PER 2015
The rights and freedoms they were fighting for in America were those enshrined in Magna Carta (the creation of which was also due to oppressive taxation) and this would become evident during the drafting of the American Constitution. Though initially a document representing British liberties and rights, Magna Carta has tended to be more rigorously followed and appreciated by the Americans. A replica of Magna Carta is even housed in the rotunda of the Capitol building, showing both a geographical and symbolic closeness to the heart of American politics. It also shows that what the revolution formed was a new nation founded on the principles laid out by the ancients of democratic Athens and the Roman republic, but combining these with modern liberties and freedoms. This magpie approach sought to combine the best from states of the past and create a model nation for the future. Though the American system does have many problems revealed with hindsight, it was, for a time, the greatest superpower the world had ever seen. As such their resistance to oppressive British rule proved both significant and successful. Currently many believe the United Kingdom is in a similar situation regarding its place in the European Union. It is thought by some that EU law is being imposed upon the UK without its consent and that this damages its precious and ancient sovereignty. By our definition this could count as a case of oppression. As such the upcoming referendum on our membership of the EU will be a defining moment in modern British history. It will show whether the restrictions placed upon the UK are by the consent of the majority, or merely those who see the economic and cultural advantages of being a key member of such a union. Certainly if we are to separate from the EU then the event will become one of resistance to oppression, and the long term effects of this decision are as yet unknown. Iris Marion Young claims that there are “five faces of oppression” 56 . So far I have discussed examples of four of them. Cultural imperialism and exploitation by the British, and violence and powerlessness in Athens. The fifth face is, in the opinion of Professor Young, that of marginalisation. One place in modern history when marginalisation has been most evident is the United States. Here we see racial oppression of the black community stretching back since the times of slavery. Besides more blatant segregation such as the Jim Crow laws, subtler examples include the practice of redlining, prevalent up until the 1980s, where members of the black community were charged higher prices for, or denied services such as healthcare or insurance. This is doubtless an example of marginalisation. In his series of Pulitzer Prize winning articles entitled ‘The color of money’ 57 , Bill Dedman sought to expose this practice. He discovered that banks were five times more likely to lend to white households than black households, regardless of income. Due to this marginalisation as well as acts of violence such as the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, the civil rights movement became increasingly prominent and necessary. It fought to end the segregation of the black community and over the last 50 years it has caused a radical, if incomplete, change in the culture of the USA. This was demonstrated in 2008 when 53% of Americans elected Barack Obama as the first black
56 – Young, I. M. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. 57 – Dedman, B. (1988). The color of money. The Atlanta Journal Constitution .
72
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker