Disappeared News

by Larry Geller

Most of this originally ran in an article posted on Sept. 18, 2013.

The public reaction in Ferguson and now in Baltimore reminded me that it’s time to revive my “Hydraulic Theory of oppression.”

Honestly, I can’t remember if this is originally mine or not, it has been too, too many years since I have used it at workshops on the Mainland (curious that we don’t discuss oppression and human rights as much in public seminars here in Hawaii as they did in California or Oregon, for example).

This model is not related specifically to the situation of any group of people. I think it has a certain general applicability.

The theory goes like this

If you take any group of people (the hydraulic fluid in the diagrams below) and apply pressure in a number of ways, the pressure in the fluid will build up. It’s always there.

So here we have four pistons, of different sizes, applying pressures of different force and duration. The forces are labeled F1, F2, F3, and F4. There could, of course, be many more. The amount of pressure applied to each piston probably varies from time to time, this is a dynamic model. The point is that the hydraulic fluid is constantly under pressure.

Nationally, the hydraulic fluid pressure is also made up of forces such as the high incarceration rate of African-Americans, the unconscionable numbers killed and maimed by police (who are not held accountable by our system of justice), by the use of SWAT teams in misguided (but racially guided) drug raids, by housing and job discrimination, by efforts to deny the right to vote, and on and on. It’s a complex system of oppression.

In Hawaii, it’s easy to think of what pressures may be constantly felt by Native Hawaiians that are not experienced by others. The F1, F2, F3, F4 and more might be economic marginalization, the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom, suppression of language and culture, and the constant desecration of the Iwi Kupuna. If you stop and think for a moment, there are many more that could be added to the list. Currently Mauna Kea is in the spotlight as one such social pressure applied to a population.

Now, pipes under pressure for some time can hold up, or they might leak.

If the drops look like teardrops to you, that’s probably what they are. Often these tears are not noticed. They don’t seem to bother anyone. They seldom make the news. That’s not to say they’re not real. Usually, the leak is patched but the pressures continue. So more leaks can be expected.

Sometimes, for reasons we cannot exactly explain, and at times that we can’t predict, a big leak that does make a splash in the news occurs.

Often those not experiencing that pressure wonder why the pipes burst. They don’t understand. They may blame an individual or a community for instigating “trouble.”

It’s not necessary to explain in detail why these big leaks occur. That’s the hydraulic theory. They happen because of the unrelenting pressure from a variety of sources. With constant pressure, or maybe there’s some new or increased source, something is likely to give sometime, someplace.

Although the pressure that an oppressed people may feel is real, it may be invisible to others. They don’t know about the oppression, and so are surprised when something bursts out. Being able to ignore, or not know about, the oppression of others is a privilege, often described as “white privilege.”

And so there is criticism and condemnation, but not much understanding. Why can’t “they” just go back to being quiet?? The Internet has brought with it an army of “trolls,” but even outside of newspaper comment sections, opinions are usually all over the map, and often unkind.

‘Way back in the ‘80s, racism, oppression, domestic violence, and related concepts such as white privilege were more often discussed in community settings (that is, outside of sociology or psychology courses in universities), it seems. A classic reference is Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh, dating from 1989 or so. 

There is white privilege, and there is male privilege. It’s all a fabric, all related. When something breaks into the news, how often do editors dig deeper than the shallow facts of who-what-when-where? They don’t dig because we don’t want to read it, perhaps. But on the other hand, that’s a massive failure to report the news.

No, even when the editors are handed oppression or racial discrimination on a platter, they usually do not draw any connection. As an example, Republican state legislators have a clear objective of suppressing minority voting rights, a blatant example of discrimination. That they can still get away with it today is significant, but the fact that the perpetrators are not constantly called in the media on their racism is also significant.

There is great inequality in this country even today. Oppression is still the name of the game in many states. It’s connected with a persistent and pervasive racism.

Sometimes I wonder if the many workshops and all the trainings of the 1980s and 1990s were for naught.

As I said, it’s possible that the “hydraulic theory” is not originally mine. I attended many workshops years ago and co-lead a men's group. Perhaps someone else originated this model. I’ve found it useful, though, and thought I should set it down for whatever it is worth.

That we remain unconcerned about conditions that oppress people across the country is partly a failure of the mainstream media perhaps, but we are the ones buying the newspapers and letting them get away with it. They give us only what we ask for. The privilege is that we don’t want to know what is going on in St. Louis or in Baltimore. We, and our newspapers, can ignore what might and ought to be more prominent in our concern.

Heck, the front page of today’s Star-Advertiser has a large photo at the top which is not even identified. We are supposed to know that this is a (momentarily) famous sports figure.

But heck again, most readers probably do know who he is. That’s the privilege at work. The ongoing protests in cities across the country since August? Not reported in our newspaper.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 4/30/2015 11:42:00 AM