Abstract
The narratives in this chapter provide the reader with the perspectives of seven Black and Brown leaders who have experienced oppression in the workplace. Their stories highlight the depth of institutionalized oppression that exists in P-12 settings and the effect it has on health, family, and work performance. Nonetheless, these leaders have learned to navigate oppressive environments and engage in transformative practices. The purpose of the research was to gain an understanding of how Black and Brown leaders work through the daily challenges stemming from systemic oppression. Reading the authentic lived experiences of the participants can inspire others to be empowered and find hope.
TopBackground
Every day, leaders of color have to navigate the racial and cultural oppression that is manifested in their workspaces. During the interviews of seven leaders, the authors posed several questions, including but not limited to how oppression is defined, what practices and policies perpetuate injustices, how oppression impacts their abilities to influence change in their organizations, and what dispositions they foster and embrace to guide and facilitate just and equitable change. The authors used five faces of oppression (Young, 2004) and transformative leadership (Shields, 2013, 2018, 2020) as theoretical frameworks to identify and name oppression, as well as to categorize the respondents’ leadership as liberating. Critical race theory (CRT), as a lens for analyzing their narratives, describes the impact of race and racism on their daily lives.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Democracy: A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.
Collective Good: Items and resources that benefit everyone, and from which people cannot be excluded.
Equity: The notion of being fair and impartial as an individual engages with an organization or system.
Internalized Oppression: The results of a process by which members of an oppressed group come to believe and act as if the oppressors’ belief system, values, and way of life were correct. External oppression becomes internalized, resulting in shame, the disowning of people’s previous understandings of reality, and previously unseen levels of violence within communities. Internalized oppression means the oppressor does not have to exert as much pressure, because people now do it to themselves and each other.
Oppression: When a person or group of people who have power use it in a way that is not fair, unjust, or cruel.
Cultural Oppression: Norms and patterns that perpetuate implicit and explicit values that guide or bind individuals and institutions; the cultural perspectives of dominant groups are imposed on individuals by institutions, and on institutions by individuals.
Intersectionality: The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
Institutional Oppression: The network of structures, policies, and practices that create advantages and benefits for some, and discrimination, oppression, and disadvantages for others.
Interpersonal Oppression: Interactions between people where individuals use oppressive behavior, insults, or violence.
Transformative Leadership: A critical leadership theory that emphasizes inclusion equity excellence and social justice.