The Four "I"s of Oppression

The Four "I"s of Oppression is a piece done by the Training Resources for the Environmental Community or TREC. The piece talks about the four different types of oppression and how each works and where they are rooted in our society and ourselves. There was a video that went along with the reading that also does a great job of giving examples and better explaining the four “I”s. One point the author makes about institutional oppression can be seen today and the idea of “tapping on the glass” is seen as institutions are starting to stray away from. One example is the practice among many colleges of requiring a minimum college entrance. The author says “exam score from successful candidates; numerous studies have demonstrated that scores do not predict academic success and at best reflect class privilege.” We see the “tapping on the glass” as colleges are starting to see the problem in forcing students to submitted their SAT or similar test before being accepted. This is a small change in a larger institutional problem of oppression and even though a lot of colleges still do require these scores we can some progress being made in the right direction. These different forms of oppression are deep seated in the minds and institutions of today's society and many steps are going to have be taken before we are able to overcome them all. One more deep-seated problem is in the way we view even our own children before they are born and the video talks on this issue. All of the different I’s are all around everyday and the article and video do a great job of bringing these problems to light and make us as readers really think about it whether it be a group discussion or just reflecting on our own experiences.  

Here is another article talking about the four I's.