Running head: PHOTO ELICATATION PROJECT 1

Photo Elicitation Project: Initial views of Oppression, Social Justice and Privilege

Jaraed J. Thomas

Loyola University Chicago

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OPPRESSION
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This image displays the door leading outside of the Warde Academic Center on

Saint Xavier University’s (SXU) campus. The alliteration of Via, Veritas, Vita translates

in English to the way, the truth, and the life, which are words spoken by Jesus Christ. For

individuals who do not speak, write, or read Latin and do not have a knowledge base of

Jesus Christ, the message excludes them. Due to the message not being in a language that

is universal to the community, there exist a hierarchy. At Saint Xavier University, there

are a group of individuals, who are able to, understand the message giving them

knowledge not available to the other group, which leads to oppression.

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Outside of the Warde Academic Center on Saint Xavier’s campus, there are

pillars holding up the entrance; this is a picture of four of the pillars. Each pillar has a

specific word that relates to education; the words are wisdom, grammar, logic, and

rhetoric. The words are symbolic because of the placement at the foundation that holds

up the academic center. However, the words do not take into account the alternative

forms of education such as the arts or sciences. The words reinforce a system of

education that may be stuck in tradition and purposefully excluding other values of

education.
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Social Justice
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The photo is of Our Lady of Mercy in the Mercy circle on Saint Xavier University’s

Campus. She represents the idea of social justice because she is personified as the virtue

of mercy. The virtue of mercy goes beyond the binary of good or bad and attempts to

judge people in a way that is equitable. Similarly, social justice is the idea that every

human being deserves basic human rights according to their need. Through systems of

oppression, human rights are violated, however in the teachings of social justice;

oppressors can be forgiven for their transgressions.

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The display of pennants is the core values of Saint Xavier University. Social

justice is represented by the core values of the college because each value can be

intrinsic, but also be applied to the external world inhabited by others. Social justice work

is a collaborative effort between the individual’s self work and the work that the

community does as a whole. In moving towards a more socially just world, as displayed

in the pennants, individuals have to engage in the values, but also do the work to impart

the knowledge on others.

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Privilege
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At Saint Xavier University, this sign appears in the community lounge space in

one of the residence halls. The sign says welcome in several languages from across the

globe, but could not possibly have every language spoken around the world. For instance,

there are 195 countries in the world and possibly twice as many languages because of

different cultures and subsets of people in those countries. The individual or individuals

who made the choice to create the sign were intentional about translations of hello that

appeared and which ones did not. As individuals encounter the sign and see hello in their

native language, they are part of a privileged conversation, which others may not be able

to have because the lack of representation on the welcome sign.

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This picture depicts a cul-de-sac in the mount greenwood section of Chicago (about a

block away for Saint Xavier). The cul-de-sac represents privilege, more specifically

economic privilege because the persons who live in the area have the experience of a

gated community. One entrance is available for this exclusive section of the

neighborhood, so individuals have to be intentional about visiting outside of the

community. By the neighborhood being separated in this way, residents of the cul-de-sac

can create an in-group amongst themselves.