Anti-Oppression

Oppressive behavior often reinforces historical hierarchies of power and belittles the experiences, emotions, and thoughts of historically marginalized communities. Oppressive behavior holds us back individually and collectively from reaching our full potential. Oppressive systems breed poverty, and by working to undermine oppressive systems in our daily life, we strengthen our work towards the end of poverty.

Learning about oppression is a life-long personal journey through which we can strive to learn about issues and perspectives we aren’t aware of and ourselves. We all have biases and privileges we aren’t mindful of.

We encourage you to explore the resources below as a start in deepening your knowledge, understanding, and ability to work in solidarity and be a co-conspirator in undoing the oppressive systems that we have inherited.

The anti-oppression resources and guides collected and presented below are the collaborative efforts of the RESULTS Anti-Oppression Learning Community (formerly known as the Anti-Oppression working group), represented by grassroots volunteer advocates and staff.

To learn about oppression, we must first define it and know what it looks like. Below are several types of oppressive practices that lead to oppressive attitudes and behaviors. The list below and the training and resources provided on this page are not limited, and we will strive to share additional anti-oppression resources to support our advocacy.

  • Ableism
  • Ageism
  • Classism
  • Colonialism and White-saviorism
  • Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia
  • Racism
  • Religious Discrimination
  • Sexism
  • Xenophobia

As we all have a multitude of expressions of our identity, we must look at all areas of oppression as they intersect within the framework of our advocacy.

Intersectionality is 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.

Resources coming soon!

If you want to report an oppressive incident that occurred in your capacity as a RESULTS volunteer, staff person, or as a participant in a RESULTS event, please complete the form at the link below.

The AO Incident Reporting Form is used to document a RESULTS-related incident of oppression, to ask for help, or just to inform us of a RESULTS-related incident. Reporting incidents helps us to support our grassroots in addressing them, and ultimately ensure that they are handled effectively. Reports can be submitted anonymously and at any time.

What can I expect to happen once I submit this form?

  1. You will receive an email acknowledging receipt of the report within 48 hours of the report being filed.
  2. Your report is received and reviewed by the AO Incident Response Team (Ken Patterson, Karyne Bury, and Lakeisha McVey).
  3. If requested, a member of the AO Incident Response Team will schedule a meeting and work with you to determine the next action steps.

Some of the issues that may come up, such as microaggressions are defined in the key terms that you will find defined and listed below.

  • Equity – a condition or state of fair, inclusive, and respectful treatment of people. It does not mean treating people the same without regard to individual differences, but instead, people get what they need based on their particular situation.
  • Fear of open conflict – The fear of conflict is common, especially among those with social anxiety. You might worry about saying something that others will disagree with or have general fears about doing things that will annoy or bother other people.
  • Intersectionality – an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person’s social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these aspects are gender, caste, sex, race, class, sexuality, religion, disability, physical appearance, and height.
  • Microaggressions – A statement, action, or incident of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as racial or ethnic minority, by gender, or sexual orientation.
  • Oppression – Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment or exercise of power, often under the guise of governmental authority or cultural opprobrium. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced. Oppression refers to discrimination when the injustice does not target and may not directly afflict everyone in society but instead targets specific groups of people. Can exist in several categories – social oppression, economic oppression, institutional oppression – however commonality in that oppression occurs when imposes their will onto another.

AO Incident Reporting Form


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