakers for equal rights in American History. King once stated,
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be
demanded by the oppressed.” The Emancipation Proclamation was
issued, yet why were African Americans still facing torment for the
color of their skin? These citizens were technically free, although
one is able to put social norms to blame for comparing skin color to
how accepted you are in society. King would accept nothing less for
than to obtain egalitarianism distributed among man. Regardless of
color, he believed in this concept of fighting for human equality.
This social philosophy of egalitarianism is a belief utilized by not
only famous members of history, but the lives of every day people
as-well. For example, Julia Alvarez demonstrates her struggles faced
within the marginalization brought upon her within the short story
she wrote named “A White Woman of Color”.
Julia Alvarez and her family have
faced harsh treatment and severe limitations due to color of their
skin. Being Dominican at this time, is was frowned upon to be too
dark of skin color. Many themes in her story are demonstrated such as
the marginalization present. Alvarez states, “People of color were
treated as if they were inferior, prone to violence, uneducated,
untrustworthy, lazy-all the “bad” adjectives we were leaning in
our new language” (6). The intersectionality was most certainly an
outer conflict due the cruelty by their oppressors in public
institutions. Although, one may infer how it may have affected them
as an inner conflict as-well by being tightly held on a leash by the
one-sided expectations of society. Not being able to speak your mind,
express yourself, and communicate with others freely can lead one to
think how this can lead to negative outcomes in life. Specifically
by having anger, lack of productiveness, and depression. “Even so,
at the local school, we endured the bullying of classmates. “Go
back to where you came from!” They yelled at my sisters and me on
the playground. When some of them starting throwing stones, my mother
made up her mind we were not safe...” (Alvarez 6). The
disenfranchisement illustrated brings out the issue of culture color
-and how one deals with the prevention of succeeding due to a factor
they are physically unable to change. The exclusion faced may
victimize an individual while placing them on an imaginary hierarchy
that limits how good their quality of life may be. This may be seen
within groups and institutions such as religion, government, family
and education.
“The Purge” is a fictional film.
Despite this fact, the characteristics it withholds can be compared
to the many forms of oppression present in society. The law states in
the movie, “Commencing at the siren, any and all crime, including
murder, will be legal for 12 continuous hours” (Odyssey, 1). With
all crime being legal, only people of wealth and high social status
are expected to survive due to sufficient funds for weapons. The
purpose of this is for population control and to kill off what is
considered to be the worthless and poor people in society.
Marginalization and disenfranchisement are present by citizens
gathering in groups to collect individuals to torture and kill them
because they are “lesser” than they are with no remorse. The
innocent are being discriminated for being poor. In return, violence
and imperialism brought upon by the wealth is the result. Although
this is a fictional story, coming across the movie led to the
brainstorming of how these acts of violence could very well be a
possibility when comparing it to the horrific events within the
dictators in our past such as Trujillo and Hitler.
Works Cited:
“Announcing
The Commencement Of The Annual Purge.” The
Odyssey Online,
1 Nov. 2017.
Alvarez,
Julia. A White Woman of Color. Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004.
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