Systemic Oppression Quotes

“The principal horror of any system which defines the good in terms of profit rather than in terms of human need, or which defines human need to the exclusion of the psychic and emotional components of that need—the principal horror of such a system is that it robs our work of its erotic value, its erotic power and life appeal and fulfillment.”
― Audre Lorde, Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power

“People like Jim [a defender of punch-down rape jokes] desperately want to believe that the engines of injustice run on outsized hate—stranger rapes in dark alleys, burning crosses and white hoods—but the reality is that indifference, bureaucracy, and closed-door snickers are far more plentiful fuels.”
― Lindy West, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman

“Violence is central to patriarchy, and the forms of systemic violence are interconnected in Western societies. Recognizing similarities across forms of oppression (such as racism, child abuse, speciesism, and sexism, for example) is essential.”
― Lisa Kemmerer, Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice

“Oppressions are by definition linked--linked by common ideologies, by institutional forces, and by socialization that makes oppressions normative and invisible.”
― Lisa Kemmerer, Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice

“By demonstrating excellence in whatever skin we wear, we challenge ignorance by our very existence.”
― Adam Howard

“The social cohesion necessary for a thriving, inclusive society is undermined, as racism fosters an "us versus them" mentality, hindering collaboration and collective progress.”
― Rove Monteux, What is Wrong with Society Today

“Pursing unity without justice is forging harmony built on harm.”
― Jamie Arpin-Ricci

“But for a society built on exploitation, there is no greater threat than having no one left to oppress. And now, if nothing else is done, Syl Anagist must again find a way to fission its people into subgroupings and create reasons for conflict among them. There's not enough magic to be had just from plants and genegineered fauna; someone must suffer, if the rest are to enjoy luxury.”
― N K Jemisin

“A lack of concern about the plight of a “breeding” sow on a factory farm is also a result of normative systematic oppression – speciesism.”
― Lisa Kemmerer, Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice

“Failing to notice a lack of Latino and African-American representation in congress is a result of systemic oppression – racism. General indifference to the fact that white men dominate large corporations is part of the invisibility of both racism and sexism. A lack of concern about the plight of a “breeding” sow on a factory farm is also a result of normative systematic oppression – speciesism.”
― Lisa Kemmerer, Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice

“Individual intent is not necessary for systemic evil.”
― Jamie Arpin-Ricci

“Resources are limited in many schools--however, if we prioritize dismantling systemic oppression, if we prioritize the needs of our most marginalized students, we can find the time, support, money, and resources that we need.”
― Elena Aguilar, Coaching for Equity: Conversations That Change Practice

“If a book wants to question and doubt many things that are taken for granted or codified, how can the writer manage to do that, to put all those things in doubt? Apparently he has to write, his only tool is language, but what language should he use? That’s where the problem begins, because if he uses the language that expresses the world he is attacking, that language will betray him. How can he denounce something with the tools that are used by the enemy, that is, the stratified, codified language, a language already used by the masters and their disciples?”
― Julio Cortázar, Clases de literatura: Berkeley, 1980

“i’m not interested
in a feminism that thinks
simply placing women at the top
of oppressive systems is progress

- not your convenient figurehead”
― Rupi Kaur, Home Body

“PASSED THE DEFINITION OF HUMAN.
PASSED THE AUTHORIZATION TO EXIT.”
― Misba, The High Auction

“Time to exit the wall. Her right wrist, extended through its window, shows her CRAB—her identity, her only proof of being a human, its limbs embedded into her skin.”
― Misba, The High Auction

“When dealing with systemic injustice, just because something is not calculated doesn't mean it isn't by design.”
― Jamie Arpin-Ricci

“laws criminalizing gender violence are a cruel hoax if they turn a blind eye to the structural sexism and racism of criminal justice systems, leaving intact police brutality, mass incarceration, deportation threats, military interventions, and harassment and abuse in the workplace.”
― Nancy Fraser, Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto

“Speaking truth to power about systemic injustice does not create disunity and division. In fact, it names the very disunity and division that we have failed to acknowledge and take accountability for.”
― Jamie Arpin-Ricci

“Our individual inaction in the face of injustice actively strengthens and perpetuates its growing systemic hold on society.”
― Jamie Arpin-Ricci

“In a world where no one need be delusional to find evidence of systemic oppression, to theorize out of anything but a paranoid critical stance has come to seem naïve, pious, or complaisant.”
― Eve Kosofsky Sedwick