Blog #4 Intersectionality

 According to Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality is valid and needs to be accepted in society. The overlapping of social categories, such as race, gender, and sexual orientation is known as intersection. Other aspects of an individual’s identity could go unnoticed if only one is acknowledged. In order to clarify her concept of intersectionality, Crenshaw provides an analogy of an automobile crossroads. An automobile intersection is the meeting point of two or more roadways. Therefore, if this intersection were a person, each road would represent a distinct aspect of their identity, and the intersection would represent their entire identity. For instance, gender could be the horizontal road and religion the vertical road. Despite having no connection to one another, these two identities have an enormous impact on the individual. Next, Crenshaw discusses how these intersections can remain unaddressed in cases of injustice. If the law were an ambulance, it could only help one identity and go on a single route, ignoring any other identities that could be at a disadvantage. In addition, Crenshaw gives a true story that highlights the people who have suffered because intersectionality has not been acknowledged. She gives us the story of Emma DeGraffenreid, who turned down a job offer. In addition to being a woman, DeGraffenreid was also African American, and she felt that the reason she wasn't hired was because their identities overlapped. She was sidelined in her legal pursuits because the courts were able to demonstrate that they recruited both women and African Americans—not an intersection, but a single group. Her argument was that they did not hire African American women, even though that was not her point (intersection; a member of both groups). This is a major issue because Emma was the victim of discrimination and the law did not provide her with any protection. In The Urgency of Intersectionality, Crenshaw says, "If you cannot see a problem, you cannot face it". There won't be a solution as long as intersectionality-related problems are ignored by the law. Crenshaw emphasizes that because so many people are underprivileged, we need to raise awareness of this problem. Emma was the victim of prejudice, and the law offered her no protection, thus this is a serious problem. According to Crenshaw, "If you cannot see a problem, you cannot face it", in The Urgency of Intersectionality). As long as the law ignores issues relating to intersectionality, there won't be a solution. Crenshaw highlights the need to increase awareness of this issue because there are so many disadvantaged people.