Critical Reflection 4: Intersectionality- the Web of Society’s Advantaged and Disadvantaged

Dominance, according to Beverly Daniel Tatum, is possessed among a group of people who can set power and authority over subordinates. Examples of dominant people are those Dominants are able to maintain power over the subordinates by deeming them as “defective or substandard in a significant way” (Tatum 12). The best roles in society are preserved for the dominant, while the subordinates are given the roles that associate with their labeled stereotypes, such as lack of intelligence in African Americans or emotional stability in women. A common example that presents both dominant and subordinant roles at work is noted in Jose Calderon’s observation of a teacher-student setting in rural Tennessee. Calderon views the classroom setting as “microcosms of society”; the teacher dominates over the students who are quiet and passive (Calderon 3). This dominant-subordinate relationship is a direct result of the societal structure today, but it can be molded into an equal and symbiotic relationship when “mutual learning” is incorporated into the classroom (Calderon 2). Therefore, if critical thinking and group discussions were the foundations of the classroom setting, the faculty and students can both learn from and respect each other, and diminish the dominant-subordinate structure put in place.

Intersectionality is the combination of a person’s race, gender, and class that categorize them as possessing either majority dominant or subordinate characteristics; when an individual possesses multiple subordinate labels, they are subject to perpetual discrimination and obstacles occur in most areas of life. One such intersectional subordinate group in society are women of color. Kimberlé Crenshaw introduces readers to Los Angeles women’s shelters, where women of color have been rooted in the subordination that society labelled them as, and as a result, they are “burdened by poverty, child-care responsibilities, and the lack of job skills…[and] racially discriminatory employment and housing practices…,” which has what led them to be the major population in these shelters (Crenshaw 2). This pile of subordinate identities is what leads groups like women of color to endure this increasing pressure. Crenshaw highlights the fact that because of their race and gender that is discriminated, they experience the inability to find housing and employment (2). More and more of these women are vulnerable due to the compounding of identities because they are having their independence stripped from them until they need to go to shelters not only to retreat from violence or assault, but for a place to eat and sleep for the night.

A positive outcome to internalizing and understanding one’s intersectional subordinate identities is when they can overcome the systems that have failed them once they realize and embrace the dominant characteristics they possess in comparison to those in their subordinant group. Robin DiAngelo is one such person who has had success from this. DiAngelo “grew up poor and White,” and still, she could not see the privilege that she held over other racial populations who were in the same economic situations as her (DiAngelo, 138). To understand and process her oppression, she had to center her focus on racism, as it was instead an internalized dominance that she possessed despite her class. Even though she had a poor upbringing and always felt there was something “wrong” with her, she always knew that at least she had the advantage of not being a person of color (DiAngelo, 139). As she grew up, not only did she do away with her subordinate class identity by graduating from college, but she also gained wisdom from the fact that “the oppression I experienced growing up poor didn’t protect me from learning my place in the racial hierarchy” (140). DiAngelo further advocated for her model by holding diversity trainings on intersectionality, so that she can also teach others to embrace their dominance they hold in society instead of being brought down by their subordination.

Intersectionality is seen at my community partner, the Spahr Center. Common intersectionalities are the transgender community and homelessness. Transgender individuals are often not accepted by their families, so they live on the streets starting at a young age. There, they are subject to sex work to make money, rape, and drug addiciton, which can all result in the potential contraction of HIV. The Spahr Center’s primary mission is to prevent the spread of HIV, so they heavily focus on outreach to the homeless transgender community as they are the most vulnerable population they serve. To address these intersectionalities, The Spahr Center distributes clean needles and accompanying supplies, as well as hygiene kits with soap, toothpaste, and feminine products. These intersectionalities are rarely ever seen as dominant no matter where one is in the world, as are all characteristics of the Spahr Center’s clients.