Workshop aims to combat oppression

The students who attended a workshop on oppression in the William Pitt Union last night crossed… The students who attended a workshop on oppression in the William Pitt Union last night crossed a line.

Step by step, the people involved in the event walked closer to the bright pink tape that stretched across the floor of room 540. By doing so, they hoped to make strides toward a more equal and understanding society.

The activity, called “Crossing the Line,” was one of several learning experiences engaged in by about 30 students who attended The Common Ground Workshop: Resisting Oppression Together.

Student Allies Intergroup Dialogue, a new student group which operates under the Office of Cross-Cultural and Leadership Development at Pitt, sponsored the workshop as part of a week of activities dedicated to remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other human rights leaders.

Throughout the event, participants discussed issues such as race, gender, sexual orientation and socioeconomic class.

The “Crossing the Line” activity addressed the way labels can be used to discriminate against groups like women, transgendered people, Jews and Hispanics. If participants identified as a member of a particular target group, they were told to cross the pink line.

After each question, participants were asked to look into the eyes of those next to them and then look into the eyes of those across from them — those on the other side of the line.

In the end, each participant had identified with at least one target group, which was defined in the workshop as a social group denied access to certain benefits. For example, a certain group might be denied access to college based on economic status.

“Oppression targets some and rewards others based on group membership,” said one Student Allies Intergroup Dialogue member wearing a name-tag reading Tracey. “It is associated with psychological and emotional pain, but in the end we are all allies,” she said.

In the post-activity discussion, one participant said, “The fact that we ended up on the target side at some point says something. You can say oppression is something you don’t understand, but at some point you can understand it.”

Many participants reported that they were not afraid to cross the line, but others said they were worried by the stigma society often associates with some labels.

One woman explained why it might be embarrassing to cross that line.

“No one wants to be alone,” she said. “Being alone is accompanied by feeling insular and sad.”

Most of the activities during the night called on participants to share stories about how they personally felt the effects of discrimination.

In a question-and-answer setting, a leader would pose a general query and invite others to respond during an activity that focused on racial relations.

One such question was, “When did you become aware of your race?”

One woman shared her experience as a Jew growing up in a Christian community. Her religious identity affected her as a Girl Scout because many of the activities took place on the Jewish Sabbath. Activities did not take place on Sundays, the Christian holy day.

The final activity involved sexism, and SAID members asked students to stand if they or someone they knew could answer “yes” to a series of tough questions.

“How many of you have seen music videos or heard songs that objectify women?” one member asked. “How many of you have called someone or heard someone called a slut, bitch or whore?”

Many in the audience stood in response, illustrating another type of oppression SAID hopes to overcome.

Keely McCaskie, a sophomore and founder of SAID, organized the event at the behest of the Campus Women’s Organization.

“The goal of Common Ground Workshop is to spark dialogue and open dialogue about race, gender, class and social identities,” McCaskie said before the event. “Our goal is to mobilize people to make social change by attaining a deeper understanding of their personal connections to these issues.”