As a group, the team participated in an event on campus called Tunnel of Oppression in the basement of Cobb lounge. Matt, Julia, Taylor and I were walked through a series of situations and rooms designed to convey the many kinds of oppression that people experience in this world. Student actors, posters and simulations were all employed to express the severity of issues such as genocide, racism, body image disorders, homophobia, domestic violence, xenophobia and others.We were part of a larger group of students being taken through the different situations, and first took part in a stratification exercise. After a statement was read aloud by the leader, we would take steps forwards or back depending on our personal experiences and eventually found ourselves sorted out into different levels of privilege and disadvantage. Then we were led through rooms that each dealt with a specific issue, although after discussion, these themes were shown to overlap and affect individuals in different ways.
The student actors were fabulous and had clearly put in a lot of effort preparing scenes, such as police interrogations, harassment and testimonies of domestic violence. Of course, their messages were often upsetting but they were effective and often hit close to home. Matt and I had attended the Tunnel of Oppression the night before as part of STAND, but the actors and the different scenarios were still as affecting and moving as they were the day before. Actually, because I knew what was awaiting us, I was more nervous walking into some of the situations than earlier, waiting for the actors to start yelling or making derogatory remarks as part of their character.
The scenario regarding genocide connected this event to Rwanda's history, with facts posted on a the walls of a small room illuminated by black lights. The statistics, numbers and details seemed to blend in and mix with the facts posted about other genocides around the world. While it was not a very comprehensive education about the Rwandan genocide, the overall impact was an overwhelming view of ethnic warfare all over the world and throughout history.
-Cara
