Intersectionality and Its Implications for Black Women
In addressing diversity, it is essential to consider that an individual can be diverse in more than one way and can possess multiple subordinated group identities. For this reason, it is important to relate with people case by case, as no one size fits all. This article explores intersectionality and its implications for black women.
What is Intersectionality?
Intersectionality refers to how various identity groups intersect and how they are affected by their complexity and interconnectedness.
I will take myself as an example. I am a Woman and also Black. It puts me in multiple subordinate groups. Black women face gender-based and race-based subordination in the workplace, which puts us at a disadvantage compared to our white and black male counterparts. In my career, I happen to have experienced this. I once applied for a job I was qualified for and didn’t get it. I got feedback I believed didn’t hold water. Judging by the situation surrounding this, I was intersectionality disadvantaged because I was competing with a White Male counterpart. So, in this scenario, he was not only White but also Male, putting me in double jeopardy.
Intersectional Invisibility
Another context of diversity to bear in mind is intersectional invisibility. Black women face intersectional invisibility when they do not fit into a particular group and are often overlooked. Black women have had to work twice as hard to be seen and heard. There is no denying the fact that everyone is an intersectional group member. However, the experience faced by each group differs depending on the type of group and the privileges enjoyed by such groups. An example is white privilege.
Intersectionality and Its Implications for Black Women
Racial and gender discrimination in the workplace has resulted in demotivation, job dissatisfaction, burnout, and the resignation of many black women. Those who remain are quietly quitting. Black Women, like all women, must get the recognition and promotion they deserve. They shouldn’t have to work twice as hard to be seen and heard. Progressing in one’s career must be based on merit, not just because a person belongs to a privileged subordinate group.
Conclusion
Employers must understand that diversity is interconnected and multiplicative and goes beyond gender and race and includes factors such as age, education, and political and cultural differences. Measures must be in place to address these issues case by case and ensure equality and that no group member is disadvantaged.
Further Reading
https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amj.2017.1513
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