Rich, White Males: Triple Oppressors?

The combination of rich and white and male equals power; immense power to oppress if they so choose.

On Sunday morning November 19, 2017, on ABC's This Week, I watched a morally passionate and quality discussion of the current sexual harassment/predator issue.  This included more than a few bad apples now making the headlines; the discussion touched on a culture of male oppression.

Most rich, white males from the founding fathers down to 2017, see themselves as a blessing to the nation for they built this great nation.  But many women, poor and racial/ethnic groups see rich, white males as a mixed blessing at best and as oppressors at worst.  Gender, race and class/economic oppression are interwoven making it a case of triple oppression for poor, black women.

Can the oppressed force their oppressors to release the oppressed?  Possibly a little bit, if they try real hard.  Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement valiantly tried to do so with marginal success; during the 1980s a strong backlash took away many of the hard won gains.  Read The New Jim Crow for the tragic story of mass incarceration, a system of oppression that replaced Jim Crow segregation.

Because of their large numbers---50 percent of the population---women if they run many candidates and turn out in large numbers could vote rich, white males out of office.

White evangelicals because of their large numbers could also vote rich, white males out of office if they developed a strong biblical social ethic.  But currently white evangelicals seem more like evangelical Pharisees who neglect justice and the love of God, who serve the American trinity more than the Christian trinity.  Apart from repentance and a religio-social revival movement, most American white evangelicals will continue to side with rich, white male oppressors.