The Bible serves as the example of various cases, which can be used by social workers to develop their diversity awareness competences. For example, the presentation of Egypt in the Book of Exodus shows the oppressed structure. “The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor” (Exodus 1:13-15). In this case, the Jews are oppressed because of their nationality, while it makes society ruthless and harshly punitive. The cultural differences between the Israeli and Egyptians shaped their experiences, where the former were slaves, and the latter were masters.
Another example refers to the domination of the Roman Empire that also oppressed the Jews. “Herod [Antipas] beheads John the Baptist who has been critical of Herod’s personal morality and political alliances” (Matthew 14:1-12). Such violence was caused by the differences in personal identity and political views, which led to structural oppression. Instead of paying attention to the views of people, the king acted as a powerful and murderous leader, who is not able to recognize diversity (Nelson, 2018). Accordingly, the mentioned murder was another sign of Jews’ discrimination that influenced their experiences.
Today, the position of African-Americans in the US is an example of structural marginalization, even though some steps were conducted by the government to address this. As the ethnicity that was oppressed for many years, African-Americans still suffer from stigma, bullying, and discrimination. The active reaction from the public was caused by the death of George Floyd, who was killed by the police officer (Dixon & Dundes, 2020). This example revealed many other similar cases when people were murdered only because of perceived suspicion. The protests across the US showed that the current social structure is imperfect as it still contains mistreatment and prejudices towards African-Americans.
The alienation of Native Americans that was extensively conducted in the 20th century resulted in social discrimination, racial abuse, and poor quality life in general. Today, Native Americans still have reservations, they are less educated, and more likely to lack the access to health care services. This nation was intentionally distinguished from others in the US, their children were educated in boarding schools, and their resources were exploited. These experiences led to unemployment, alcohol and drug abuse, as well as violence in communities (Gurley, 2016). The native languages and traditions of tribes become extinct.
References
Dixon, P. J., & Dundes, L. (2020). Exceptional injustice: Facebook as a reflection of race-and gender-based narratives following the death of George Floyd. Social Sciences, 9(12), 231-255.
Gurley, L. (2016). Who’s afraid of rural poverty? The story behind America’s invisible poor. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 75(3), 589-604.
Nelson, M. (2018). The liberating Christ: From the Gospel of Matthew to modern day liberation. Obsculta, 11(1), 113-128.