In the current social climate that has encompassed the United States, understanding that oppression occurs is almost a mandatory feature to possess. Even in our current society in which civil rights, including civil rights for both minorities as well as women, while also taking into account the more obscure portions of oppression, such as bullying and social alienation, oppression still occurs heavily throughout. It can be extremely complicated to gain information on how oppression impacts others as well as how prominent oppression really is, but fortunately students of Millikin University had the opportunity to experience what oppression occurs as well as how it occurs.

Hosted from April 17 to the 18th in lower Richards Treat University Center, Unity, a group here at Millikin University dedicated to spreading awareness and fighting various social issues that plague our society, hosted an event they called the Tunnel of Oppression. According to the Facebook page created for the event, Unity described the Tunnel of Oppression as “An interactive event that guides participants through various forms of oppression in our society.” Truly the experience was very informative, as those who attended the event were taken through a makeshift tunnel of sections that demonstrated various social issues in our society regarding oppression.

As I entered the beginning of the tunnel, the long hallway separating the bistro from the rooms of lower Richards Treat University Center, the experience was pretty harrowing to begin with. Blown up to the size of average posters and hanging throughout the hallway were various pictures showing graphs, statistics, and statements about different forms of oppression, ranging from the African American rights to statistics about how common sexual assault was, in order to prepare participants for what they were about to see.

Entering the first room of the tunnel focused on both African American rights as well as rights of various sexual minorities. Concerning the African American focus, a juxtaposition of the violence that African Americans faced was demonstrated against current African American oppression, reminding us of the violence that still occurs towards the minority group. To the sexuality focus, various posters where hung describing different types of sexualities, as well as demonstration by two unity members on male and female sexism.

The next room of the tunnel focused on sexual assault as well as physical and self-abuse. The participants were required to lift a mattress, demonstrating the weight that sexual assault puts on society, while two Unity performers enacted situations involving both physical and self-abuse.

The last room of the tunnel involved personal oppression that everybody faces, ranging from appearance issues to self-harm. Furthermore, various notes posted anonymously from students of Millikin University were posted in the room, ranging from various and extremely personal issues, as a reminder to the participants that they are not alone in their personal struggles regarding the oppression that we face on almost a constant basis, ranging from sexuality issues, to race issues, to mentality issues, and everything inbetween.