Lauren Park

In the first chapter of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, the
system of oppression is shown to be a system in which the oppressor
and oppressed are both chained within the forces of oppression. Freire
also states that the solution of oppression cannot be that the
oppressed simply take over the roles of the oppressor in their search
for humanity. Ironically, he argues that since the oppressed have only
seen the world in a system of oppression, they will naturally fall
victim to this vicious cycle of oppression, only this time they have
turned into what they were trying to overcome. While reading this, I
couldn’t help but feel remember the death of Saddam Hussein, and how
it affected the people of America. I admit that I am not an expert on
the politics or the details of much of the worldly news that goes on
today (which I hope to rectify soon), but I still felt shock over the
reaction of so many people of Saddam Hussein’s death. I felt that
although many people agree that many of Saddam Hussein’s actions were
those of an oppressor, doesn’t justify the fact that they could
celebrate his death. In fact, it seemed as if the situation was
flipped, and the oppressed have now turned to the hatred that was the
downfall of the oppressors. It makes me feel that although it is easy
to put into words that this reverse of roles comes naturally, the
actual action of breaking this cycle is nearly impossible due to human
nature. How many times will the roles be switched before full humanity
can be reached? I tend to view myself as a “the cup is half full” type
of person, and feel that although much of the world still falls victim
to oppression, there is progress through education and awareness. Due
to this reading, I feel that I have become faced with the fact that as
much as I would like to hide it, oppression still goes on today, and
people should be made aware of it. Hopefully, in the future, I would
be able to say that I have made a difference by stepping outside this
cycle of oppression, and taking that step in the quest for complete
equality.