Kimberlé Crenshaw: The Woman Who Invented Intersectionality | With Ash Sarkar
Where did the concept of "Intersectionality" come from?
Intersectionality
Intersectionality emerged out of Professor Crenshaw’s need to explain how black women were facing a different type of discrimination in hiring—the companies said we hire blacks and women, but this meant they hired black men and white women, but they did not hire black women.
Racism and sexism were not parallel forms of discrimination, but intersecting, meaning these companies did not hire at the intersection of race and sex.
0:00 Introduction
1:53 How Is Blackness Understood in Different Parts of Europe?
6:16 Denial is the Essence of Racism
8:17 A Racist Incident on Ash’s Graduation
9:33 Oprah’s Handbag: Race & Class & Critical Race Theory
13:48 What Is Intersectionality?
18:12 Intersectionality Gone Viral
23:08 The Problem With Identity Politics at University: Race Without Class
28:20 What’s the Best Strategy to Tackle Racism?
35:34 The Importance of Stories About Race: Shame Versus Empowerment
43:27 The Erasure of Multiracial Struggles for Justice
44:51 Identity Politics & Individualism
49:51 American-ness & Intersectionality
55:50 A Lost Anti-Imperialism
1:00:29 The Role of Actually Existing Communism
1:05:09 Race and Gender
1:10:02 The Politics of Music
1:17:30 Anita Hill & Clarence Thomas
1:20:17 Debating Kamala Harris’ Legacy: Weak Candidate or Victim of Misogynoir?
1:29:44 Why Do Voters Keep Choosing Fascism Over Centrism?
1:39:56 What Causes Fascism + Rioting?
1:48:38 Investment in Communities: A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats
1:53:43 The Importance of Back Talking
Lancashire Cotton Strikes
Ash Sarkar, who interviews her, tells the story of the Lancashire cotton strikes and boycotts
However in the year 1862, a then-controversial decision taken by Lancashire mill workers changed the dynamics of this booming British industry with long-lasting and historic consequences. These workers refused to use the raw cotton picked by the slaves in the Southern states of America to be processed in their looms. This decision triggered mixed response from various sections of British society: the economy suffered, unemployment rose, violence spread, but the Lancashire mill workers’ righteousness was upheld.
The boycott of cotton in Manchester was directly linked with the American Civil War. The North, led by the President Abraham Lincoln, fought the southern Confederate States of America to abolish slavery and re-establish the unified United States of America. During the height of the Civil War in America, President Lincoln persuaded leaders in the Europe not to trade Southern cotton picked by slaves. He insisted that by doing so the world leaders would help strengthen his enemies, prolong the war, and, consequently, continue to encourage slavery.
After the Lancashire workers stopped dealing with American cotton, many followed suit and the once booming cotton industry slowed considerably. Within a period of only 12 months, Lancashire started feeling the bite of the ban. Lancashire alone imported more than 1.3 billion pounds of raw cotton, all of it grown by the Southern plantation owners and picked by slaves kept in horrendous and inhumane conditions. The embargo meant that countless looms from across Lancashire had to be shut and left to rust while hundreds of workers were left without work.
Proposal: Create a White History Month : stories of righteous white abolitionists, civil rights leaders, anti-apartheid whites that don’t always get highlighted
We need a way to deal with the aftereffects of colonialization and enslavement
Asymmetric solidarity: you understand each other by struggling together
QUESTIONS:
Is this what you thought intersectionality is?
What do you think about the role of narratives of shame vs empowerment?
What do you think about the British use of significant money in addressing racial disparities in schooling?
Why do voters choose fascism over centrism?
Do you agree with Censhaw about the reasons for Kamala Harris’s loss?
Do you agree with Censhaw on the importance of backtalking?
Do you have other ideas for questions?