The Tunnel of Oppression -- an event to raise awareness about oppression in America -- was showcased in the University of Washington's student union building (HUB). Posted on 02/08/2006 10:15:10 AM PST by Patriot62
The Tunnel of Oppression -- an event to raise awareness about oppression in America -- was showcased in the University of Washington's student union building (HUB).
Sponsored by Housing and Food Services, the project was put together by resident advisors, resident directors and other student leaders dedicated to making oppression a known issue.
"I hope it opens up people's minds to realizing that these things do exist," said senior Kelly Ronan, project chair and resident advisor (RA).
RAs were in charge of putting together the nine rooms that exhibited various types of oppression, including educational disparities and disabilities.
Many of them felt strongly about raising awareness within the community.
"I hope that people start wanting to talk about it and think about it," said RA Kali Jensen, a junior. "I think that's the most important thing, even if we don't change their opinions."
Exhibits displayed posters with comments often heard by the oppressed group.
Large signs with statements, such as "No tears for queers" and "Thank God for AIDS," were featured in the homophobia display while "Welcome to America, now speak English" was written on the wall of the linguistics oppression room.
Other exhibits incorporated multimedia presentations including the white privilege room, which played the 2005 film Crash.
"I like how they integrated media," said Laura Knudsen, a junior. "It made it more interactive."
Others expressed their hope for change through the project.
"I think everyone should walk through the Tunnel of Oppression and maybe there will be some changes in the community and around school," said freshman Erinn Unger. "Hopefully someday there won't be a need for a Tunnel of Oppression."
The project takes place at campuses across the country, but this is its fourth year at the UW.
Though the exhibit only stands for one day, those involved said the day was an important step in changing perspectives of oppression.
"Having one day to catch a glimpse of lives of those different than us is better than not understanding difference at all," said Sarah Auditore, a junior who helped with the disabilities display.
They'll tell you it's a colon demonstration.
Well, that's just stupid!
South Park ping!
When I was an RA at U of L, I had to participate in a program where we were divided into groups of four and assigned a "victim" status. I got labelled as a homo. I didn't really come out of the program feeling more tolerant, only angry that I didn't get to act as one of the cool victims, like a lesbian trapped in a man's body. That would have been fun.
They need to raise awareness about issues such as Christophobia, Leftist privilege, and conservative inequality on college campuses.
And perhaps they'll finally address the military-phobia epidemic.
Cheers,
OLA
Did you like it in the @$$?"
'Bout Time.
This 'Tunnel of Oppression' seems to be a perfect analogue of the hazing that rookie athletes endure - only it's for freshman recruits to the Party of PCness.
"I wanna go again! I wanna go again!"
Where's the "Liberalism is a Mental Disease" sign?? Clearly they've oppressed us. Who can I sue?
ping!
This would be a day I'm not on campus. I'm curious as to what kind of oppression the Tunnel features, but I guess I'll just have to continue living as an oppressed middle-aged black woman. I wonder if there are any signs about the disgusting ageism that is often expressed by these children? Probably not.
Anyway, for those of you unfamiliar w/the UW campus, this display is almost an abberation. When the campus organizations are out trying to get members, present are many, many, religious groups and a very healthy and popular College Republicans. ROTC guys and gals walk around in uniform w/o any problem that I've noticed.
We Huskies aren't all idiots. : )
I dream of a world where "Housing and Food Services" provides housing and food services.
Huh? You're in a country, so learn to speak the damn language. I spent 15 years in Germany and didn't expect them to cater to my native language. My various dealings with the government were all in German, and it was my problem if there was something I didn't understand. In the early days I felt ashamed when an English-speaking German had to help me out (not that they were there to speak English, I just got lucky that they did).
The only concession to English was products I bought that were sold EU-wide, so they had text for the UK.
We need to go to the Swiss system, where immigrants get kicked out if they can't learn the local language in a reasonable amount of time (conversational, not necessarily fluent).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.