To the privileged equality feels like oppression

“The former oppressors do not feel liberated. On the contrary, they genuinely consider themselves to be oppressed.” (Freire, 2000*, p.57)

I have found myself thinking about this a lot lately – I think because of what is happening in the US with politics and populism. There are many quotes within the book “Pedagogy of the oppressed” that help me make sense of what is happening. The idea that resonates most with me, and was rather transformative in my thinking, is the idea that if you have privilege, then equality can feel like oppression – because to be equal is to lose privilege. And if you don’t realize you have the privilege to begin with, then you feel the loss of that privilege as a form of oppression.

I feel like I need to scream out this idea, so that people can start to understand it … and maybe by understanding it, it will help to start conversations about what is happening, rather than yelling competing rhetoric back and forth.