“The Four I’s of Oppression” by Luna Malbroux, highlights the idea that oppression, in many forms, is “our normal” in society. It is so embedded within our lives, that we don’t even recognize it when it occurs. Malbroux goes on to give examples of how we are affected by systems of oppression before we are even born and that we all have experiences of being treated differently simply for being who we are.
I am a white, middle-class woman who has lived much of her life unaware and seemingly unaffected by the intricate layers of oppression within our society. (a perfect example of privilege, for sure). As a young adult, I learned to recognize and understand the most obvious forms of racism, sexism, discrimination of minority groups, and the implications and effects of poverty and socioeconomic status on individuals, but until recently, I was unaware of how little I knew about such a vast, complicated subject. It was when Malbroux began speaking of internalized oppression and “how we feel the ideology before we can name it,” did I began to understand that it wasn’t so much being unaware of the oppression, as it was lacking the knowledge to name it. After hearing her say that, I began thinking of all the ways that I see and feel it around me.
As a school nurse, I’ve had to change many of the ways I ask questions and speak with students and their families. What seem like simple questions “ Why are you so tired?” “Did you eat breakfast?” “Who can I call?” “Why haven’t your parents taken you to the doctor yet?” Necessary questions, that often lead to answers that exemplify the systemic oppression in society. A recent answer to the question “Why are you so tired?” included a student telling me “Because I was cold, we don’t have heat at home”. When I asked “Who can I call?” for a student who was ill, he told me “No one. My mom doesn’t get paid if she leaves work and we already don’t have any money.” These conversations with students are difficult, but welcome opportunities to examine my words and actions.
