Kimberlé Crenshaw presented the concept of Intersectionality in 1989 as a way to talk about violence against Black women and other women of color. See Crenshaw’s TED talk if you want more context.
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Intersectionality refers to the multiple forces or sources of inequality and marginalization that compound and add layers to how people experience violence and oppression.
Colorism is intersectional.
We all have a socially-constructed racial designation AND a biological skin tone. Race and color should not be conflated or used synonymously, as we too often do. Using the word color to describe race is actually racist and hides or obscures the reality of colorism.
Our complexion also intersects with other forms of identity like gender, class, and ethnicity, and with other physical features like hair texture and eye color.
We usually have at least one focus of identity that matters more to us for various reasons, or that we feel most potently, or that impacts us most often and most overtly.
Q: Which of your identities is most significant for your right now? Why? Has that changed over time? Why?
Intersectionality and Privilege
It’s important to note that intersectionality can also be applied to privilege.
You don’t have to be aware of your privilege to have privilege, just like you don’t have to be consciously aware of your oppression to be oppressed.
That includes things like implicit bias (unconscious biases); systems of oppression and privileges that have been intentionally hidden, obscured, disguised, and burried; and individual actions that are anonymous or secret or simply unknown.
Unfortunately, these myriad nuances are sometimes used as ammunition to gaslight those who speak out about colorism and other issues. Perpetrators will say, for example: “Well, I’m dark-skinned, and I was never discriminated against.”
It’s important to consider other intersections of your identity–like class, culture, and hair texture–that may have shifted your experiences of colorism or the apparent lack of such experiences.
Homework: Map out your own intersections of identity. Identify where you can be an ally, and where you need advocacy.
Affirmation: I am a multifaceted being, and I accept and embrace all of who I am.
