The struggle against patriarchy and racism must be substantively robust and inextricably intertwined.
Cultural patterns of oppression are not only interrelated but are bound together and influenced by the intersectional systems of society. Examples of this include race, gender, class, ability, and ethnicity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights how various forms of oppression are interconnected and shaped by multiple social factors.
In this quote, Kimberle Williams Crenshaw emphasizes the concept of intersectionality, which describes how different forms of discrimination—such as those based on race, gender, class, ability, and ethnicity—do not exist in isolation but instead interact with and influence one another. Understanding these interrelationships is crucial for comprehending the complexities of social justice and oppression, as addressing one aspect without considering others can lead to inadequate solutions.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a social justice seminar, a speaker cites this quote to illustrate the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing inequality.
More from Kimberle Williams Crenshaw
All quotes →I have a wonderful, diverse, and young staff at the AAPF who pretty much work around the clock trying to figure out how we promote the idea that social justice requires us to be intersectional in our thinking and in our scope of vision.
If you don't have a lens that's been trained to look at how various forms of discrimination come together, you're unlikely to develop a set of policies that will be as inclusive as they need to be.
We have to move back to the idea that education isn't about teaching people to bow to rigid rules. That's not what democracy is about.
Having a monolithic view of feminism is suffocating.
We must begin to tell black women's stories because, without them, we cannot tell the story of black men, white men, white women, or anyone else in this country. The story of black women is critical because those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.
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The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.
Darkness always had its part to play. Without it, how would we know when we walked in the light? It’s only when its ambitions become too grandiose that it must be opposed, disciplined, sometimes—if necessary—brought down for a time. Then it will rise again, as it must.
Whether you sniff it smoke it eat it or shove it up your ass the result is the same: addiction.
Generally the officers of the army were indifferent whether the annexation [of Texas] was consummated or not; but not so all of them. For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory.
I recently spoke at a university where a student told me it was such a shame that Nigerian men were physical abusers like the father character in my novel. I told him that I had recently read a novel called American Psycho,and that it was a shame that young Americans were serial murderers.
Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.