Friere's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Chapter One"

Friere's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Chapter One"

From what I understand, Friere sees oppressors (my mind thinks of slave masters and then of white supremacists in the 1900's) as people who take away the humanity of others. The only way the oppressed can gain their humanity, which should be the main ethical goal of all, is to fight for liberation and also help free their oppressors from themselves, as an act of love for both parties. I imagine a slave showing his master that he is an honorable man, not a beast. As an equal team, their lives are happier and more successful. Or, I imagine an African American woman defiantly taking rights which should always have been hers. When everyone is treated like a moral, gentle human, then the world functions better because the oppressed do not get violent fighting to help themselves and the oppressors do not trade in their souls just to stay in control. Friere points out that the oppressed could seek vengeance, thereby becoming oppressors themselves. Also, the oppressors might act outrageously cruelly so that when they are just bad, they seem good. This kind of generosity just makes the oppressed beggars and the oppressors afraid to show any humanity toward the oppressed, lest they seek for more. He also warns that when the oppressed seek liberation, they should not become oppressors and adopt the idea of manhood their oppressors afford. This reminds me of the KAPO's in the WWII concentration camps. These prisoners were given position power under the Germans but above their countrymen. They were traitors. In other stories I can hear the echo of, "you can beat them without being like them. You don't need to resort to their level." I also think of the multitudes of coups in ancient China. Very few new (usurping) rulers were less cruel than their predecessors (whom they killed).

Friere's editor wrote: "The oppressed are afraid to embrace freedom; the oppressors are afraid of losing the "freedom" to oppress." In my own classroom, I have to admit (if I were the oppressor) I am afraid of giving up my control in the classroom and of my right to control the classroom. Furthermore, I think our students are sometimes afraid to think and work outside the bounds of the typical structures we give them. They are afraid to find creative solutions, maybe partially because we spend so much time shushing them.The oppressed must work together under the understanding that there is a solution in order to gain freedom. We also ask our students to never give up. We tell them there is always a solution, maybe they need help, but they will not find a way out if they tell themselves there is no way out.

The oppressor must realize that he is an oppressor and that those he is hurting are real people, not just objects or concepts. I read a blog recently in which a mother wrote that her first grade daughter was trying out the mean-girl shoes. She and a friend were going to ignore another friend for a few days. Then they thought they would all go back to friendship. What the little girls did not comprehend was the feelings of an autonomous other. The people around us are not unaffected by us like the Saturday morning cartoons. A bully may cause pain because although he or she understands cause and effect, he or she does not understand empathy and kindness. Like Friere's oppressor, he or she is also dehumanized in the act of dehumanizing another. Our natural, moral state says that we should connect with others for survival (but it also says make the enemy less human.) Would we have fewer wars and fewer bullying incidents if we just thought of everyone as our brethren?

Friere says that the oppressed need to work together to gain their goal. They may need to be woken up to the reality of their situation before they fight. A battered woman might take the abuse of her partner until she sees him hit her child. Then she may see the situation is beyond what she bears alone and she must take action. In Friere's case, the wake up of the oppressed could be in educational programs that teach them a better life. He hopes that the oppressed would first work together to make a transformation and that eventually the oppressors would change and join in the work. Then eventually the system can be changed. All will be humanized.