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What is Triple Oppression? – Cleanne Lynn Johnson


A theory that was developed by black socialists, such as Claudia Jones, states that a connection existed between different types of oppression, mainly racism, sexism and classism, this theory is called “triple oppression. It focuses on the oppression of black women mostly, who are the most oppressed of all people in the world. Black women just don’t face racism and discrimination in our world, but they have to face sexism and classism on top of it. Their struggles are extremely hard to put into the words, because no combination of these letters and words can accurately describe what they go through. Up to today, they face the same oppression in countless areas of life. Whether it be a workplace, school or hospitals. Especially the healthcare system has failed the black women of America terribly.


 

The term “triple exploitation” or “triple oppression” was first devised by an activist and member of the Communist Party, Louise Thompson Patterson, in 1930s. Though, this theory was popular during its early years, it reached its peak in the 1960s. When the Communist Party was mainly made up of different immigrants and parts of the Socialist Part of America, many of the member were non-English speakers and made little to no effort in including the African-American members of the party and speak for their rights. Similarly, the Socialist Party of America was getting popular, many members spoke out against racial segregation. But other members failed to see the obvious connection between racism and how it affected the people of the United States of America. This lead to more black people joining the Communist Party and introducing the theory of triple oppression.

Claudia Jones was responsible for popularizing this theory and she further believed that freeing black women, who are the most oppressed group in the world, would mean to free all the people who suffered and faced race, class and gender oppression. She spoke about socialist feminism that just not focused on race, but all sorts of oppression women faced at the hands of a patriarchal society.

In Cleanne Lynn Johnson’s fictional autobiography, Love My Colors 978-1950088874, the main character faces similar issues throughout her life. How she rises above these struggle to achieve her dreams and goals is truly inspirational, so is Johnson’s writing.

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