Who are the most oppressed group of people on earth today?

I always thought I had answers on this, but looking at some recent documentaries it seems my answers are dated.

Recently I heard of the Adivasis (the aboriginal tribes of India) and their plight of land-grabs for mining, and being stuck in a civil war between Maoist rebels and government forces really shocked me.
www.aljazeera.com...
Yet, I'd never heard of them.
And they number over 85 million people!

So I'm wondering how other ATS members feel about who the most oppressed people on the planet are?

Oppression could be:
1. racial or ethnic
2. based on religion
3. gender identity
4. political ideology or movement

I'd just like a short historical and/or current explanation on how that group is oppressed at least, and more proof and discussion is most welcome (please don't just mention a group and say nothing to qualify your opinion).

It could be more than one group, or even groups in conflict.
After all, one form of oppression is "divide and rule", and keeping groups in conflict.

However, mentioning one group will also be great.

I'd say it's poor people.

Doesn't matter what color you are if you got the scratch to back it up.

reply to post by corvuscorrax

Thanks.

That's fair enough, but is poverty the same across the planet?
Are poor people a globally homogenous group?

Are some groups more likely to be poor because of their oppression?

It's a fair assessment, but why people are poor surely comes with a range of divergent histories.

reply to post by halfoldman


I'd say the average rational person. Poor don't know what it's like to be rich so they aren't missing out, gays have their cliques and protectors, races have each other...

But who do rational people have looking out for them in this insane world?!

reply to post by corvuscorrax


I would say its anyone who thinks they live in free country. Oppression is slavery

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I was about to say : "American Middle Class".....

....but we ain't see nothing yet.

So, for now let's say amazon rainforest people an tibetan monks.

The unemployed.

Jews, Homosexuals, and atheists.

Not joking.

Jews can't do anything without being called Zionists this and Zionists that, and can't do anything with anti-Semites getting mad at them for something or other. If they move their little pinky a racist will get outraged at them. There's so many stupid double standards against them it's not even funny. And there's a lot of violence against them everywhere they are in the world from Islamic extremists because of Israel and the so-called Zionist apartheid against the so-called Palestinians it's not funny.

Homosexuals and atheists have Christians doing anything they can to put them down and keep them down in any way shape or form. Former President Bush once said he thought atheists shouldn't even be allowed to be citizens of America. There's so much blame against atheists right now as well. Not even homosexuals are blamed as much as atheists though. They're just discriminated against by Christians. That's bad enough on its own.

Originally posted by EvilSadamClone
Former President Bush once said he thought atheists shouldn't even be allowed to be citizens of America.

did he really say that ?

reply to post by halfoldman


Off the top of my head I'm going to say Muslim women in the Middle East. Not only are they oppressed, but most of them were brought up believing that they're supposed to be second class citizens, so they don't even know that they're oppressed.

reply to post by VoidHawk


No, I don't know that atheists should be regarded as citizens, nor should they be regarded as patriotic. This is one nation under God.… I support the separation of church and state. I'm just not very high on atheists.

Attributed by Robert I. Sherman, reporting about a public press conference Bush held at O'Hare Airport on 27 August 1987 just after announcing his candidacy for president. No other journalists have confirmed or contradicted Sherman's account of the exchange.
Rob Sherman (2006-04-01). Documents at Bush Presidential Library Prove VP Bush Questioned Citizenship and Patriotism of Atheists. RobSherman.com. Retrieved on 2006-04-21.
Frequently misquoted as "No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots."
GALA Interim (Fall 1988). "On the Barricades: Bush on Atheism". Free Inquiry 8 (4): 16. ISSN 0272-0701.
Tiede, Tom (1990-10-22). "Do We Want Atheist Army?". Waycross Journal-Herald 73 (250): p. 3.

en.wikiquote.org...

reply to post by halfoldman


I would say hands down it is the conspiracy "nutz", as almost everyone just rolls their eyes, and automatically tunes them out everytime they bring any conspiracy theory up. Reguardless of evidence or the rational behind what they are saying.

Thank ( insert your diety here) for ATS, or I would have gone crazy thinking I'm the only sane one left, that questions this "reality" we live in.

Originally posted by EvilSadamClone

Homosexuals and atheists have Christians doing anything they can to put them down and keep them down in any way shape or form.

I am christian and I do not do what you said. Don't put all christians in the same bag. For me what you do with your life is between you and God. In non-christian terms: Your karma.

Any country (and its people) where the US has invaded.

Mickierocksman

reply to post by jiggerj


I agree wholeheartedly with this example, but I would expand on this to include any individual or group whose very life is threatened by another should they express an opposing viewpoint or challenge existing entrenched ideology. In order for individuals/groups/humanity to survive and make progress, there must exist the freedom to adapt. When voices, ideas and change are stifled, so is the vital need to adapt and oppression is the result.

Though they may think they have the upper hand, I believe the oppressors go down with those they oppress.

anyone living near muslims is the most oppressed

Originally posted by EvilSadamClone

Homosexuals and atheists have Christians doing anything they can to put them down and keep them down in any way shape or form. Former President Bush once said he thought atheists shouldn't even be allowed to be citizens of America. There's so much blame against atheists right now as well. Not even homosexuals are blamed as much as atheists though. They're just discriminated against by Christians. That's bad enough on its own.

A few insults here and there isn't oppression. They can still walk around freely and feed themselves etc. I can think of a few cultures that would love to have the freedom homosexuals and athiests have in our countries.

Originally posted by Spiritfilled
anyone living near muslims is the most oppressed

I would say the tibetans... Because whether they like it or not, the Chinese are staying put and really don't care if they set themselves on fire. All in the name of resources...

Some African nations are far worse that the Middle East also. On a daily basis, rape and murder are as common as a loaf of bread...

I'd say it's people like the Adivasis caught between two armies.
Of course the Adivasis constitute a huge population, and not all are equally oppressed.

This is also what destroyed many of the once isolated Khoisan hunter-gatherers in southern Africa.
They were caught between two armies in the 1970s and 1980s who fought on their lands.
Now they are driven off their lands in Botswana (allegedly for diamond mining), although the British made a specific reserve for them at decolonization.

I also sympathize with people like the Andaman islanders, who are supposed to be kept in a human zoo.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Some say total isolation is best, which often means police intervention when they wander of their reserve to beg for food in neighboring villages.

Some argue that the policy of forcing people into isolation kills them, and the Tasmanian Aborigines would have survived as a people if they were allowed to mix freely and establish their own farms.

Grandfathers - especially those whose daughters get them to babysit all weekend.