Lecture Notes: Intersectionality and Gender Bias in Social Justice

Introduction

• Interactive Exercise:
  • Participants stood up if they recognized names associated with police violence.
  • Highlighted disparity in recognition of male vs female victims of police violence.

Key Points

• Awareness Gap:
  • Many people recognize names of African American men killed by police but not women.
  • The exercise illustrates a lack of awareness and recognition of black women's experiences with police violence.

Intersectionality

• Definition:

  • Coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe overlapping social injustices of racism and sexism.
  • Highlights how social justice issues affect black women uniquely due to multiple layers of discrimination.

• Example Case: Emma de Graafenried

  • African American woman facing employment discrimination.
  • Legal case dismissed because discrimination wasn't recognized at the intersection of race and gender.
  • Demonstrates the failure of existing legal frameworks to address intersectional discrimination.

Importance of "Frames"

• Communication and Recognition:

  • Issues of police violence against African Americans and gender violence are recognized separately but often exclude black women.
  • Without specific frameworks, marginalized groups like black women are overlooked in social justice movements.

• Trickle-Down Approach:

  • Insufficient for addressing social justice issues affecting more than one marginalized identity.
  • Black women's experiences often fall through the cracks without inclusive frames.

Examples of Police Violence Against Black Women

• Real threat that often goes unnoticed.
• Victims include young girls to elderly women.
• Killed in various situations from home to public spaces.
• Media and community response often lacks the same vigor as for male victims.

Call to Action

• "Say Her Name" Movement (2014):

  • Created to demand recognition of black women victims of police violence.

• Bearing Witness and Action:

  • Encouragement to acknowledge and address the violence against black women.
  • Moving from awareness to action and transformation.

Conclusion

• Reflection:
  • Urges participants to remember and vocalize names of black women affected by police violence.
  • Emphasizes the need for collective action and change.

Final Thought

• "If we can't see a problem, we can't fix a problem."
• Encourages continued activism and transformation to address intersectional injustices.

Additional Resources

• Consider participating in movements and educating oneself further on intersectionality and systemic injustices.