I am Black, I represent more than just being a woman.

INTERSECTIONALITY

Intersectionality refers to the processes through which a combination of a person’s race, gender,

class, religion, and/or sexuality can elicit marginalization.

Intersectionality, a term coined by

Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989, highlights that many individuals belong to more than one minority

or underprivileged group— for example, a black woman who suffers discrimination

based on both gender and race—and as such their encounters with marginalization would be far

greater than that of the average black man or white woman.

Kamala Harris can be used to effectively explain how intersectionality influences communication

and social interactions. Kamala Harris, first female Asian African-American Vice President of

the United States of America, who, hailing from two marginalized races in the USA, would have

undoubtedly faced an abundance of racism in her personal and professional life.

Even more

discrimination for her gender in such a male-populated environment as the US government,

culminating in a lifelong battle against misogynoir. Intersectionality was a big factor of her

election as the Vice President. On one hand, she was called an “angry black woman” by racist and

sexist groups, but on the other hand, she was seen by minority groups as a representative of their

communities.

Ultimately, her victory into office was a fruit of the tree of her identities as a woman, an Asian,

and a black woman. This shows that her value as seen (and not seen) by the majority of the

country is largely based on her identities and not necessarily on her merits.

As a result, she was

largely viewed through the lenses of activism and bigotry respectively, instead of being evaluated

based on her personality and merits.

Therefore, when people communicate, they should each understand the intersections in

identities unique to the other person, but not restrict them to the straitjackets of these identities.

Nonetheless, an intersectional approach shows the way that people's social identities can

overlap, creating compounding experiences of discriminationand leading to distorted

communication. As segmented communities, we mustn’t fail to go deeper than the surface to

achieve effective communication.