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 who works to protect civil rights. She is a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School. There, she focuses 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 their race, gender, or background, can overlap. These overlapping identities can lead to different kinds of unfair treatment or oppression. Her work also includes intersectional feminism. This looks at how women can face many types of unfairness because of their ethnicity or how much money they have.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Kimberlé Crenshaw was born in Canton, Ohio, on May 5, 1959. Her parents were Marian and Walter Clarence Crenshaw Jr. From a young age, her parents encouraged her to talk about "interesting things" she saw. This early practice helped her choose her career later in life.
Crenshaw went to Canton McKinley High School. In 1981, she earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University. She studied government and Africana studies. She then earned a law degree (J.D.) from Harvard Law School 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.
Career Highlights
After finishing her studies, Crenshaw became a professor at the UCLA School of Law in 1986. She helped start the field of critical race theory. This area of study looks at how race and racism have shaped legal systems in the United States. She teaches classes on civil rights and constitutional law.
Crenshaw was chosen as "professor of the year" by students in both 1991 and 1994. In 1995, she became a full professor at Columbia Law School. There, she started and now directs the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies.
In 1996, Crenshaw co-founded the African American Policy Forum (AAPF). This group works to "dismantle structural inequality." It also aims to "advance racial justice, gender equality, and human rights" in the U.S. and worldwide. The AAPF connects research with public discussions about unfairness. Crenshaw has also received awards like the Fulbright Chair for Latin America in Brazil.
In 2001, Crenshaw wrote an important paper on race and gender unfairness for the United Nations World Conference on Racism. She helped make sure that gender issues were included in the conference's main statement. She has also been a regular guest on The Tavis Smiley Show on NPR. In 2020, Crenshaw received an honorary doctorate from KU Leuven. She continues to write books and articles.
Understanding Intersectionality
How the Idea Started
In 1989, 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 idea that different parts of identity overlap had been around for a long time. For example, Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech "Ain't I a Woman?" showed this. But Crenshaw's work made the idea widely known. Her inspiration for the theory began in college. She realized that the gender side of race issues was not being discussed enough.
Crenshaw's Main Points
Crenshaw's work on intersectionality focuses on how laws deal with gender and race unfairness. 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 who face unfairness based on both their race and gender might not get justice. Laws against unfair treatment often only consider one identity at a time.
Crenshaw has often talked about the case of DeGraffenreid v. General Motors. In this case, a group of African-American women said they faced unfair treatment that kept them from getting jobs. They argued that while white women could get office jobs, African-American women could not. The courts looked at race and gender unfairness separately. They said that because African-American men worked in the factory, there was no racial unfairness. And because white women worked in offices, there was no gender unfairness. So, the court did not consider the combined unfairness and dismissed the case.
Crenshaw also explained intersectionality in a TED Talk in October 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 fairness and well-being. In her talks, she highlighted the #SayHerName campaign. This campaign aims to share the stories of Black women who have been killed by police. Crenshaw describes intersectionality as "a lens, a prism, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other." She explains that people often talk about race unfairness separately from gender, class, or immigration status. But what is often missed is how some people face all of these at once, and their experience is more than just the sum of these parts.
My Brother's Keeper Initiative
"My Brother's Keeper" was a national program 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 problem.
The AAPF started a campaign called #WHYWECANTWAIT. This campaign asked for the "My Brother's Keeper" program to include all young people, both boys and girls, and especially girls and boys of color. This movement received a lot of support. Many letters were signed by men and women of color, and by others who believed in the cause.
- June 17, 2014 – A letter from more than 1000 girls and women of color. This letter was signed by women of all ages and backgrounds. They praised the efforts of the White House but also asked for young women and girls to be included. They believed this change was important to show the values of fairness and equal opportunity.
- May 30, 2014 – A letter from 200 Concerned Black Men and Other Men of Color. These men, from many different walks of life, believed that girls in their communities shared the same future as boys. They felt the program was incomplete if it did not include both genders.
Influence and Impact
Crenshaw is known for creating the idea of intersectionality. This idea helps explain how race, class, gender, and other traits combine to create unfairness in society. Crenshaw has been a leader and activist for civil rights, race, and intersectionality in the United States and around the world. Her work on intersectionality was important in writing the equality section of the Constitution of South Africa. In 2001, Crenshaw's paper on race and gender unfairness for the United Nations helped create policies that benefited minority groups globally.
Since the 2010s, Crenshaw has supported the #SayHerName movement. She co-wrote Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women. This book documents and highlights Black women who have been victims of police brutality. Crenshaw also spoke at the Women of the World festival in London in 2016. She gave a speech about the unique challenges faced by women of color, especially police brutality against Black women. She promoted the #SayHerName campaign to share their stories.
In 2017, Crenshaw gave a lecture at Brandeis University to a large audience. She explained how intersectionality is important in today's world. 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 important work in pioneering intersectionality, civil rights, and critical race theory.
Awards and Honors
- 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
- 2023: C.-E.A. Winslow Award
See also
In Spanish: Kimberlé Crenshaw para niños
