Privilege, Oppression, and Being ‘Nice’
Imagine you’re standing there, minding your own business, and all of a sudden someone steps on your foot. You don’t know if they’re doing it on accident or on purpose-all you know is, it hurts.
So, you tell the person standing on your foot, “Oww! Get off my foot!”
The person standing on your foot responds by stomping down even harder, saying, “I didn’t mean to stand on your foot. Why do you have to yell at me?” As they dig their heel further into your foot, they say, “I’d stop, but you were being so snarky about the fact that I’m standing on your foot that you’re pushing me to keep doing it.”
Eventually, you have had enough, and so you forcefully shove that person off your foot. “Why’d you do that?” you ask. They respond, “Well, you shoved me! You can’t complain because you’re just as bad!”
If this sounds like a ridiculous scenario, that’s because it is. But it happens to oppressed groups all the time.