Oppression

I've been thinking a lot about difference regarding oppression.  As a Black female, who also comes from a low-income family, is a first-generation college student, has a disability and is queer, I used to think that it couldn't get much worse.

And then one of my friends, who is Jewish, mentioned being discriminated against based on his religion.  At first I laughed it off, because he could simply not mention anything about his religion and essentially "pass" if the need arose.  And then I started thinking critically about being persecuted based on one's religion.  Sure I know all about history: the Crusades, Hitler, etc, but it kind of blew my mind that it still goes on today, so close to home and to someone I knew.

Which started me down this path.  What would it be like to be a middle class Jewish person living in a Christian, and often intolerant, Western world?  What would it be like to be a Hispanic person living in the American Southwest?  What would it be like to be a queer person living in Appalachia?  Sure their fears and experiences are much different than mine, but just because they are different, doesn't make them any less significant.

But I think the biggest point of oppression I can think of is being a heterosexual, middle-class White male.  I wonder what it would be like to experience life without every having to fear exclusion or hunger or safety?  I wonder if these privileged (financially, emotionally, etc.) individuals ever wonder what it would be like if they had been born without these disadvantages?