In What Ways Can the Concept of Intersectionality Be Used - Essay Example

In what ways can the concept of intersectionality be used to help us understand the disadvantage and discrimination faced by black and minority ethnic women who have contact with the criminal justice system?   The concept of intersectionality became known to sociology during the late 1960s and early 1970s due to the wide multiracial feminist movement in that period. It was part of the negative opinion given to the radical feminism or revisionist feminist theory that also became known in the 1960s (Hooks, 1984). The movement towards intersectionality or intersectionism, on the other hand, can be traced back from the North American Feminist Movement or more specifically the Black Feminist Movement during the 1990s (Collins, 2000) to address the issue regarding the discrimination suffered by black women in employment (Crenshaw, 1989) and gendered systems of oppression. The said term was coined in 1989 by Kimberle Crenshaw. But the terms gained its popularity in the discussion on Black feminism made by Patricial Hill Collins in the 1990s, replacing what the latter had previously termed her theory as black feminist thought and extended its applicability was extended from covering African American only to all women (Mann and Huffman 2005, p.70). However, it seems that the said theory is still more of a theoretical approach within research instead of being utilized in the process of policy making (www.gender.no, 2006). Intersectionality is a theory which tries to examine the different ways in which several socially and culturally created classes interrelate on multiple levels to mark themselves as inequality in the society. According to the said theory, the classical models of oppression in a society are based on race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, species, class, gender, religion and disability. These forms of oppression do not work independently of one another but interact in such a way to create a system of oppression that manifests the “intersection” of different faces of discrimination (Knudsen, 2007). Moreover, the different cultural patters of oppression are not only interconnected but are grouped together and influenced by different intersectional systems in the society (Collins 2000, p.45). According to Hendriks (2009), through intersectionalism, an individual is empowered to make sense of their own reality. Intersectionalism is premised on the ground that persons have a complex mix of individualities, like religion, race, culture,family, socio-economic condition and these all influence the way they interact, which mainly says that gender is just a part of the whole spectrum with respect to the empowerment and participation (Hendriks, 2009). To emphasize the oppressions mentioned in connection with the present topic, women are usually the victims of multiple discrimination and experience oppression in different ways and in different impact levels (Ritzer, 2007). Also, it is already given and of public knowledge the different types of oppression that black people are suffering from the cruelty of the reality within the society. And to extend the said situations further, the two oppressions mentioned by the said different classes are even aggravated when women happens to have a black color. Thus, there is a constant regard to them in the society as the inferior halves. This makes the oppression suffered by women who is also a black or vice versa even more worse (Collins 1986, S14). This is because until now, the concept of white supremacy, racism, capitalism and imperialism are still dominant notwithstanding this modern day age. Equality somehow remains upto this day a theory that never encompaces the stage of experience and practicality. Crenshaw (1995) illustrated such unfortunate picture such as when a certain black woman is harmed, aside from the physical injury he suffered, she could also suffer from sex discrimination or race discrimination in the process of trying to look for redress of the wrong caused her. For example,the police could favor the transgressor who happens to be a male, or a white or both. Even worse is that such unfair treatment could go a long way as far as in the courts of justice. There was also a study conducted regarding the dispositions of rape cases in Dallas, Texas. The study revealed that the average prison term for a convicted rapist who raped a black woman is only two years as compared to the 3 more years or five years for someone who raped a Latina or 10 years for someone who raped an Anglo woman (Maschke, 1997). The discrimination may not be as expressed as it may seem but it leaves one to wonder why is there such a significant discrepancy. The same is true for battered women or wives. Because of being a black woman or a member of ethnic minority, they are sometimes aftaid to prosecute the crimes committed against them and fear that what they say will instead be used against them. This makes them feel that they are disempowered with respect to the criminal justice system among other things and believe that they have little say in the establishment of charges or placing the violator under compulsory legal process. Should they be able to do so, there is fear of delaying the proceedings that amounts to the denial of their cause or if not, charges will be droped or dismissed easily.Thus, the perpetrator enjoys the luxury of not putting in front of the court and made to answer all the charges against him/her. Moreover, it may also be possible that the victim is poor in contrast to the accused. Hence, the accused can afford to procure for himself a good lawyer as compared to the victim. For black women who have already the idea of the propensity of injustice in the people like them, it may seem that bringing the case all the way to the court to find justice may not be the best option. What is worse is that if a black woman who was raped already came to the point of just putting the law into her own hands. Anyway, for her, scale of justice would not really tilt in her position and the situation has already gone bad, so why just make the matters worst for the both of her and the culprit. In that way, justice could be better served. That could be a likely scenario if things got worst. This is especially that there was already a research that could show that blacks are more likely than whites to get unfavorable or adverse opinions from criminal justice bodies in America (Weitzer and Tuch, 1999). This makes reporting the abusers to the police would serve futile to women of color or of ethnic minorities because of the history regarding racially-motivated activities such as police brutaliy or deaths and violence while in the custody of the police or a simple passitivity or insufficient or lack of action from the authorities or law-enforcement officials (Council of Europe, 2006). And even if he or she is indeed the victim in the scenario, there are prosecutors that act on the case on the basis of the previous criminal records of a black person or a member of a minority and his or her personal life (Maschke, 1997). Instead of helping him or her attain redress, he or she is unclothed with his or her rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws. Thus, these people are not just being overlooked but are deliberately excluded from enjoying their rights. On the side of the police authorities, they may have difficulty in establishing or gaining trust from these classes of people because of their inability to bring security to the victim in some cases. In short, justice is a mere a symbol for them and nothing more. In such cases, it is really not impossible to expect the worst case scenario mentioned. This compliments the good opinion of a journalist named Jennifer Bloom (1990, p.1) who emphatically said that “If we are going to continue with spending more for getting black people in jail rather than giving them education or putting them into school, our country is going to end up with a society that is hell.” I think the given phrase is very well said and should be enough to trigger the hearts and minds of the authorities to start changing our paradigm. Let us be part of the solution and not of the problem. We have to start from the roots of the problem to cure the problem and not just cut the tip of the wild grass but to get the roots thereof. To help the situation improve, the knowledge and information gathered from the intersectionalysis can be utilized to craft tools designed to enforce policies geared toward gender equality (www.gender.no, 2006) and racial equality. Intersectional theories can be effective because its pespectives give us the idea that mere identifying the situation of men and women in general in insufficient but it is likewise essential to know that their race, sexual orientation, age, etc is/are affecting their conditions (www.gender.no, 2006). And in order to fully comprehend the racialization of the oppressed groups, we must scrutinize and examine the ways in which the racism structures, social representations, social processes (or ideas that are implying to embody the groups and members of the group in the society) are formed by various factors such as class, gender, sexuality, etc. (Browne and Misra, 2003). This is mainly because oppressions resulting from differences in color, experiences of class, gender, sexuality, etc. cannot just be understood save influences of racialization are cautiously looked at (Collins 2000, p.42). All of these could help us realize that black people and members of ethnic minorities are often victims of institutional discrimination in the school, employment, etc. That many of them undergo or have undergone special education or stopped from going to school or went to a school that is under-funded that lacks the credibility to provide kids with sufficient skills to prepare them to compete with the rest of the world or suffered from discrimination in the hiring processes that leaves a big portion of these unfortunate people unemployed (Taylor-Gibbs, 1988). This could lead for realization that there is indeed a need for redistribution of economic resources and avoid concentration to the a particular class. By seeing the whole picture, we will be able to understand why are they reacting in certain manners or why they have certain tendencies. By trying to understand and embrace the concept of intersectionality, political and social equaliy can be attained and would eventually result in a better democratic system (Collins 2000, p.42). Likewise, according to McCall (2007). So if example, I am a police, I will already have an idea on how to treat this people and could be careful not to give them the impression that there is an element of bias against them. This will also enable myself to act according to the oath I have taken to the flag and country and in service of the people. So as in the case if a person is a teacher, a judge, a lawyer, doctor or even just an ordinary citizen. In which case, black women or ethnic minorities will have confidence in the legal system and could willingly submit themselves to any legal proceedings if needed. There is no need to hide from the being summoned or subpoenaed because they know that they have nothing to fear and confident to leave everything in the hands of the judge. There is no more white paranoia or male paranoia as the issues of class, gender, religion and etc have already been dysenthesized. Indeed, the wheel of justice will be enabled to roll on its own circle countinuously rather than rolling halfway. The concept of intersectionality also helps people to realize the importance of self-evaluation and self-definition which could eventually help in resisting oppression. Intersectionality could also make people partake in self-awareness processes that could also help people to maintain the self-esteem of the people oppressed like those black women and ethnic minorities as well as refrain from any dehumanizing remote influences. By such practice, they can reflect back on their experiences in a manner that they can efficiently define, value and empower themselves to look for social justice (Weber, 2004). On the other hand, policymakers will be able to realize that there is a need to problematize the repercusions of racially motivated attacks against black women or members of the ethnic minorities and of the unlawful and unjust treatment given by the law-enforcement agencies and officers (e.g. police, courts or judges, prisons, etc) in many parts of the world. Crime prevention can also be attained through social programs and giving opportunities rather than strictly closing our minds that the better solution is to put all these people who have wronged in jail. This is termed by Acker (2004, p.19) as “ostensible gender neutrality”. It is noteworthy to consider what Burgess-Proctor (2006) had posited with respect to the feminist criminology. The said author said that the future of feminist criminology hinges on the people’s eagerness to adopt a theoretical framework that recognizes multiple, intersecting inequalities. Further, the said author said that to improve the people’s comprehension of gender, crime and justice that accomplishes universal relevance and is not restricted by the previous shortcomings with respect to mentality, feminist criminologists should investigate and examine the connection between inequality and crime by employing an intersectional theoretical framework that is educated by multi-racial feminism. This idea will be a big help in terms of decreasing the incidents of oppression as the feminist criminology shares the same elements with the problems suffered by black women and members of the minority class. Moreover, it also noteworthy to consider the elements associated with feminism or feminist perspective in criminology identified by (Gelsthorpe 2002, p.135). The said elements are the following: focusing on the sex/gender as the heart of the organizing principle in social life; recognition of the value of power in creating social relations; being sensitive to the influence of social background on the behaviour of a person; recognition that social reality is indeed a process and that researches should reflect on this; a political will to attain social change; personal and theoretical reflexivity on epistemological, methodical and ethical choices and commitments; and being open and creative in perceiving the idea of producing and evaluating knowledge. Again, all of the given elements are also useful in the efforts to level the playing field equal for people regardless of the class or group they belong. However, there is an apparent need to review the justice system particularly the criminal justice system so that black women and members of the ethnic minorities will be given the assurance to experience equal protection under the law. The development of the concept of intersectionality could help raise awareness regarding the biases that can be seen in criminology. Understanding the situation of the opposite and multiple parties is also needed as when no forms are hidden or invisible for criminological analysis, then the discipline could be in a better position to understand all the sides of the stories. The same is true with the legal system. If the prosecutors and judges can see the wider picture and both sides of the pictures, the scale of justice will tilt on neither side but on the side of equality. The nature of the crime should be philosophically reflected upon in order to obtain intellectual independence rather than arbitrariness. Thus, authorities are not merely reduced to being observers but as participants. In so being, they would be able to not just intellectually understand every situation and condition but be more emphatic with the conditions of these unfortunate people. The theoretical paradigm of intersectionality enables us then to understand privilege, human rights and oppression. It helps us to see the legal truth of inequalities by reason of classification. The methodologies for research, theoretical developments and calls for change will be more geared towards the attainment of social justice through limiting if not eliminating the barriers that divide the walls of justice. By putting intersectionality at the heart of the system, essentialism may be avoided. The experiences of the oppressed and disadvantaged will be understood and explored and be used in formulating policies for the public. References Acker, J. (2004) Gender, Capitalism and Globalization, Critical Sociology, pp. 17-41. Bloom, J. (1990) Fewer Black Men Attend College, Boston Globe, 1 October , p. 1. Browne, I.and Misra, J. (2003) The Intersection of Gender and Race in the Labor Market, Annual Revoew of Sociology, June, pp. 487-513. Burgess-Proctor, A. 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