Title: 
Headings: THE FOUR "I's" OF OPPRESSION
THE
 
FOUR
 
"I's"
 
OF
 
OPPRESSION
 

Ideological
 
Oppression
 

Institutional
 
Oppression
 

Interpersonal
 
Oppression
 

Internalized
 
Oppression
 

Internalized
 
Privilege
 


Content: The
 
dominant
 
group
 
has
 
its
 
mistreatment
 
of
 
the
 
target
 
group
 
embedded
 
in
 
and
 
backed
 
up
 
by
 
society's
 
institutions
 
and
 
other
 
forms
 
of
 
power. Internalized
 
Oppression
 
The
 
fourth
 
way
 
oppression
 
works
 
is
 
within
 
the
 
groups
 
of
 
people
 
who
 
suffer
 
the
 
most
 
from
 
the
 
mistreatment. Oppressed
 
people
 
internalize
 
the
 
ideology
 
of
 
inferiority,
 
they
 
see
 
it
 
reflected
 
in
 
the
 
institutions,
 
they
 
experience
 
disrespect
 
interpersonally
 
from
 
members
 
of
 
the
 
dominant
 
group,
 
and
 
they
 
eventually
 
come
 
to
 
internalize
 
the
 
negative
 
messages
 
about
 
themselves. If
 
we
 
have
 
been
 
told
 
we
 
are
 
stupid,
 
worthless,
 
abnormal,
 
and
 
have
 
been
 
treated
 
as
 
if
 
we
 
were
 
all
 
our
 
lives,
 
then
 
it
 
is
 
not
 
surprising
 
that
 
we
 
would
 
come
 
to
 
believe
 
it. This
 
makes
 
us
 
feel
 
bad. Oppression
 
always
 
begins
 
from
 
outside
 
the
 
oppressed
 
group,
 
but
 
by
 
the
 
time
 
it
 
gets
 
internalized,
 
the
 
external
 
oppression
 
need
 
hardly
 
be
 
felt
 
for
 
the
 
damage
 
to
 
be
 
done. If
 
people
 
from
 
the
 
oppressed
 
group
 
feel
 
bad
 
about
 
themselves,
 
and
 
because
 
of
 
the
 
nature
 
of
 
the
 
system,
 
do
 
not
 
have
 
the
 
power
 
to
 
direct
 
those
 
feelings
 
back
 
toward
 
the
 
dominant
 
group
 
without
 
receiving
 
more
 
blows,
 
then
 
there
 
are
 
only
 
two
 
places
 
to
 
dump
 
those
 
feelings--on
 
oneself
 
and
 
on
 
the
 
people
 
in
 
the
 
same
 
group. Thus,
 
people
 
in
 
any
 
target
 
group
 
have
 
to
 
struggle
 
hard
 
to
 
keep
 
from
 
feeling
 
heavy
 
feelings
 
of
 
powerlessness
 
or
 
despair. They
 
often
 
tend
 
to
 
put
 
themselves
 
and
 
others
 
down,
 
in
 
ways
 
that
 
mirror
 
the
 
oppressive
 
messages
 
they
 
have
 
gotten
 
all
 
their
 
lives. Acting
 
out
 
internalized
 
oppression
 
runs
 
the
 
gamut
 
from
 
passive
 
powerlessness
 
to
 
violent
 
aggression.