Intersectionality: Term to describe overlapping social justice issues like racism and sexism, creating multiple levels of social injustice.
Origins: Coined by the speaker from an encounter with Emma DeGraffenreid's legal case of combined race and gender discrimination.
Emma DeGraffenreid's Case
Incident: Emma DeGraffenreid was not hired by a car manufacturing plant due to being a black woman.
Court Verdict: The court dismissed her claim stating the employer hired African-Americans (for industrial jobs) and women (for secretarial jobs), failing to see the intersection of race and gender.
Legal and Social Imbalance
Court's Refusal: Judges did not allow Emma to combine race and gender discrimination to avoid what they saw as 'preferential treatment'.
Underlying Issues: African-American men didn't face combined issues of race and gender, and neither did white women, highlighting a legal blind spot.
Consequences: Exclusion of black women from jobs and making their combined discrimination legally inconsequential.
Conceptualization of the Problem
Framing Problem: The court's limited frame only saw race or gender discrimination separately, not in combination.
Analogy of Intersection: The overlapping roads represent workforce structures by race and gender; Emma’s position at intersection shows the joint impact of these factors.
Legal Perspective: Law could address race or gender issues separately but not where they intersected, missing the unique challenges.
Broader Implications
Other Forms of Discrimination: Heterosexism, transphobia, xenophobia, ableism also create unique challenges when they intersect.
Summary
Problem Identification: Lack of recognition of intersectionality in legal and social systems prevents solving the combined discrimination problems.
Need for Broader Frame: Addressing intersectionality can help better understand and resolve complex social justice issues.