My Content, Oppression and Freire, and What I'm Reading
Happy Wednesday.
I'm going to get back to more of the usual content. While it is important to speak on divisive issues, I also think there is virtue is not letting yourself be completely overcome by anxiety or fear of things you cannot change on a broad scale.
Also, I'm going to try in the coming weeks to put out some slightly longer, hopefully more polished pieces. I'll let you know in advance if the normal Wednesday/Sunday schedule is to change due to that.
Here's Some Light Content For You
One of the fun things about being me is that I am always trying to find humor in things. It's absolutely an impulse that's gotten me in trouble, but it's also been one that's made me laugh a lot over the years, so who's to say whether it's bad or not. My brain is still producing jokes, and so I'll put these odd little fragments here. Think of them like Patreon exclusive tweets (my goodness, what an awful concept).
cut my life into pieces
this is wii sports resort
wife: honey do i look fat in this dress?
husband, thomist: [sweating] Article 1. Whether or not my wife looks fat in this dress? Objection 1: it would seem that she looks fat in thi
wife: i'm taking the kids
[to the tune of bon jovi's "you give love a bad name"]
sedes from the start
clicks are your game
you give trads
a bad name
Paulo Freire and Changing Hearts
One of the strangest classes I took in college was a freshman seminar about the philosophy of teaching and knowledge. I don't remember why I signed up for it. The professor was from the philosophy department, but instead of having "flowing white-haired stoic from the mountaintop" vibes, he had more "jorts that he wrote notes to himself on, white socks with dress shoes, turtleneck and blazer" vibes. Yes, that was one outfit.
Anyway, not to judge a book by its cover, he put together one of the most interesting reading syllabi I'd ever been exposed to. From Virginia Woolf to Bell Hooks, we went through a very odd (and often not well-explained) series of books that all...sort of connected to teaching. The only one I remember reading was Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Freire was a Brazilian professor and self-proclaimed Christian socialist who wrote extensively about his teaching pedagogy, seeing students not as banks to deposit knowledge into (his metaphor) but as co-creators of knowledge. But before he establishes this pedagogy, he discusses--you guessed it--the oppressed. I found that his spin on the Marxist dialectic can be applied very easily outside of the classroom as well.
He begins by discussing dehumanization as contrary to the nature of man, that it is "a distortion of the vocation of becoming more fully human" (44, link for future references here). Makes sense. Then we deduce that when people have been dehumanized, sooner or later, they struggle against those who dehumanized them. He refers to the distinction between the two groups as the oppressed and the oppressors (44). Here's the real kicker for me--and I will allow Freire, in the parlance of our times, to go off:
In order for this struggle to have meaning, the oppressed must not, in seeking to regain their humanity (which is a way to create it), become in turn oppressors of the oppressors, but rather restorers of the humanity of both.
This, then, is the great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed: to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well. The oppressors, who oppress, exploit, and rape by virtue of their power, cannot find in this power the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves. Only power that springs from the weakness of the oppressed will be sufficiently strong to free both. [...]
True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes which nourish false charity. False charity constrains the fearful and subdued, the "rejects of life," to extend their trembling hands. True generosity lies in striving so that these hands—whether of individuals or entire peoples—need be extended less and less in supplication, so that more and more they become human hands which work and, working, transform the world.
This lesson and this apprenticeship must come, however, from the oppressed themselves and from those who are truly solidary with them. As individuals or as peoples, by fighting for the restoration of their humanity they will be attempting the restoration of true generosity. Who are better prepared than the oppressed to understand the terrible significance of an oppressive society? Who suffer the effects of oppression more than the oppressed? Who can better understand the necessity of liberation? They will not gain this liberation by chance but through the praxis of their quest for it, through their recognition of the necessity to fight for it. And this fight, because of the purpose given it by the oppressed, will actually constitute an act of love opposing the lovelessness which lies at the heart of the oppressors violence, lovelessness even when clothed in false generosity.
-Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, pgs. 44-45, emphasis mine
Every time I read this passage, I have to go back and reread it a few more times just to make sure I'm fully understanding it. The few big conlusions I pulled:
1. There exists a struggle between the oppressed and the oppressors.
2. The struggle can only be overcome through the weakness of the oppressed.
3. The struggle exists not only of the oppressed to become liberated, but for the oppressors to no longer oppress.
So what's a white man to do? I feel like there's a pretty clear outline here: use the weakness of the oppressed to liberate both those being oppressed and yourself. I'm actually pretty pleased to see a lot of the responses to the George Floyd killing (pray for the repose of his soul if you see this!) falling into one of these two categories. Let's start with the more straightforward one: liberating the oppressed.
Liberating the oppressed means sharing stories. It means hearing about the effects of oppression, it means amplifying voices who are willing to make themselves vulnerable enough to talk. It means joining them in protests, in action, in donating to causes that will do the work for us. It means doing the work ourselves! Activism, using our talents to support the cause, whatever else you can do.
Liberating ourselves--this is the one that requires the hard work. It is easy to donate to a bail fund. It is another matter entirely to change one's heart. It requires the hard and honest work of self-reflection, of acknowledging where one is and where one would like to be. Remember the oppressed, whose vulnerability allowed you to be convicted of the need for liberation? It is your turn to become vulnerable, and to be honest about your hidden prejudices and fears.
I write this as more of a personal reflection than a call-to-arms. I was raised in a well-to-do suburb, where I had run into maybe five black kids before turning 18. I would not have called myself racist, and I would have said that I was against discrimination in all forms. I also would have been on high alert in black neighborhoods, I would have ensured that I was ready to fight--just in case I was assaulted--if I was walking around at night. I would not have gone out of my way to make friends with people that were different from me. I did not even do the easy part of seeking out voices to listen to. You couldn't have called me a racist, but you could rightly tag me as an oppressor.
Reworking things you've been taught or picked up over the years can be hard, practically speaking. But Christians have a tool to do exactly this in prayer. Who better than the Divine Physician to heal us of our discomfort with justice? After all, the root of racism is sin. It is an evil that will be purged of us, in this life or the next.
A few unrelated points:
Mama mia if you can't sniff out the overtly Christian themes in Freire's work I don't know what to tell you. This reads exactly to the tune of our salvation coming through the Cross. In His weakness we are made strong!
The other thing is that this is all theory. I have to add a couple unfortunate truths to make this practical for the reality of the society that we live in--and we do, in fact, live in a society.
4. Real, widespread change in behavior can only be accomplished through the passage of laws that create disincentives against it.
5. All those in power are, you guessed it, oppressors.
I don't believe we can enact practical change through the democratic structures we have in America. By all means, I think we ought to vote on the local level, I think we ought to propose change and influence our community where we can. But playing the game of national-level politics is ultimately a fruitless one. It is a space, in my opinion, to follow along with should things change, but always remember to get back to real work. Ora et labora, as they say.
What I'm Reading
Here's what I've been working on in the past week:
-America's Game, a history of how the NFL came to be. Not only are the personalities of the original owners fascinating, but the amount of leagues that tried to compete with the NFL blew my mind. A fascinating read (I'm about 1/3 done) if you're into that sort of thing.
-Something I come back to often is "It Will Happen Again and Again", a Medium post by Elizabeth Bruenig, on grace. It's very consoling to me when I'm being dumb, which is most of the time.
-Compiling a couple pieces to think about racism in the police force more objectively, especially for arguing with "facts and logic" family members. "Seven Reasons Police Brutality Is Systemic, Not Anecdotal" from The American Conservative not only has the name branding but uses data to prove a simple point. And this Twitter thread from Samuel Sinyangwe, a data scientist, breaks down what policies do and do not help curb police violence.
Hope everyone is staying safe. There is a lot of troubling stuff happening these days, but I hope you will consider turning to Christ for comfort. Lord knows that's something I need to do more.
In Christ,
Hunter "craving donuts again" Lantzman