Intersectionality: an analytical framework that examines how systems of oppression compound when marginalized identities combine and overlap.
Origin: Legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term to better examine systems of oppression that affect African American women in her 1989 paper Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex. Crenshaw argues that African American women must be examined through a lens that examines their identity comprehensively, rather than as a woman or as an African American. Anti-discrimination efforts that only examine discrimination for one identity omit the struggles that African American women face. A framework that examines how patriarchal and white supremacist systems compound for African American women is necessary to describe the issues they face, and later solve them.
Example: A poignant example of how the identities of being an African American and a woman overlap and compound into more severe oppressive harm is the legal case of Degraffenreid v. General Motors. Former employees of General Motors claimed that the company was participating in discriminatory “last hired-first fired” practices that targeted African American women. The courts dismissed this case as the company hired African American men for their factory positions, and White women in their offices. Not hiring African American women is discriminatory but requires a framework of intersectionality to identify and resolve.
Contemporary use: This idea of intersectionality has been applied to a broader range of identities since the term’s conception: LGBT, nationality, ability, etc. Crenshaw has stated that framework erasure is an issue that affects everyone but does not claim that intersectionality will be a broad idea that works for everyone. Crenshaw has stated:
“Some people consider intersectionality a grand theory of everything, but that’s not my intention. If someone is trying to think about how to explain to the courts why they should not dismiss a case made by black women, just because the employer did hire blacks who were men and women who were white, well, that’s what the tool was designed to do. If it works, great. If it doesn’t work, it’s not like you have to use this concept.”
Oppressive forces that affect African American women still necessitate an intersectional framework to be understood and resolved. African American women have the highest rates of mortality during childbirth even after controlling for factors relating to class, education, and location. False beliefs about African Americans that originate from the racist history of the United States healthcare industry are still persistent in the minds of many healthcare workers. Beliefs like African Americans are more resistant to pain, have stronger bones, or thicker skin, and result in worse overall care. Applying these beliefs to the act of childbirth compounds into a uniquely deadly risk that African American women face.
Intersectionality: an analytical framework that examines how systems of oppression compound when marginalized identities combine and overlap.
Origin: Legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term to better examine systems of oppression that affect African American women in her 1989 paper Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex. Crenshaw argues that African American women must be examined through a lens that examines their identity comprehensively, rather than as a woman or as an African American. Anti-discrimination efforts that only examine discrimination for one identity omit the struggles that African American women face. A framework that examines how patriarchal and white supremacist systems compound for African American women is necessary to describe the issues they face, and later solve them.
Example: A poignant example of how the identities of being an African American and a woman overlap and compound into more severe oppressive harm is the legal case of Degraffenreid v. General Motors. Former employees of General Motors claimed that the company was participating in discriminatory “last hired-first fired” practices that targeted African American women. The courts dismissed this case as the company hired African American men for their factory positions, and White women in their offices. Not hiring African American women is discriminatory but requires a framework of intersectionality to identify and resolve.
Contemporary use: This idea of intersectionality has been applied to a broader range of identities since the term’s conception: LGBT, nationality, ability, etc. Crenshaw has stated that framework erasure is an issue that affects everyone but does not claim that intersectionality will be a broad idea that works for everyone. Crenshaw has stated:
“Some people consider intersectionality a grand theory of everything, but that’s not my intention. If someone is trying to think about how to explain to the courts why they should not dismiss a case made by black women, just because the employer did hire blacks who were men and women who were white, well, that’s what the tool was designed to do. If it works, great. If it doesn’t work, it’s not like you have to use this concept.”
Oppressive forces that affect African American women still necessitate an intersectional framework to be understood and resolved. African American women have the highest rates of mortality during childbirth even after controlling for factors relating to class, education, and location. False beliefs about African Americans that originate from the racist history of the United States healthcare industry are still persistent in the minds of many healthcare workers. Beliefs like African Americans are more resistant to pain, have stronger bones, or thicker skin, and result in worse overall care. Applying these beliefs to the act of childbirth compounds into a uniquely deadly risk that African American women face.
Links
https://www.law.columbia.edu/news/archive/kimberle-crenshaw-intersectionality-more-two-decades-later
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4013&context=faculty_scholarship
https://www.msba.org/intersectionality-clashing-point-of-race-and-gender/
https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/from-birth-to-death/black-women-maternal-mortality-rate.html#:~:text=Black%20women%20have%20the%20highest,for%20Disease%20Control%20and%20Prevention.
https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality?language=en