The Five Faces of Oppression include, exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. In which I do believe all five exist in the United States today. The reason I believe that all of the five faces of oppression exist today is because when I think of those who are oppressed, I initially think of people who are subject to marginalization. Such as people of color, who are often exploited, culturally imperialized, powerless and are subject to either acting or seeing more violence in their communities. So essentially saying, I think all exists because I find it hard for one to exist without the other. Just as Young explains, “exploitation, marginalization, and powerlessness all refer to relations of power and oppression that occur by virtue of all social division of labor… (Young, 4).” While this definitely is not limited to the United States only, I do find it important to highlight marginalization that occurs around the world especially to people of color as Young states, “ Blacks or Indians in Latin America, and Blacks, East Indians, Eastern Europeans, or North Africans in Europe (Young, 50).”
As mentioned above, the fact that exploitation, marginalization, and powerlessness refer to relations of power especially to those in the workforce is something I believe is still prominent today. Many communities that I personally know have members who feel powerless, to the point they settle with what they have because they fear being exploited and marginalized and even seen as mockery to their family members. “Marginals are people the system of labor cannot or will not use. Not only in Third World countries, but also in Western capitalist societies, there is a growing underclass of people permanently confined to lives of social marginality, most of whom are racially marked… (Young, 49). There are numerous people and places in the United States where they might share this same feeling. Which makes my point of stating the five faces of oppression definitely exist in the United States today.
