Re-Examining the Phrase “Oppression Olympics”

by Latoya Peterson

Yesterday’s conversation on the article in the Nation has an interesting set of comments revolving around the use of the term “the oppression olympics.”

In our comments policy on Racialicious, we state:

Let’s avoid oppression olympics please. I’m not saying it’s never something to be discussed, but generally speaking, bickering over who has it worse off, or who’s more racist, is really kind of useless.

However, Black Canseco said:

Okay, can i just say that i hate the term Oppression Olympics? It implies that it’s bias and bigotry is some sort of game, almost comical and anytime someone attempts to discuss issues of race, gender they should never be taken seriously.

In her comments, Persia explains:

Black Canseco, I have used “Oppression Olympics” in the past, referring specifically to circumstances where someone compares racism to sexism in a way that implies that one is somehow worse, or more acceptable, or– what have you– than the other. I’ve always used it to call out a technique I feel is used as a distraction from whatever the issue is at hand– for example, just because sexist attacks on Clinton happen doesn’t make racist attacks acceptable or any less important to criticize.

It’s precisely because I think those tactics trivialize the whole debate that I’ve used the term. Now I have to think twice about it.

Sewere noted:

I don’t expect you or tasha will change your minds nor do I expect Drispe or Black Conseco to change theirs, but one thing I’m certain of is your willingness to downplay racism or sexism to shore up your candidate is a disturbing version of the Oppression Olympics and it is annoying as shit. No matter how you spit-shine it, it’s still shit.

And I agreed, generally with his comments. I have unsubcribed to certain blogs because of what has come out because of the elections. People who I usually hold in high regard seem to be bending over backwards to excuse the bad behavior of their candidates and finding all kinds of ways to justify their opinions. Quoting Roseanne Barr like she’s a prophet? Off my blog roll.

However, after Sewere’s comment, things got a bit heated. I asked Black Canseco directly:

If you don’t like the phrase “oppression olympics,” BC, what phrase do you suggest we use to describe that obnoxious phenomenon when people try to use phrases like “no one has suffered more than African-Americans” or “since gender issues affect 51% of the world, those are the most important issues?”

He replied:

latoya,

i offered my opinion on the phrase, nothing more. people will use whichever term they feel works to make their point. not sure why a phrase is needed at all. Some comparisons may work, others are rooted in a lack of understanding viewpoints beyond your own, others still are patently stupid, myopic and self-serving.

why not call it on a case by case as opposed to dumping everything in a bucket, which helps no one?

but what do i know, apparently i’m gender biased.

As I was moderating this comment exchange, I was also digging into some new reading material.

Specifically, Andrea Smith’s essay “Heteropartiarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing.”*

And interestingly, Andrea Smith also disagrees with the term, but for a different set of reasons.

In her essay, Smith outlines three scenarios in which people of color are coming together to organize and meet with conflict. One scenario revolves around a group of women and whether or not Arab and Latina women should identify as women of color if they are classified as white in their countries or pass as white in the states. The next scenario describes some of the arguments put forth when discussing Native Americans (i.e., “since tribes now have gaming, Native peoples are not longer ‘oppressed.’”) The last scenario involves a multiracial coalition which wants to stop the “black/white binary” of racial discussion but “rel[ies] on strategies and cultural motifs developed by the Black Civil Rights struggle in the United States.”

Smith then breaks it down:

Page 1 of 3 | Next page