Jamila Osman - Navigating Intersectionality: How Race, Class, and Gender Overlap

Published in 2019 by Enslow Publishing, LLC.

101 W 23rd Street, Suite 240, New York, NY 10011

Copyright 2019 by Enslow Publishing, LLC.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Osman, Jamila, author.

Title: Navigating intersectionality : how race, class, and gender overlap / Jamila Osman.

Description: New York, NY : Enslow Publishing, [2019] | Series: Racial literacy | Audience: Grade 7-12. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018020654| ISBN 9781978504653 (Library bound) | ISBN 9781978505605 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Intersectionality (Sociology) | Group identity.

Classification: LCC HM488.5 .O86 2019 | DDC 305-dc23 LC record available at https://Lccn.Loc.gov/2018020654

Printed in the United States of America

To Our Readers: We have done our best to make sure all website addresses in this book were active and appropriate when we went to press. However, the author and the publisher have no control over and assume no liability for the material available on those websites or on any websites they may link to. Any comments or suggestions can be sent by email to .

Photo Credits: Cover, p. 1 aberCPC/ALamy Stock Photo; p. 5 Joseph Sohm/ Shutterstock.com; pp. 6-7 Dick Swanson/The LIFE Images CoLLection/Getty Images; p. 9 Iamnee/Shutterstock.com; p. 11 Amanda Edwards/Getty Images; p. 14 Jack MitcheLL/Archive Photos/Getty Images; p. 17 FLoriLegius/SSPL/Getty Images; pp. 18-19 Lambert/HuLton Fine Art CoLLection/Getty Images; p. 23 Private CoLLection /Bridgeman Images; pp. 25, 26, 60-61, 68 AP Images; pp. 28-29 Bryan R. Smith/ AFP/Getty Images; pp. 31, 42 Bettmann/Getty Images; pp. 32-33 Private CoLLection /Wood RonsaviLLe HarLin, Inc. USA/Bridgeman Images; p. 35 HuLton Archive/Getty Images; p. 37 Archive Holdings Inc./Archive Photos/Getty Images; p. 39 The Washington Post/Getty Images; p. 44 TreibLe/MCT/Newscom; p. 48 Pacific Press/ LightRocket/Getty Images; p. 50 Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images; pp. 52-53 Mark Reinstein/Corbis News/Getty Images; pp. 56-57 Chip SomodeviLLa/Getty Images; p. 63 NicoLas McComber/E+/Getty Images; pp. 64-65 Steve Debenport E+/ Getty Images; p. 66 EtheL WoLvovitz/ALamy Stock Photo; cover and interior pages background design Ensuper/Shutterstock.com (coLors), MiLoje/Shutterstock.com (texture).

CONTENTS

Over the last few years, the emergence of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements has forced race and gender to become an integral part of the national conversation-regardless of whether or not people felt ready to have these particular conversations. For far too long, talking about race, class, and gender was taboo. But events of the last few years, from the election of Donald Trump as president, to the rise in hate crimes against minorities, to increased xenophobia and antiimmigrant rhetoric, have required an examination and discussion of power and identity in society. While these are conversations many people feel ill-equipped to have, we must insist on having them. This is not a conversation anyone should get to opt out of, especially not young people who are going to shape the future of this country and the world.

A woman holds a Black Lives Matter sign at a MLK Jr. Day event in Los Angeles.

Thousands of demonstrators gather around the Washington Monument protesting the Vietnam War.

Young people have historically been at the forefront of social movements in the United States and across the world. We can see this today in the way young people take on leadership in Black Lives Matter or organize demonstrations against gun violence. In history classes, a mantra we hear again and again is that those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. The United States is a country with a rich history of social movements. These movements have much to teach us as a new generation r ises to the challenge of creating a more fair and equitable society. We can and must learn from the mistakes and failures that different groups struggling to gain equality have made in the past. As we celebrate the length weve come, we must never lose sight of all the work that we still have to do.

What do we mean when we talk about identity? It is a word that is used quite often in many different contexts, and yet it is hard to define. Different people mean different things when they use that term. A psychologists definition of the word is not the same as a sociologists. Ultimately, when discussing identity, we are referring to who we are and how the world sees us. Our identities are the multiple characteristics, both visible and invisible, that identify us as individuals and members of a group.

Who Are You?

Ernest Hemingway, the American novelist, developed the Iceberg Theory of Literature,1 which can be applied to better understand the concept of identity. Roughly one-eighth of an iceberg is visible to the human eye from the surface of the water. The majority of the iceberg is submerged below water. Likewise, we often meet people, see the visible markers of their identity, and assume we know who they are. While there are certainly some visible signs of identity, the vast majority of identity markers exist below the surface. Some visible identity characteristics include, but are not limited to, someones race, gender, age, physical appearance, physical ability, and dress. While these aspects of ones identity are important, we cant assume this is someones entire story. There is a lot we cannot tell about someone just by looking at them. Some of the identity markers that exist below the surface include, but are not limited to, ethnicity, nationality, documentation status, sexual orientation, beliefs, and values.

The majority of an iceberg lies below the surface of the water.

Our identities shape our experiences and worldview. They are extremely important in understanding our individual and collective relationships to power and privilege in society. Some identities are less oppressed than others, while others experience more oppression. The three most useful markers in understanding ones subject position in society are race, class, and gender. The ways in which these identities are interconnected is called intersectionality. Intersectionality refers to the idea that social categorizations like race, class, and gender create interconnected systems of oppression and discrimination. While this term has skyrocketed in usage and popularity over the last few years, it is far from a new concept.