Discussion on oppression

What really is oppression? How does oppression influence cultures?  In Rastafari, we have seen that oppression has almost shaped an entire culture.  From the music they play to their hairstyles, everything about them screams a desire for freedom and a pilgrimage back to their homeland, Ethiopia.  But the oppression we speak of for the Rastas is one of the most brutal kinds, slavery. How would another from of dominance affect a different culture.  I feel that there is oppression in the United States as well.  It might not be as extreme as felt by the Rastafari but it is still present.  Our oppression is more emotional.  The government uses our emotion of fear to enrich their power and keeps us blind to many things happening around us.  There are many secrets that the average American citizen does not know.

The music of Jamaica is the most obvious place to see the Rastafari beliefs about downpression.  Last class we listened to Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."  This song is a call to action for the Rastafari to pursuit redemption and freedom.  In the song Marley sings, "How long must they kill our prophets, while we stand here and look?"  This murderous from of oppression is the main driving force for this culture of people.  They need to act if they want a difference in their lives.  In American pop culture, the thought about government oppression are almost lost because not many people want to know about their own fear.  Americans want to run away from it as long as we can before we have to confront it.  However, there are some television shows that put a comedic spin on government happenings.  Shows like "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show" talk about Government oppression but usually in a joking matter.  These shows need to be funny or else many people would not watch them because of the fear factor.  Thus Americans and Rastas both have cultural changes because of oppression and it still affects them today.  They want pilgrimage and freedom, we want truth.