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Title Change: Violence and intersectionality to -> Violence and Intersectionality of Black Women in the U.S.
Intersectionality is the interconnection of race, class, and gender among an individual or group. This is often related to an experience of discrimination or a disadvantage. This definition came from Kimberle Crenshaw, a feminist scholar. Kimberle Crenshaw, a feminist scholar, is widely known for coining the term intersection in her 1989 essay, which sheds light to the oppression black women have been exposed to, especially during the slavery period. Crenshaw's analogy of intersection to traffic flow explains, "Discrimination, like traffic through an intersection, may flow in one direction, and it may flow in another. If an accident happens in an intersection, it can be caused by cars traveling from any number of directions and, sometimes, from all of them. Similarly, if a Black woman is harmed because she is in the intersection, her injury could result from sex discrimination or race discrimination." [1]
Black women have been victims of violence and abuse since 1619 during the time of slavery. The intersection of gender among slaves is an imperative factor of the different treatment they have experienced compared to male slaves. In the 1960s, the beginning of the Second-wave Feminism finally addressed the voice of black women and women of color in contrast to the first wave, where it initially focused on the struggles of white middle class women.
The stereotype as a justification for violence does not help this issue, either, as their bodies are viewed as sexual objects. For instance, their bodies are often objectified in an offensive sexual manner and degraded through song lyrics or television shows. This reinforces the ideology that the violence and abuse of colored women is justified.
Finally, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was introduced in 1922. Unfortunately, it was not ratified into the Constitution, as it did not receive enough votes. However, black women highly endorsed this because they would be protected under the law, as well as have the opportunity to report their crime, if violence and discrimination were to occur. Ongoing statistics from the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community (IDVAAC) reports reflect the widespread issue of violence African American women experienced.
- ^ Crenshaw, Kimberle (1989). "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics". University of Chicago Legal Forum: 149.