This week on Common Hour we discussed diversity, social identities, and social justice. All of these topics were extremely important to me because I had never had to address them before (racism, homophobia, and sexism are widespread and completely acceptable in my home). I've really enjoyed analyzing myself and the community, so here are my thoughts on issues of oppression and privilege and their relationship to my own social identities. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay To begin, let’s define what exactly oppression is. Oppression is systemic discrimination and social prejudice against a disadvantaged group and has no reason other than hatred of a particular quality of the group, such as race or sexual orientation. The only one of my social identities that experiences any form of oppression is my sexual orientation. Since I'm bisexual, people tend to think I must be promiscuous or "one foot out of the closet" or just indecisive. Not to mention the homophobia – half of my loved ones still refuse to talk to me. Negative stereotypes are annoying and can even hinder you from contributing to the LGBTQ community, since many people still don't view bisexuals as "valid" enough. I never really thought that this was considered oppression, but now that I understand what that term actually means, I understand and can fight against it. Educating people is the first step. Here on campus, it's really refreshing that the only reaction to admitting I'm bi is "oh, that's cool." People are very open-minded and it's easy to discuss issues of oppression and privilege with them. The second social identity that was important to me and related to privilege is my race. I'm as white as can be, just like 99.9% of the people I come from, which means I've never been exposed to the idea of ​​white privilege. It's terrifying to think that someone can still be oppressed because of the color of their skin. However, Caucasians are certainly privileged in today's society. This means they don't have to worry about things like racial profiling, representation, or discrimination based on their race. A personal anecdote about racial profiling: When I arrived in the United States, I met a friendly Turkish girl while waiting to go through customs. We started talking and I joked about being randomly selected for a second screening. She then casually mentions being randomly selected all 3 times she flew. I go through customs, everything goes smoothly, I wait for her to go through the formalities and, of course, she is “selected at random”. Although I'm not sure you can prove it's because of his race, that seems like the most likely explanation. I've never had to deal with stuff like that, I'm accepted everywhere, I don't get asked any questions and I seem trustworthy just because I'm white. If that's not a privilege, I don't know what is. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay After learning about oppression and privilege, I feel like I understand them better and can identify them. I can raise awareness, start talking to people and educate them about these issues that we're still facing. In short, a very stimulating and very serious subject.