us, it is also difficult for the colonized people to speak out against the colonizer because there exists this dynamic of superiority and inferiority.
This perpetuates the cycle and continues the false notion that the culture of the colonized is flawed and needs improving. The colonizers often wanted something from those whose spaces they are infringing on, and yet frame their presence in a way that seems helpful ad beneficial.
He says that ideas such as “only women can understand feminine experience,” can actually create “polarizations that absolve and forgive ignorance and demagogy more than they enable knowledge”
This idea reminds me of the word empathy and is what I think Said is trying to get at. Even if a certain experience doesn't impact you personally, you should do your best to learn how it makes others feel and actually put yourself in their shoes to understand WHY they feel that way. This will help fight ignorance and lack of care when it comes to issues of oppression.