Kimberlé Crenshaw facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kim Crenshaw
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Crenshaw in 2018
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Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw
May 5, 1959 Canton, Ohio, U.S.
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| Education | Cornell University (BA) Harvard University (JD) University of Wisconsin, Madison (LLM) |
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Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (born May 5, 1959) is an American expert on civil rights. She is also a scholar who studies how race and society work. She teaches law at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School. Her main focus is on issues related to race and gender.
Crenshaw is famous for creating and developing the idea of intersectionality. This idea helps us understand how different parts of a person's identity, like being a woman and being Black, can overlap. It shows how these overlapping identities can lead to different kinds of oppression or unfair treatment. Her work also includes intersectional feminism. This is a part of intersectional theory that looks at how women face many overlapping systems of unfairness and discrimination.
Contents
Kimberlé Crenshaw's Early Life and Education
Kimberlé Crenshaw was born in Canton, Ohio, on May 5, 1959. Her parents were Marian and Walter Clarence Crenshaw, Jr. She went to Canton McKinley High School.
In 1981, she earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University. She studied government and Africana studies there. She then went to Harvard Law School and earned her law degree in 1984. In 1985, she received another law degree (LL.M.) from the University of Wisconsin Law School. While there, she worked for Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge Shirley Abrahamson.
Kimberlé Crenshaw's Career and Important Work
After finishing her studies, Crenshaw joined the UCLA School of Law in 1986. She is one of the people who helped start the field of critical race theory. This field studies how race and racism have shaped legal systems and society. She teaches classes on civil rights, critical race studies, and constitutional law.
In 1991, Crenshaw helped the legal team for Anita Hill. This was during the U.S. Senate hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Her students at UCLA voted her "professor of the year" in both 1991 and 1994. In 1995, Crenshaw became a full professor at Columbia Law School. There, she started and directs the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies in 2011.
In 1996, Crenshaw also helped start the African American Policy Forum (AAPF). This is a group that works to "take apart unfair systems" and "make racial justice and gender equality better." It also works to protect human rights in the U.S. and around the world. The AAPF connects research with public discussions to fight inequality.
Crenshaw has received many honors for her work. She was given the Fulbright Chair for Latin America in Brazil. In 2008, she received a special fellowship at Stanford University. She also wrote a paper in 2001 for the United Nations World Conference on Racism. This paper was about race and gender discrimination. She helped make sure that gender issues were included in the conference's declaration.
In 2020, Crenshaw received an honorary doctorate degree from KU Leuven. She has written many books and articles. Her book, The Race Track: How the Myth of Equal Opportunity Defeats Racial Justice, is planned for publication in 2025.
What is Intersectionality?
How the Idea of Intersectionality Started
In 1989, Kimberlé Crenshaw created the term intersectionality. She used it in her essay, "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex." She wanted to explain the unfair treatment faced by African-American women. The basic idea of intersectionality existed before Crenshaw named it. For example, Black feminist leaders like Sojourner Truth spoke about these ideas in her 1851 speech "Ain't I a Woman?". Anna Julia Cooper also wrote about it in her 1892 essay. Crenshaw's idea for the theory began when she was in college. She realized that the gender side of race issues was not well understood.
Why Intersectionality Matters in Law
Crenshaw's work on intersectionality focuses on how laws deal with discrimination based on both gender and race. The problem is that anti-discrimination laws often look at gender and race separately. This means that African-American women and other women of color might experience many types of discrimination at once. But the law might not see this combined unfairness.
For example, anti-discrimination laws often only look for one type of discrimination at a time. So, if a person faces unfair treatment because they are both Black and a woman, the law might not recognize it. If one type of discrimination cannot be proven without the other, then the law might say no rule was broken. The law defines discrimination as unfair treatment based on one specific identity.
Crenshaw often talks about a court case called DeGraffenreid v. General Motors. In this case, a group of African-American women said they faced combined discrimination. They were excluded from job opportunities. They argued that office jobs were only given to white women. This meant African-American women could not get those jobs. But the courts looked at race discrimination and gender discrimination separately. They said that because African-American men worked in the factory, there was no race discrimination. And because white women worked in offices, there was no gender discrimination. The court did not consider the combined discrimination.
Crenshaw also explained intersectionality in a TED Talk in 2016. She also gave a speech at the Women of the World festival in London in 2016. She talked about the special challenges women of color face in fighting for equality and justice. In her talks, she discussed a big problem for women of color: police brutality.
The "My Brother's Keeper" Initiative
"My Brother's Keeper" was a program started to help young men and boys of color find opportunities. Crenshaw and the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) pointed out that while the program had good intentions, it left out girls and young women of color.
Crenshaw wrote an article in the New York Times about this issue. The AAPF started a campaign called #WHYWECANTWAIT. This campaign aimed to make the "My Brother's Keeper" program include all young people, both boys and girls, and especially girls and boys of color. This movement gained a lot of support. Many letters were signed by men and women of color, and by allies who believed in the cause.
In an interview, Crenshaw explained that the program started after many people in the African-American community were sad about the killing of Trayvon Martin. She described the program as a "feel-good" idea. However, she believed it was not a strong enough program to truly fight for civil rights. She felt that because women and girls of color live in the same communities and face similar challenges as the boys the program focused on, it needed to include everyone to be effective.
- #Why we can't wait: Women of Color Urging Inclusion in "My Brother's Keeper"
- June 17, 2014 – More than 1000 girls and women of color signed a letter.
The letter was signed by women of all ages and backgrounds. These included high-school students, actors, civil rights activists, and university professors. They praised President Obama and the White House's efforts. But they also asked for young women and girls to be included. They said this change was important to show the values of fairness and equal opportunity for everyone.
- May 30, 2014 – 200 Concerned Black Men and Other Men of Color signed a letter.
This letter asked for women and girls to be included in "My Brother's Keeper." It was signed by many different men, including scholars, taxi drivers, pastors, and fathers. All the men believed that girls in their communities share the same future as boys. They felt the program was incomplete if it did not include both genders.
Kimberlé Crenshaw's Influence and Impact
Crenshaw is known for creating the idea of intersectionality. This idea helps explain how things like race, social class, and gender can overlap. It shows how these overlaps can lead to unfair treatment and inequality in society. Crenshaw has been a leader and activist for civil rights, race, and intersectionality around the world.
Her work on intersectionality was very important when the equality clause in the Constitution of South Africa was written. In 2001, Crenshaw wrote a paper for the United Nations World Conference on Racism. This paper helped create policies that benefited minority groups globally. She also pushed for gender issues to be included in the conference.
Since the 2010s, Crenshaw has supported the #SayHerName movement. She co-wrote a book called Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women. This book shares the stories of Black women who were victims of police brutality in the United States. Crenshaw also spoke at the Women of the World festival in London in 2016. She talked about the unique challenges faced by women of color, especially police brutality against Black women. She promoted the #SayHerName campaign to highlight the stories of Black women killed by the police.
In 2017, Crenshaw gave a lecture at Brandeis University to a large audience. She explained how intersectionality plays a role in today's society. After a three-day celebration of her work, she received the Toby Gittler award.
In 2021, Crenshaw was chosen to be part of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This was for her new ideas and achievements in starting intersectionality, civil rights, and critical race theory.
Awards and Honors for Kimberlé Crenshaw
- 1985: William H. Hastie Fellow
- 1991: Professor of the Year, UCLA School of Law
- 1994: Professor of the Year, UCLA School of Law
- 2007: Fulbright Chair for Latin America in Brazil
- 2008: Recipient of Alphonse Fletcher Fellowship
- 2008: Fellow, Center for Advanced Behavioral Studies in the Social Sciences, Stanford University
- 2015: No. 1 Most Inspiring Feminist, Ms. Magazine
- 2015: "Power 100" Ebony Magazine
- 2016: Outstanding Scholar Award, Fellows of the American Bar Foundation (ABF)
- 2017: Gittler Prize
- 2021: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Service Award, Association of American Law Schools (AALS)
- 2021: Triennial Award, Association of American Law Schools (AALS)
- 2021: Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
See also
In Spanish: Kimberlé Crenshaw para niños
