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If you don't have a lens that's been trained to look at how various forms of discrimination come together, you're unlikely to develop a set of policies that will be as inclusive as they need to be.
Kimberle Williams Crenshaw
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Understanding intersectionality is crucial for creating inclusive policies that address multiple forms of discrimination.

In this quote, Kimberle Williams Crenshaw emphasizes the importance of having a perspective that recognizes how different forms of discrimination—such as race, gender, and class—intersect and influence one another. Without this lens, policymakers may overlook the complexities of social inequality, leading to incomplete and ineffective policies that fail to support marginalized groups adequately.

Themes

DiscriminationIntersectionalityInclusivityPolicySocial Justice

In practice

Example use cases

This quote is relevant in discussions about how to formulate effective anti-discrimination laws.

More from Kimberle Williams Crenshaw

The struggle against patriarchy and racism must be substantively robust and inextricably intertwined.
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I have a wonderful, diverse, and young staff at the AAPF who pretty much work around the clock trying to figure out how we promote the idea that social justice requires us to be intersectional in our thinking and in our scope of vision.
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We have to move back to the idea that education isn't about teaching people to bow to rigid rules. That's not what democracy is about.
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Having a monolithic view of feminism is suffocating.
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We must begin to tell black women's stories because, without them, we cannot tell the story of black men, white men, white women, or anyone else in this country. The story of black women is critical because those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.
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All too often, girls are ignored because their challenges aren't thought to be as serious as those faced by boys.
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Quote by Kimberle Williams Crenshaw | QuoteProject