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This month’s Equity Matters is devoted to insectionality. Intersectionality was first coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw to address the multiple intersections of inequalities and oppressions. For example, if you are examining discrimination towards women, you must also consider the potential oppressions from sexuality, race, and class. This approach to examining inequities is commonly referred to as a “multi-lens approach.” To introduce the topic we include the following excerpt from a speech delivered by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw for the V-Day (global movement to stop violence against women and girls) 10th Anniversary Celebration at The Superdome in New Orleans, LA on April 11, 2008. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw was also one of our keynote speakers at the Equity Alliance’s convention “Reinvesting in Equity: Building Bridges and Tearing Down Walls” in Phoenix, Arizona on February 18 and 19th, 2010.
“What Kind of Ally are You?”* Or, What is your Disaster Relief Kit?
“You know, sometimes it seems as though with all these movements, the antiviolence and feminist movement, the antiracism movement, the LGBT movement, the antiwar movement, the human rights movement, and the anti-colonial movement, that we have got so many movements that nothing at all should ever fall through the cracks. All we have got to do is strengthen our own piece of the puzzle and we’d be all good. But is that really true? Do we pay attention when the issues that these movements address collide? And what do we do when they do? I use the metaphor of intersectionality to call our attention to precisely these questions. Imagine each of our movements as providing security and relief along their own highway. Let’s say the antiracism movement patrols and secures all of the traffic that rolls down the race highway. And that’s a particularly deadly patch of road there. Lots of people get hit trying to navigate across the road of
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racism. The role of the antiracist advocates is to come to their rescue, to call attention and to administer, to try to prevent further harm, to make the situation right. In short, to provide Disaster Relief.
And feminists, they have a patch of road too where all sorts of things happen to folks who live on that stretch of highway, folks who get hit by sexism, patriarchy, and its consequences: violence, discrimination, disempowerment. Their job is to rush to the scene, administer, protect, and prevent and to provide resources and help.
And there are other patches of road that other folks administer: LGBT has a patch; the antiwar folks have a patch. Whatever movement, there is a patch of road that they administer.
But imagine, just for a moment, what would happen if an accident occurs on that patch of road where they all converge and intersect. Imagine no one actually SAW the accident, but everybody heard it. Terrible sounds, screeching breaks, a big crash and then a body, lying in the intersection, unconscious. All of the Disaster Relief specialists jump in their ambulances and rush to the scene, and are flummoxed. What do we do? She’s lying there, in the intersection. She’s on everybody’s road—the race road, the gender road, the LGBT road, but no one can tell which traffic hit her. So, they start to discuss it. Now nobody’s doing anything yet, they just, well…are thinking about it.
So, Mr. Race man says, “hmm, well, can’t really tell what happened here, but my guess, since she is a woman, is that she probably got barreled over by the gender traffic. I’m going to leave her to you.”
But Ms. Feminist says, “well hold it a minute, if it was really gender, I think she’d probably be over
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here, closer to this spot here. I don’t think I can handle this one but you know, she looks a little, well, BUTCH. Maybe she got hit by the homophobia traffic.”
‘Well,” Mr. LGBT says “to be honest, my guess would be…not. We’ve covered a lot of accidents but not around these parts. My guess would be that it was probably poverty, or you know, maybe she was coming from the Global South, so it could be, you know, globalization or something like that. Let’s ask the anti-imperialism folks if they recognize her”
“Well,” Ms. Human Rights chimes in with a bright idea---“let’s just try to revive her and ask.”
So they all move in a little closer, bend down, and one lifts her head up just a little, and yells,
“WHO HIT YOU? WE NEED TO KNOW? WAS IT RACISM? WAS IT PATRIARCHY? TELL ME, WAS IT HOMOPHOBIA? WE NEED TO KNOW WHO INSURED YOU AGAINST THIS INJURY? SE HABLA ESPANOL?”
And the woman struggles to come to, but can only say, “I don’t know, but can someone just help me? Just help!”
And she passes out…again.
Unable now to figure out who is responsible, all of the Disaster Relief Specialists just pile back into their ambulances and speed away to the next accident, hopefully one fully with their purview, and definitely on their exclusive patch of road. Just an apocryphal story? Sure. Exaggerated? Well looking around this place, looking at our movements, and looking directly into the mirror, you tell me.”
This month’s Equity Matters is devoted to a multi-lens approach to examining issues and inequities. We hope the following resources will be of use in your understanding and addressing the intersectionality within your setting.
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