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The thread below is one that I wrote to explain how systemic oppression can arise innocently.
What does it look like though if that oppression doesn't arise accidentally?
Let's revisit the North Side/South Side kids. https://twitter.com/absurdistwords/status/1010966167836610561
What does it look like though if that oppression doesn't arise accidentally?
Let's revisit the North Side/South Side kids. https://twitter.com/absurdistwords/status/1010966167836610561
Now we know that the North Side kids and the South Side kids share a school that is located on the South Side.
But we never explained WHY the North Side kids have to go to school so far away
We presumed it was random.
But we never explained WHY the North Side kids have to go to school so far away
We presumed it was random.
So one day, a North Side kid, feeling frustrated about having to get up at 5:30 am for school when South Side kids get to wake up as late as 7:30, proposes a research project to his teacher for school.
He's gonna find out why there's no North Side School
He's gonna find out why there's no North Side School
He goes to the library, does some research and discovers that many years ago, there WAS a North Side school.
But back then North and South Siders had a rivalry.
He didn't know what it was about, but the hatred was fierce.
But back then North and South Siders had a rivalry.
He didn't know what it was about, but the hatred was fierce.
He finds an article that talks about how when South Siders got overwhelmingly elected to the city's Council, they voted to defund and shut down the North Side school to be petty.
North Siders were furious and petitioned and protested, but to no avail.
Their school closed.
North Siders were furious and petitioned and protested, but to no avail.
Their school closed.
Now the North Side kid is livid.
The whole time he has been in school, he has had to put in more effort under less forgiving circumstances than South Side kids just to keep up.
He's lost sleep, time with friends, four hours of his day is commuting.
And WHY?
The whole time he has been in school, he has had to put in more effort under less forgiving circumstances than South Side kids just to keep up.
He's lost sleep, time with friends, four hours of his day is commuting.
And WHY?
All this time, he has consoled himself with the notion that it was just bad luck that he lived so far away.
But now he understands that this was never necessary and the only reason he endures this is because South Side parents created an artificial crisis for him.
But now he understands that this was never necessary and the only reason he endures this is because South Side parents created an artificial crisis for him.
He had always been willing to play the hand that life dealt him, he was willing to take responsibility for his circumstances and forge through as best he could, but looking deeper allowed him to discover that the cards were dealt from the bottom.
Digging further, he finds that up until a year before he was born, the Council had a law on the books that prevented North Side residents from moving to South side
North Side families wanted to move South once their school closed.
But South Side families weren't having it.
North Side families wanted to move South once their school closed.
But South Side families weren't having it.
As a result, North Side families who had the resources moved as far south as they could without actually crossing into South Side.
This wreaked havoc on many North Side communities as suddenly their streets were emptying and stores were closing and moving Southward
This wreaked havoc on many North Side communities as suddenly their streets were emptying and stores were closing and moving Southward
So in addition to having a longer commute than South Side kids, many of the North Side kids had to deal with the depletion of resources, activities and opportunities to socialize in their communities.
They also now have to travel farther to get to basic stores.
They also now have to travel farther to get to basic stores.
Because all the commerce moved southward, that means that a lot of the jobs did too.
Which mean that North Side parents now had longer commutes too.
They also had less time and energy to spend with their kids and help them with homework and take them out.
Which mean that North Side parents now had longer commutes too.
They also had less time and energy to spend with their kids and help them with homework and take them out.
Digging even deeper, it turns out that there was a plan to provide free bus transportation to all North Side students, but it was scrapped when South Side parents demanded that an equal number of buses be used to shuttle their children who were all within walking distance.
This over the years had become a running theme.
North Side parents would come up with proposals to ease the burdens on them and their children and the South Side parents would blow up the budget by demanding the same resources be allocated to them though they didn't need them.
North Side parents would come up with proposals to ease the burdens on them and their children and the South Side parents would blow up the budget by demanding the same resources be allocated to them though they didn't need them.
It was the South Side parents' position that any help offered to offset the closing of the North Side school was in fact an unfair advantage over South Side kids.
North Side families continued for years to suffer under the artificial burdens imposed on them by South Side families.
But this didn't stop South Side from mocking North Side parents for always wanting special treatment and their kids needing different rules to apply to them.
But this didn't stop South Side from mocking North Side parents for always wanting special treatment and their kids needing different rules to apply to them.
For years, South Side parents had told their kids
"Don't be like North Siders. They choose to live in run down communities and they don't care about their kids like we care about you. They don't even care enough to have their own schools so they have to use yours"
"Don't be like North Siders. They choose to live in run down communities and they don't care about their kids like we care about you. They don't even care enough to have their own schools so they have to use yours"
With a mixture of anger and apprehension and excitement, he presents his research to the class.
He expects that everyone will be shocked and dismayed.
He is wrong.
The North Side kids are aghast.
The South Side kids just call him a liar.
He expects that everyone will be shocked and dismayed.
He is wrong.
The North Side kids are aghast.
The South Side kids just call him a liar.
He shows them the articles.
He shows them the statutes.
He shows them the data.
And still they call him a liar.
"You're just making excuses for why North Side kids aren't as good as us. Get over it. You just aren't."
He shows them the statutes.
He shows them the data.
And still they call him a liar.
"You're just making excuses for why North Side kids aren't as good as us. Get over it. You just aren't."
Dejected, he goes back to his seat to wait for 3 pm.
So he can get home at 5pm. Maybe get some homework in before dinner he makes for himself. Says hi to his mom when she gets home from work.
Then bed.
Cause he has to be up at 5:30am to do it again.
So he can get home at 5pm. Maybe get some homework in before dinner he makes for himself. Says hi to his mom when she gets home from work.
Then bed.
Cause he has to be up at 5:30am to do it again.
