Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color Kimberle Crenshaw* INTRODUCTION Over the last two decades, women have organized against the almost routine violence that shapes their lives.' Drawing from the strength of shared experience, women have recognized that the political demands of mi lions speak more powerfully than the pleas of a few isolated voices. This, politicization in turn has transformed the way we understand violence against women. For example, battering and rape, once seen as private (fam- ily matters) and aberrational (errant sexual aggression), are now largely rec- ‘ognized as part of a broad-scale system of domination that affects women as a class.? This process of recognizing as social and systemic what was for- © 1993 by Kimberle Crenshaw. Profesor of Law, Univesity of California, Los Angeles B.A, Cornell University, 198; 1D. Harvard Law School, 1986; LIM. University of Wisconsin, 1985, Tam indebted ta great many people who have pushed this project long. For thelr kind asist- ance in facilitating my fel research for this article, I wish to thank Maria Blanco, Margaret Cam- brick, Joan Cree, Estelle Cheung, Nilda Rimonte and Fred Smith, {benefited from the comments ‘of Taunya Banks, Mack Barenberg, Darcy Calkins, Adrienne Davis, Gina Dent, Brent Edwards, Paul Gewict, Lani Guinier, Neil Gotanda, Joel Handler, Duncan Kennedy, Henry Monaghan, Eliz- abeth Schneider and Kendall Thomas. A very special thanks goes fo Gar) Peller and Richard. borough. Jayne Lee, Paula Puryear, Yancy Garrido, Eugenia Giford and Leti Volpp provided valuable reseurch asistance. [gratefully acknowledge the support of the Academic Senate of UCLA, Center for Afto-Amerian Studies at UCLA, the Reed! Foundation and Columbia Law Schoo!’ Earle versions ofthis article wre presented tothe Critical Race Theory Workshop and the Yale Legal Theory Workshop. ‘This ate i dedicated to the memory of Dense Carty Bena and Mary Joe Frog. 1. Feminist academies and activist have payed a central role in forwarding an ideological and insiuional challenge tothe practices that condone and perpette violence against women. See fsenerally SusAN BROWNMILLER, AGAINST OUR WiLL: MEX, WOMEN AND RAPE (1975) Lonenve M.G. CLank & Dena J. Laws, Rare: THE PRICE OF COHRCIVE SEXUALITY (197 R. EMERSON Dosastt & RUSSELL DonAsit, VIOLENCE AGAINST WIVES: A CASE AGAINST THE Patmtakn (1979), Nancy GAGER de CATHLEEN SCHURR, SEXUAL ASSAULT: CONFRONTING Rare IN AMERICA (1976), DiaNa ELH, RUSSELL, THE PoLitics oF Rare: THE VicriM's PER srecrive (1974); ELizameru ANNE STANKO, INTIMATE INTRUSIONS: WOMEN'S EXPERIENCE OF MALE VioLENce (1983); Levon E. WALKER, TERRIFYING LOVE: WiY BATTERED WOMEN KILL ab How Socisry Restos (1989); LeNone E, WALKER, THE BATTERED Woman Sv DROME (1984), LENORE E. WALKER, THE BATTERED WOMAN (1979). 2. See eg, SUSAN SCHECHTER, WOMEN AND MALE VIOLENCE: THE VISIONS AND STRUG: ‘ots oF THe Barrens WoMEN'S MoviseNr (1982) (arguing that battering i a me _ taining women’s subordinate position); S. BROWNMILLER, supra note I (arguing that 1241Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color Kimberle Crenshaw* InTRopucTIoN Over the last two decades, women have organized against the almost routine violence that shapes their lives. Drawing from the strength of shared experience, women have recognized that the political demands of mil- lions speak more powerfully than the pleas of a few isolated voices. This politicization in turn has transformed the way we understand violence against women. For example, battering and rape, once seen as private (fam- ily matters) and aberrational (errant sexual aggression), are now largely ree- ognized as part of a broad-scale system of domination that affects women as a class This process of recognizing as social and systemic what was for- (© 1993 by Kimbere Crenshaw. Profesor of Law, U B.A, Cornell Univesity, 1981; }D. Harvard Law School, 1985, Tam indebted toa great many poople who have pushed thi project along. For thee kind ance infctating my eld researc fr this article, I wish fo thank Maria Blanco, Margaret Can brie, Joan Creer Estelle Cheung. Nida Rinwonte and Feed Smith. 1 benefited rom the comments of Taunya Banks, Mark Barenberg, Dury Calkins, Adrienne Davis, Gina Dent, Brent Edwards, Paul Gewictz, Lani Guinier, Neil Gotsnda, Joel Handler, Duncan Kennedy, Henry Monaghan, Elz: abeth Schneider and Kendell Thomas. A very special thanks goes to Gary Peller and Richard Yar borough. Jayne Lee, Paula Puryear, Yancy Garrido, Eugenia Giford and Lati Volpp provided valuable resench asustonce. T grateflly acknowledge the support of the Academie Senate of UCLA, Center for Afro-American Studies at UCLA, the Resd Foundation and Columbia Law ‘School! Esler versions of thi article were presented othe Creal Race Theory Workshop andthe Yale Legal Theory Workshop. “This aril ie edited to the memory of Dense Carty Bennia and Mary Joe Frug. 1. Feminist seademics and aetvsts have played »cetral role in forwarding an idenogicl and ‘national challenge tothe practices tht condone and perpelvate vclenee against women. Soe iencraly Susan. BRowWnMlLLen, AGAINST OUR WILL: MEN, WOMEN AND RaPe. (1975), Tones M.G. Crank & Deana J. Lewis, RaPt: THE PRICE OF COERCIVE SEXUALITY (I9TD), [REMERON Donastt & RUSSELL DOBASH, VIOLENCE AGAINST WIVES: A CASE AGAINST THE PATRIARCHY (1979), NaNCY GAGER & CATIILEEN SCHUNR, SEXUAL, ASSAULT: CONFRONTING Raps it Amunica (19765), DIANA EL. RUSSELL, THE PoLitics oF RAPE: THE VicriM's PER- sricrive (1974); ELIZABETH ANNE STANKO, INTIMATE INTRUSIONS: WOMEN'S EXPERIENCE OF MALE VioweNce (1985); LeNonE E, WALKER, TERRIFYING Love: Wi BatreneD WoMeN KILL ab How Society Resvons (1989), LENORE F. WALKER, THE BATTERED WOMAN SY DROME (1984), LENORE B, WALKER, THE BATTERED WowaN (1979), 1 Se, eg, SUSAN SCHECHTER, WOMEN AND MALE VIOLENCE: THE VISIONS AND STRUG- ‘a.us or Tite Barents Wosen’s MovEMENT (1982) (argoing that batlring i means of mas taining Women’s subordinate postion, 8. BROWNMILLER, supra noe I (arguing that rape i 12411242 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 ‘erly perceived as isolated and individual has also characterized the identity politics of African Americans, other people of color, and gays and lesbians, among others. For all these groups, identity-based politics has been a source of strength, community, and intellectual development The embrace of identity politics, however, has been in tension with domi nant conceptions of social justice. Race, gender, and other identity catego- ries are most often treated in mainstream liberal discourse as vestiges of bias or domination—that is, as intrinsically negative frameworks in which social power works to exclude or marginalize those who are different. According to this understanding, our liberatory objective should be to empty such cat gories of any social significance. Yet implicit in certain strands of fem and racial liberation movements, for example is the view that the social power in delineating difference need not be the power of domination; it can instead be the source of social empowerment and reconstruction. ‘The problem with identity politics is not that it fails to transcend differ- ence, as some critics charge, but rather the opposite—that it frequently con- flates or ignores intragroup differences. In the context of violence against women, this elision of difference in identity politics is problematic, funda- mentally because the violence that many women experience is often shaped by other dimensions of their identities, such as race and class, Moreover, ignoring difference within groups contributes to tension among groups, an: other problem of identity politics that bears on efforts to politicize violence against women. Feminist eforts to politicize experiences of women and an- tiracist efforts to politicize experiences of people of color have frequently proceeded as though the issues and experiences they each detail occur on ‘mutually exclusive terrains, Although racism and sexism readily intersect in the lives of real people, they seldom do in feminist and antiracist practices. And so, when the practices expound identity as woman or person of color as an either/or proposition, they relegate the identity of women of color to a location that resists telling. My objective in this article is to advance the telling of that location by exploring the race and gender dimensions of violence against women of color.’ Contemporary feminist and antiracist discourses have failed to con- ‘atirchal practice that subordinates women fo mea); Elabeth Schneder, The Violence of Privacy, 23 Conn. L, Rev. 973, 974 (1991) ascussing how “concepts of privacy permit, encourage and reinforce violence agaist women”; Susan Este, Rape, 98 YALE LJ. 1087 (1986) (analyzing rape Jaw as one illustration of seis in eximinal law); se alto CATHARINE A. MACKTNNON, SEXUAL Hanassuen oF Wonkine WoMeN: A Cast oF SEx Discniinarion 143-219 (1979) (erbuing that sexual harassment should be redefined as sexual dtcrmination actionable under Title Vi rather than viewed as misplaced senulity inthe workplace) 3. This article arises out of and is inspired by two emerging scholarly discourses. The fist is tical race theory. Fora eros setion of what i ow substantial body of iterate, ee PATRICIA 4, Wine1ases, THE ALciEMY oF Race AND RrGiT¥s (1991); Robin D. Barnes, Race Conseiousese ‘The Thematic Content of Racial Disinctveness in Col Race Scholanhip, 10) HaKv. L. REN. 1864 (1990) John 0. Calmore, Criea! Race Theory, Arche Shepp, and Fire Music Securing on Authentic Intellectual Life tn @ Multicultural Word, 63 8, Cav. L- Rev. 2129 (1993); Antony E. Cook, Beyond Creal Legal Sudies: The Reconsirctve Theology of Dr: Martin Luther King. 103 ‘anv. L. Rey. 985 (1990); Kimber Willams Crenshaw, Race, Reform and Retronchment Tran= formation and Legiimaton in Amidseriminaion Law, 101 Han¥”L, Rev. 1331 (0988), RichardJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1243 sider interscctional identities such as women of color.* Focusing on two dimensions of male violence against women—battering and rape—I consider how the experiences of women of color are frequently the product of inter- secting patterns of racism and sexism,’ and how these experiences tend not Delgado, Wien a Story is Just a Story: Does Voice Realy Matart, 76 Vn. 1. Rev. 95 (1990, Nel Gotanda, 4 Critique af “Our Constitution is Colorbind, "44 Stan. L. REV. 1 (1991) Mari J. Mat. sda, Public Response ro Racist Speech: Considering the Vitis Story, 87 Mici. L. REY. 2320 (1989); Charles R- Lawrence MI, The 1 the Bga, and Equal Protection: Reckoning with Unconscious Rack, 39 Stax. L, Rev. 317 (1987); Gerald Torts, Cro Race Theor The Decline ofthe ives deal andthe Hope of Pura Justice Some Observations and Questions of an Ermering Phenomenon, 75 Miss. 1. REV. 993 (1991). For a useful overview of ent! rave theory, see Calmore, supra, at 2160-2168, ‘A second, less formally linked body of legal scholatship invesigtes the connections between sce and gender. See. eg Regina Austin, Sapphire Bound, 1989 Ws, L. RE. 539; Crenshaw, supra; Angela P, Harris, Race and Bsseatlalism in Feminist Legal Theor, 42 Stan. Ly Rev. $81 (1980); Marlee Kline, Roce, Ractm ond Feminist Legal Theory, 12 Hany, WoMen’s Ll. 115 (1989); Dorothy E. Roberts, Punishing Drug Adlets Who Have Babies: Women of Color, Equality and the Right of Privacy, 104 Manv. L. REV. 1419 (1991); Cathy Scarborough, Conceptalling Black Women’s Employment Experiences 98 YALE LJ. 1457 (1989) (student author; Pete R ‘Smith, SeprateIdeniies Black Women. Work and Title VII, V6 Hanv. Wossn’s LJ. 21 (1991) uy Seales-Tent, Black Women and the Consitution: Finding Our Pace, Acertng Our Right 24 Hany. CR-CL. L, Rev. 91989; udith A, Winston, Mrvon Mirrron the Wall: Tie VI. Section 1981, and the Intersection of Race and Gender n the Ch! Rights Act of 1990, 19 Cat, L. REV. 715 (1991). This work in turn has been informed oy a hrosder iteratureexaminig the interactions of Face and gender in other contents. Stee PATRICIA HILL COLLINS, BLACK FEMINIST THOUGHT KNOWLEDGE, CONSCIOUSNESS, AND THE POLITICS OF EMPOWERMENT (1990); ANGELA DAVIS Won, RACE aND C1AS (1981), BELL HOOKS, AIN'T [A Wontax? BLAck WoMey AND FEM! ‘ish (1981), ELIzaBeTH V. SPELMAN, INFSSENTIAL. WoMtan: Pronths OF EXCLUSION TY Fest: ast Tuouottr (1988); Frances Beal, Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female, in THe BLACK Wowan 90 (Toni Cade ed. 1970), Kink-Kok Cheung, The Wonan Worlr versus The Chinaman Paci: Must a Chinese American Cele Chote between Feminism and Heroism? in CONFLCTS IN Fentousot 236 (Marianne Hirsch & Evelyn Pox Keller eds. 1990) Deborah H. King, Multiple Joop andy, Mulple Consciousness The Context of Black Feminist Ideology, 14 Sus #2 (1988), Die K. Lewis, 4 Response 10 Inequaliy: Black Women, Raciom and Sexlum, 3 SiONs 339 (1977), Deborah E: MeDowell, New Directions for Black Feminist Cielo, in THE NEW FEMINST CRT. {isms Essays on WoMen, LITERATURE aND THEORY 186 (Elaine Showalter ed. 1985, Valet Smith, Black Feminist Theory and the Representation of the “Other”, in Citanciso OvR OWN ‘Wonos: Essavs ov Cutricis, THEORY AND WRITING BY BLACK WOMEN 38 (Cheryl A. Wal ed 1989) 4. Although the objective of this arti sto deseribe the intersectonal location of women of color and thee marginalization within dominant resistance discourses, 1 Jo not mean to imply that the disempowermeat of women of colori singularly or even primarily caused by feminist end tn tiracist theorists oF ativists. Indeed, I hope 10 dispel any such simpistie interpretations by cap. ing, at teas in part, the way that prevailing srucures of domination shape various discourses of Fesislanes. As [have noted elsewhere, "People can only demand change in ways that reflect the logic ofthe institutions they are challenging. Demands for chang tht donot reflect. dominant ldeology wil probably be infective." Crenshaw, supra te 3, a 1367. Although there are signicant politieal and conceptual obstacles to moving against stretutes of domination with an iterseetional sensibility, my point i thatthe effort to-do 0 should be a eenral theoretical and political objective of bath antral and feminism. 5. Aithough this acticle deals with violent assault perpetrated by men against women, women ate also subject to violent assault by worsen. Vilenceaamong lesbians a hidden but significant problem. One expert reported that in a study of $0 lesbian couples, roughly 46% of lesbians have been physialy abused by their partners. Jane Garcia, The Cot of Escaping Domestic Violence: Fear @f Treatment in a Larely Homophobie Soctey May Kesp Lebion Abuse Vitis from Calling for Help, LA. Times, May 6, 1991, at 2; see ao NAMING THE VIOLENCE: SPEAKING Ot ANSUT Lesotan BaTTERiNe (Kerry Lobel ed. 1986) Ruthann Rebson, Lavender Brute: Intraleshian Vio- lence, Law ond Lesbian Lego! Theor 20 GOLDEN GATE ULL, RE. 367 (1990). ‘There ate clear parallels between violence against women inthe lesbian community an violence against women in1244 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 to be represented within the discourses of either feminism or antiracism. Be- cause of their intersectional identity as both women and of color within dis- courses that are shaped to respond to one or the other, women of color are ‘marginalized within both. In an earlier article, I used the concept of intersectionality to denote the various ways in which race and gender interact to shape the multiple dimen- sions of Black® women’s employment experiences.” My objective there was to illustrate that many of the experiences Black women face are not sub- sumed within the traditional boundaries of race or gender discrimination as these boundaries are currently understood, and that the intersection of ra- cism and sexism factors into Black women’s lives in ways that cannot be captured wholly by looking at the race or gender dimensions of those exper- iences separately, I build on those observations here by exploring the va ous ways in which race and gender intersect in shaping structural, political and representational aspects of violence against women of color.® I should say at the outset that intersectionality is not being offered here as some new, totalizing theory of identity. Nor do I mean to suggest that violence against women of color can be explained only through the specific frameworks of race and gender considered here.? Indeed, factors I address ‘communities of color. Lesbian violence ofien shrouded in secrecy Tor similar reasons that have ‘Suppressed the exposure of heteroterval vlene in communities of color —fear of embarassing oer ‘members of the commusity, which is aleady serectyped a deviant, and fear of being ostracized fiom the community. Despite these similarities, there are nonetheless distinctions between male abuse of women and female abuse of women that in the context of patriarchy, acim and homophobia, warrants mote focused analysis than is posible here 6. Tse “Black” and “African American’ interchangeably throughout this article. {capitalize “Black” because “Blacks, lke sian, Latins, and other ‘inories”constite& specie cultueal group and, as such, require denotaion a a proper noun.” Crenshaw, supra note y at 1332 n.2 (citing Catharine MacKinnon, Fenian, Marxiom, Method, andthe Stat: dn Agenda for Theory, 7 Stoss 515, 516 (1982). By the same token, I donot capitalize “whit,” which i nota proper noun, sie whites donot const a eecifecltual group. Fr the same reason T 0 9% Spite "women of eolor”™ 1. Kimberle Crenshaw, Demaygializng the Intervetion of Race and Sex, 1989 U. Cu Lica F138. 8. Texplicly adopt a Black feminist stance in this survey of violence agsinst women of color. 1 do this cognizant of several tensions that such a positon ental The most significant ne stems from the ertesm that while feminism purports to Speak fo women of color rough it invocation ‘ofthe term “woman” the feminist perspective exclades Women of calor because tis based upon the ‘experiences and interests ofa ceriain subset of women, On the other handy when white feminists avempt to include other women, they often add out experiences into an otherwise unaltered frame: ‘work. It is important to name the perspective fom which one constructs her spas, and forms that is a a Black feminist. Moreover, it is important to acknowledge that the materials that incorporate in my analysis are drawn heavily fram research on Black women. On the other had 1 ‘ce my own work as part ofa broader collstive efor among feminist of ealor to expand feminism to include analyses of race and other factors such as cass senuality, and age. T have attempted therefore to cffer my sense of the tentative connections between my analysis ofthe Intersections experiences of Black women and the intersectonal experience of other women of color ses that {his analysis not intended to incase falsely nor to each unnecessarily other wornen of coor. 9. 1 consider intesectioalty a provisional concept linking. contemporary politics with postmodern theory. In mapping th intersections of rae and gender, the concept dors engage domi- hant assumptions that race and gender ar essentially reprate categories. By tracing the eafegries to their inersttions, hope to suggest methodology that will ulmatly disrupt the fendencies to se ace and gender as exclusive or separable. While the primary intrsctions that I explore here areJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1245 only in part or not at all, such as class or sexuality, are often as critical in shaping the experiences of women of color. My focus on the intersections of race and gender only highlights the need to account for multiple grounds of identity when considering how the social world is constructed.'° have divided the issues presented in this article into three categories. In Part I, 1 discuss structural intersectionality, the ways in which the location of women of color at the intersection of race and gender makes our actual experience of domestic violence, rape, and remedial reform qualitatively dif- ferent than that of white women. I shift the focus in Part II to political intersectionality, where I analyze how both feminist and antiracist politics have, paradoxically, often helped to marginalize the issue of violence against women of color. Then in Part III, I discuss representational intersectional- ity, by which I mean the cultural construction of women of color. I consider how controversies over the representation of women of color in popular cul- ture can also elide the particular location of women of color, and thus be- come yet another source of intersectional disempowerment. Finally, 1 address the implications of the intersectional approach within the broader scope of contemporary identity politics. 1. STRUCTURAL INTERSECTIONALITY A. Structural Intersectionality and Battering 1 observed the dynamics of structural intersectionality during a brief field study of battered women’s shelters located in minority communities in Los Angeles.!! In most cases, the physical assault that leads women to these shelters is merely the most immediate manifestation of the subordination they experience. Many women who seck protection are unemployed or un- deremployed, and a good number of them are poor. Shelters serving these women cannot afford to address only the violence inflicted by the batterer; they must also confront the other multilayered and routinized forms of dom- ination that often converge in these women’s lives, hindering their ability to create alternatives to the abusive relationships that brought them to shelters in the first place. Many women of color, for example, are burdened by pov- erty, child care responsibilities, and the lack of job skills.1?. These burdens, ‘between race and gender the concept ean and should be expanded by Facoring in Hues such as clas, sexual ortentation, age, and colo, lo, Professor Mari Matsuda calls this inguiry “asking the other question.” Mari J. Matsuda, ‘Beside My Sister, Facing the Enemy: Legal Theory Out of Coaltin, 43 STAN. L- REN. 1183 (1991). For example, we should lok at an isue or conltion tadtionally regarded as a gender isue and ak, "Where's the rim in this 11. Daring my research in Los Angles, Calfraa, vised Jenessee Battered Women's She: ‘er, the only shelter inthe Wester sates pmal serving Black women, and Everywoman’s Shel {er which primarily serves Asian women, Ilsa visited Estelle Chueng atthe Asian Pacite Law Foundation, and I spoke with a representative of La Casa, «shelter in te predominantly Lato community of Fast LA, 12. One researcher has note, in reference to a survey taken of battered women's sels, hat “many Caucasian women were probably excluded from the sample, since they are more likely (0 have availble resources that enable them to avoid going to athlter, Many shelters admit only ‘women with few or no resources or allenatives” MILDRED DALEY PAGELoW, WOMAN-BAT1246 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 largely the consequence of gender and class oppression, are then com- pounded by the racially discriminatory employment and housing practices women of color often face,!? as well as by the disproportionately high unem- ployment among people of color that makes battered women of color Tess able to depend on the support of friends and relatives for temporary shelter."# Where systems of race, gender, and class domination converge, as they do in the experiences of battered women of color, intervention strategies based solely on the experiences of women who do not share the same class or race backgrounds will be of limited help to women who because of race and class face different obstacles.'* Such was the case in 1990 when Congress amended the marriage fraud provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act to protect immigrant women who were battered or exposed to extreme cruelty by the United States citizens or permanent residents these women ‘Tenino; Vicrivs AND TwEin BXPERIENCES 97 (1981) On the other hand, many middle and up- per-class women are financially dependent upon their husbands and thus experince a diminution in ther standard of Iiving when the leave thee husbands 13. Together they make securing even the most basic necessities beyond the reach of many. Indeed one shelter provider reported that early 85 petoent of her clients returned tothe battering ationships, largely because of diffcultes in nding employment and housing. Aftean Americans sre more segregated than any other racial group, and this segregation exists across class lines. Re- ent studies m Washington, D.C, and its suburbs show that 64% of Blacks tying to rent apartments in white neighborhoods encountered discrimination, Tracy Thompson, Study Fads “Person” Ra ial Bias in Area's Rental Housing, Wash, Post, Jun. 31, 1991, at D1, Had these studies factored ‘ender and family status ito the equation, the sass might have been worse 14. More specially, Arican Americans sulfer from high unemployment rate, low incomes, and hgh poverty rates. According to Dr, Davia Swinton, Dean of the School of Business at Jackson State University in Missipp, Aftcan Americans "receive thresfhs as much income per person 1s whites and are thee times as likely to ve annus! incomes below the Federally defined poverty level of $12,675 fora family of four.” Urban League Urges Action N.Y. Tes, Jan. 9, 1991, at ALS, Infact, recent statistics indicate that racial economic inequality is “higher as we begin the 1980s ‘than at any other time in the lst 20 years™ David Swinton, The Economic Status of Ajrcan Amer: ‘ant, "Permanens” Pores and Inequaliy in THE STATE OF BLACK AMERICA 199 at 25 (1991) ‘The economic situation of minority women is, expectedly, worse than tha of thee male cou terparts. Black worn, who ean a median of $7,875 a year, make considersbly les than Black men, who earn a median income of $12,609 a year, and white women, who earn a median income of 59,812 year. Id. at 32 (Table 3). Additionally, the percentage of Black femalecheaed familios living in poverty (46.5%) i almost wie that of white femaleheaded families (28.4%). 1d. at 43 (Table 8) Latino households aso ean considerably less than white hossehold. Ty 1988, the me dian income of Latino households was $20,359 and for white hovssholds, $28,340-a diference of almost $8,000. Hiseanic AMERICANS: A StaTisTicaL SOURCEBOOK 149 (1991). Analyzing by ‘tigi, in 1988, Puero Rican households were the Worst of, with 34.1% earning below $10,000 3 year and mean income forall Puerto Rican houscholds of $1,487 per year Jd. at 188. 1989 Satisties for Latino men and women show that women earned an average of $7,000 less than men Td a 69, 15. See text accompanying notes 61-66 (discussing shelter’ refusal to house Spanish-speak- ing woman in crisis even though er som could interpret for er because it would contrite to er isempowermen). Racial diferences marked an interesting contrast between Jenese's polices and those of ether sheer situated ouside the Black community. Unlike ome other shelters fn Los ‘Angeles, Jenessce weleomed the asstnce of men. According to the Director the shelter’ policy ‘was premised on a belie that given African Americans need to maintain healthy elation to pursue ® common struggle against ratism, anti-violence programs within the Asean Amerlean community annotaford to be antagonistic to men. Fora dncusion ofthe diferent needs of Blsck women who se battered, see Heth Richi, Battered Black Women: A Challenge forthe Blak Commun. BLACK Scwouan, Mar/Apr. 1985, at 40.July 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1247 immigrated to the United States to marry. Under the marriage fraud provi sions of the Act, a person who immigrated to the United States to marry a United States citizen or permanent resident had to remain “properly” mar- ried for two years before even applying for permanent resident status," at which time applications for the immigrant’s permanent status were required of both spouses."” Predictably, under these circumstances, many immigrant women were reluctant to leave even the most abusive of partners for fear of being deported.'® When faced with the choice between protection from their batterers and protection against deportation, many immigrant women chose the latter.” Reports of the tragic consequences of this double subordination put pressure on Congress to include in the Immigration Act of 1990 a provi- sion amending the marriage fraud rules to allow for an explicit waiver for hardship caused by domestic violence? Yet many immigrant women, par- 16 8 USC. § 1186a (1988) The Marriage Froud Amendments provide that an allen spouse “sll be considered, atthe lime of obtaining the stats ofan len lawfully admitted for permanent residene, to have obtained such status ona conditional bass subject to the provisions ofthis sec- tion" §1186a(a)(1). An alien spouse with permanent resident satus under hls conditional basis may have her status terminated ifthe Attomey Genera nds thatthe marriage was “improper,” $1160), oF Hf she fails to fle a petition or Tule to appear at the personal interview. 4 1186a(@2Xa), 17. The Marriage Fraud Amendments provided that for the conditional resent status to be emoved, “the alien spouse and the petitioning spouse (f not deceed) jolly must submit to the Attorney General. 2 peition which requests the removal of sich conditional bass and shieh States, under penalty of perjury, the facts and information.” § {186u(8)I}A) (emphasis added), ‘The Amendments provied fora waiver, athe Atlorney General's discretion, if the lien spouse Was abe to demonstrate that deportation would rel in extreme hardship, or thatthe qualifying mae- ‘age was terminated for good case. § 1186x(@)@). However, the terms ofthis hardship waiver have not adequately protected battered spouses. For example, the requirement that th marrage be terminated for good cause may be dificult to satiny in sates with no-fault divorces. Eileen P. Lyne sky, Immigration Mariage Froud Amendnent of 1986: Til Congress Do Us Part. Al U. Mins L Rev. 1087, 1095 n47 (1987) (student author) (citing Jerome B. Ingber & R. Leo Prschet, The ‘Marriage Fraud Amendments. THE NEW SIMPSON-RODING IMMIGRATION Law OF 1986 at 64 65 (Stanley Mailman ed. 1986), 18. Immigration activists have pointed out that “the 1986 Immigration Reform Act and the [Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendment have combined to give the spoute applying fr permanent fesidene a powerful tol to contro his partner.” Jorge Banals, Abuse Among Immigrant: As Thelr ‘Nubers Grow So Does the Need fay Series, Wash, Pst, Ost. 16,1980, a ES. Dean Ko Taylor, ‘executive diretor of Nibonmach! Legal Outreach in San Francisco, explained thatthe Marriage Fraud Amendments “bound these immigeant women to their abuser" Deanna Hodgin, ‘Mtl Onder Brides Marry Pain to Get Green Card, Wash. Times, Apr. 16, 19, at El. In oe egregious Instance desried by Beckie Masi, exeoutve director ofthe Asian Worten’s Shelter in San Fra thao, the loser the Chinese bride came to getting her permanent residency inthe United State, the ‘more harshly her Asian-Ameccan husband beat het. Her husband, kicking her in the neck an fe, warned her that she needed im, and i she did not do a8 he told he, he would call immigration ofl. 7a 19. As Alice Fernandez, head ofthe Vietim Services Agency atthe Bronx Criminal Court, ‘explained, " "Women ate being held hostage by thie landlords, thelr boyfriends, their bose, the hnusbands, ‘The message i: Ifyou tell anybody what I'm doing to you, they are going to ship your ass bick home. And for these women, thee fs nothing more tribe than that.-- Sometimes their response sv T would rather be dead in this country than go back home” Vivienne Wal Immigrant Abuse: Nowhere 19 Hide; Women Fear Deportation. Experts Say, Nema, Dee. 2, 1990, as. 20, Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-649, 104 Stat 4978. The Act, introduced by Representative Louse Slaughter (D-N.Y.), provides that battered spouse who has conditional per ‘manent resident status can be granted a waver fr fallute co meet the requlrements if she can show that "the mariage was entered into in good faith and that aftr the marriage the alien spouse was1248 STANFORD LAW REVIEW (Vol. 43:1241 ticularly immigrant women of color, have remained vulnerable to battering because they are unable to meet the conditions established for a waiver. The evidence required to support a waiver ‘‘can include, but is not limited to, reports and affidavits from police, medical personnel, psychologists, school officials, and social service agencies.”*" For many immigrant women, lime ited access to these resources can make it dificult for them to obtain the evidence needed for a waiver. And cultural barriers often further discourage immigrant women from reporting or escaping battering situations. Tina Shum, a family counselor at a social service agency, points out that “{tJhis law sounds so easy to apply, but there are cultural complications in the Asian community that make even these requirements difficult... . Just to find the opportunity and courage to call us is an accomplishment for ‘many. The typical immigrant spouse, she suggests, may live “{iJn an ex- tended family where several generations live together, there may be no pri- vacy on the telephone, no opportunity to leave the house and no understanding of public phones.”2 As a consequence, many immigrant wo- ‘men are wholly dependent on their husbands as their link to the world outside their homes.2# Immigrant women are also vulnerable to spousal violence because so ‘many of them depend on their husbands for information regarding their legal status.2 Many women who are now permanent residents continue to suffer abuse under threats of deportation by their husbands. Even if the ‘threats are unfounded, women who have no independent access to informa- tion will still be intimidated by such threats.2 And even though the domes- buatered by oF was wabjecte to extreme mental orvely by tho US, clizen oF permanent resident spouse” HLR. Rev. No. 723(D), {Olst Cong, 2a Sess. 78 (1990), reprinted fn 1990 USCCAN, 5110, 6958; se alo 8 CER, §216.5(3) (1992) (eegulatons for applation for waver bated on claim of having ben baltered or subjected fo extreme metal cruel) 21. HR, ReP. No, 723, supra note 20 at 79, reprinted in 1990 USCCAN, 6710, 6159. 22. Hogi, supra note 18 2 la 24. One survey conducted of battered women “hypothesized that if person isa member of & Aiscriminated minority group, the fewer the opportunities for scloeconomie satus above the pov erty level andthe weaker the English language sil, the greater the disadvantage.” Mz PAGELOW, supra note 12, at 96. The 70 minority women inthe study "hada double disadvantage in this society Uthat serves tote them more stongly fo thelr spouse.” 1d 28. A citizen or permanent resident spouse can exercise power over an alien spout by thre «ning not to fle a petition for permanent residency. It he fais to Blew petition for permanent Fesdency, the sen spouse continues to be unéocumented ands considered ta bein the county legally. "These consrants often restrict an alien spouse fom leaving. Dean Iko Taylor tell the Story of “one client who has been hosptallzedshe's had him arrested for beating her—Sut she mncard over supra note 18. Other stories of domestic abuse abound, Maria, a 50-year-old ‘explains that "One time 1 had eight stitches in my head and a gash on theater nd he broke my rks... He would bash my head agains the wal while we had sex. He kept threatening to kill me i Told che dostor what happened: Maria had a "powerful feason for saying with Juan through yests of abuse: a ticket to permanent residence inthe United States” Wall supra note 19 26, One reporter explained that “Third-vorld women must deal with additonal fears, how: ver. In many cases, they ae afraid of authority, government intittions and thee abuses" threat Of being tured over co immigration oficals to be deported.” Hanaes, sypra vote 18 cops coming bac to him because he promises he will efor her He hols th her head.” HodJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1249 tic violence waiver focuses on immigrant women whose husbands are United States citizens or permanent residents, there are countless women married to undocumented workers (or who are themselves undocumented) who suffer in silence for fear that the security of their entire families will be jeopardized should they seek help or otherwise call attention to themselves.” Language barriers present another structural problem that often limits opportunities of non-English-speaking women to take advantage of existing support services.%® Such barriers not only limit access to information about shelters, but also limit access to the security shelters provide. Some shelters turn non-English-speaking women away for lack of bilingual personnel and resources2? ‘These examples illustrate how patterns of subordination intersect in wo- ‘men's experience of domestic violence. Intersectional subordination need not be intentionally produced; in fact, it is frequently the consequence of the imposition of one burden that interacts with preexisting vulnerabilities to create yet another dimension of disempowerment. In the case of the mar- riage fraud provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the imposi tion of a policy specifically designed to burden one class—immigrant spouses seeking permanent resident status—exacerbated the disempowerment of those already subordinated by other structures of domination. By failing to take into account the vulnerability of immigrant spouses to domestic vio- 27. Incidents of sexual abuse of undocumented women abound. Marta Rivers, director of the Hosts College Center for Women's and Immigrant’ Rights, tells of how a 19-yerold Dominican ‘woman had “arrived shaken.» afer her boss raped her inthe women's restroom at work" The woman told Rivera tht "70 to 80 percent ofthe workers [in a Brooklyn garment factory] were lndocunieted and they all accepted sex as pat of the ob... She suid a I3year-old gil had been faped there a short while before her, and the family sent her back fo the Dominican Republic Walt, supra note 1. In another example, a "Latin American woman, whose husband's lest attack Jef er with two broken fingers, a swollen face and bruises on her neck and chest refused fo report ‘the being to potee She retuned ter home ater a short stay in ashltet, She di not eave the shusve station because she was “an undocumented, literate laborer whose children, passport ‘money ae tightly controled by her husband” Although she was informed ofr rights she was not able to hurdle the structural obstacles in her path. Banales, supra note 1 28, For example, a region with a large numberof Thied- World immigrants, “the frst hurdle ‘these [batered women’s shelters} must overeome i the language bare.” Banas, supra noe 1 2B. There can be fitle question that women unable to communicate in English are severely handicapped in seeking independence. Some women thus excided were even farther di ‘advantaged because they were not US. elzens and some were inthis county ileal Fora few ofthese, the only assistance shelter staf eould render was to help reunite them ith thee fais of origin. 'M. PacrLow, supra note 12, at 96-97. Non-English speaking women are often excluded even from studies of tattered women because of thi language and other difeultesA researcher qualified the statistis of one survey by pointing out that "an unkown number of minority group women were ‘excluded from this survey sample because of language difculties” 1a. at 9. To combat thi ack of ppropriat services for women of coloe at many shelter, special programs have Deen created speci «ally for women rom particular communities A few examples of such programs inclide the Wet Intervention Projet in East Harem for Latina women, Jenesee Shelter for African American Wo ‘men in Los Angeles, Apne Ga in Chicago for South Asian worten, and for Asian women general), the Asian Women's Shelter in San Franco, the New York Asian Women's Center, andthe Centr fer the Paci Asin Family in Los Angeles, Programs wit halves inclu Saki for South Asan ‘Women in New York, and Manavi in Jersey City, ls for South Asian women, as well a programs for Korean women in Philadelphia and Chicago1250 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 lence, Congress positioned these women to absorb the simultaneous impact ofits anti-immigration policy and their spouses’ abuse, ‘The enactment of the domestic violence waiver of the marriage fraud provisions similarly illustrates how modest attempts to respond to certain problems can be ineffective when the intersectional location of women of color is not considered in fashioning the remedy. Cultural identity and class affect the likelihood that a battered spouse could take advantage of the waiver. Although the waiver is formally availabe to all women, the terms of the waiver make it inaccessible to some. Immigrant women who are so- cially, culturally, or economically privileged are more likely to be able to ‘marshall the resources needed to satisfy the waiver requirements. Those im- ‘migrant women least able to take advantage of the waiver—women who are socially or economically the most marginal—are the ones most likely to be women of color. B. Structural Intersectionality and Rape ‘Women of color are differently situated in the economic, social, and political worlds. When reform efforts undertaken on behalf of women ne- lect this fact, women of color are less likely to have their needs met than women who are racially privileged. For example, counselors who provide rape crisis services to women of color report that a significant proportion of the resources allocated to them must be spent handling problems other than rape itself, Meeting these needs often places these counselors at odds with their funding agencies, which allocate funds according to standards of need that are largely white and middle-class.%° These uniform standards of need ignore the fact that different needs often demand different priorities in terms of resource allocation, and consequently, these standards hinder the ability of counselors to address the needs of nonwhite and poor women." A case in point: women of color occupy positions both physically and culturally ‘marginalized within dominant society, and so information must be targeted directly to them in order to reach them? Accordingly, rape erisis centers 30. For example, dbe Rosa Parks Shelter and the Compton Rape Crisis Hoilne, wo shelton that serve the African-American community, ae in constane const with funding sources ovr the ‘ato of dollars and hours to women serve. Interview with Joan Grer, Exevutive Dirsotor of Ross Parks Shel, in Los Angeles, California (April 199), 31. One worker explained For example, a woman may come in o alin for various reasons, She has no place to go, she has no jab she has no support, she has no money, she bas o food, she been este, and ater you nish meeting all thse needs, oft 10 metal those needs, then se may say, by the way, during al this, Lwas being raped. So that makes our community diferent than oer communities, 4 petson want thet base needs fst. I's lot ease to discuss things when you are fl [Nancy Anne Matthews, Stopping Rape or Managing is Consequences? State Intervention and Fe inst Resistance in the Los Angeles Aatt-Rape Movernent, 1972-197, at 287 (1989) (PhD diss ion, University of California, Los Angeles) (chronicling the history ofthe rape eis movement. and highlighting the diferent histories and cilemmas of rape rss hotlines ran by white feminists ad thos Situated inthe minority communities) 2 ‘Typically, more time must be spent witha survivor who has fewer personal resources.July 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1251 must earmark more resources for basic information dissemination in com- munities of color than in white ones. Increased costs are but one consequence of serving people who cannot be reached by mainstream channels of information. As noted earlier, counsel- ors in minority communities report spending hours locating resources and contacts to meet the housing and other immediate needs of women who have been assualted. Yet this work is only considered “information and referral” by funding agencies and as such, is typically underfunded, notwithstanding the magnitude of need for these services in minority communities. The problem is compounded by expectations that rape crisis centers will use a significant portion of resources allocated to them on counselors to accom- pany victims to court," even though women of color are less likely to have their cases pursued in the criminal justice system.®* The resources expected to be set aside for court services are misdirected in these communities. The fact that minority women suffer from the effects of multiple subordi- nation, coupled with institutional expectations based on inappropriate nonintersectional contexts, shapes and ultimately limits the opportunities for ‘meaningful intervention on their behalf. Recognizing the failure to consider intersectional dynamics may go far toward explaining the high levels of fail- ure, frustration, and burn-out experienced by counselors who attempt to meet the needs of minority women victims. Il, POLITICAL INTERSECTIONALITY ‘The concept of political intersectionality highlights the fact that women “These survivors tend vobe cthnle minority women. Often, @non-asimilted ethnieminor ity survivor requires translating ad interpeeing, transportation, overnight sl for her self and possibly children, and counscing to sgnfant others in addition to the vial Counseling and advocacy services. So, ia rape eis center serves a predominantly ethnic ‘minority population, the “average” numberof hour of service provided to each survivor is ‘uch higher than fora center that serves a predominantly white population 14, 3.275 (quoting postion paper of the Southern Caloria Rape Hotline Alliance) Si. Uda 28788 1M, The Director of Rosa Parks reported tht she oflen runs into trouble with her funding Soures over the Centers lower than average numb of counselors accompanying vitims to eourt. Interview with Joan Gree, swpra note 30, 3s Eventhough current statistics ndiate that Black women ae moe likey to be victimized ‘han white women, Black women ate ls likely to report their rapes, es likely to have their eases come to trial less likly to have thei was result in convictions, and, most distrbing, less likly to Seck counseling and other support services PATRICIA HILL COLLINS, BLACK FEMINIST THOUGIET: KNOWLEDGE, CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE Potirics of Empowenenr 178-79 (1980), aecond HUBERT S. FuILD & Leici B, BIENEN, Ju ORS AND RAPE: A STUDY IN PsveHOLOGY AND LAW 14 (1980) (data obiained fom 1,086 sit zens serving as jurors in simblate legal rape cases generally showed that “the asalat ofthe Back ‘woman was given a more lesien sentence than the white woman's aszallant") According to Fern Ferguson, an llnos sex abuse worker speaking at » Women of Calor Insite conference It Knox: ville, Tennesee, 10% of rapes involving whic victims end in conviction, compared with 4.2% for ‘ages involving’ nonwhite victims (and 239% forthe les-nclusive group of Black rape victim) UPI, uly 20,1985. Ferguson argues that myths about women of color being promiscuous and wanting tobe eaped encourage the critinal justice system and medical professionals ar well to treat women of color diferently than they teat white women after a ape has oceureed. Jd1252 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 of color are situated within at least two subordinated groups that frequently pursue conflicting political agendas. The need to split one’s political ener between two sometimes opposing groups is a dimension of intersectional dis- ‘empowerment that men of color and white women seldom confront. Indeed, their specific raced and gendered experiences, although intersectional, often define as well as confine the interests of the entire group. For example, ra- cism as experienced by people of color who are of a particular gender— male—tends to determine the parameters of antiracist strategies, just as sex- ism as experienced by women who are of a particular race—white—tends to ground the women’s movement. ‘The problem is not simply that both dis- courses fail women of color by not acknowledging the “additional” issue of race ot of patriarchy but that the discourses are often inadequate even to the discrete tasks of articulating the full dimensions of racism and sexism. Be- cause women of color experience racism in ways not always the same as those experienced by men of color and sexism in ways not always parallel to experiences of white women, antiracism and feminism are limited, even on their own terms. Among the most troubling political consequences of the failure of an- tiracist and feminist discourses to address the intersections of race and gen- der is the fact that, to the extent they can forward the interest of “people of color” and “women,” respectively, one analysis often implicitly denies the validity of the other, The failure of feminism to interrogate race means that the resistance strategies of feminism will often replicate and reinforce the subordination of people of color, and the failure of antiracism to interrogate patriarchy means that antiracism will frequently reproduce the subordina- tion of women, These mutual elisions present a particularly difficult political dilemma for women of color. Adopting either analysis constitutes a denial ofa fundamental dimension of our subordination and precludes the develop- ‘ment of a political discourse that more fully empowers women of color. A. The Politcization of Domestic Violence That the political interests of women of color are obscured and some- times jeopardized by political strategies that ignore or suppress intersectional issues is illustrated by my experiences in gathering information for this a cle, T attempted to review Los Angeles Police Department statistics reflect- ing the rate of domestic violence interventions by precinct because such statisties can provide a rough picture of arrests by racial group, given the degree of racial segregation in Los Angeles.%* L.A.P.D., however, would not release the statistics. A representative explained that one reason the statis- tics were not released was that domestic violence activists both within and 536. ‘Mos ime satisties are clase by ex or race but none are clawed by sx and race. Because we know that most rape vitims are women, the rail breakdown revels at bests rape rates for Buck women, Yet, even given thi head sat, ats for other non-white worn ae difiult 9 collet. While there are some statistics for Latinas, satistic for Asian and Native American women se virally nowesistent. CZ G. Chezia Caraway, Violence dgaint Women of Color, 43 STAN. Ly Rev. 1301 (1993)July 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1283 outside the Department feared that statistics reflecting the extent of domes- tic violence in minority communities might be selectively interpreted and publicized s0 as to undermine long-term efforts to force the Department to address domestic violence as a serious problem. I was told that activists Were worried that the statistics might permit opponents to dismiss domestic violence as a minoirty problem and, therefore, not deserving of aggressive action, The informant also claimed that representatives from various minority communities opposed the release of these statistics. They were concerned, apparently, that the data would unfairly represent Black and Brown commu- nities as unusually violent, potentially reinforcing stereotypes that might be used in attempts to justify oppressive police tactics and other discriminatory practices. These misgivings are based on the familiar and not unfounded premise that certain minority groups—especially Black men—have already been stereotyped as uncontrollably violent. Some worry that attempts to make domestic violence an object of political action may only serve to con- firm such stereotypes and undermine efforts to combat negative beliefs about the Black community. This account sharply illustrates how women of color can be erased by the strategic silences of antiracism and feminism. The political priorities of both ‘were defined in ways that suppressed information that could have facilitated attempts to confront the problem of domestic violence in communities of color. 1, Domestic violence and antiracist polities. Within communities of color, efforts to stem the politicization of domes- tic violence are often grounded in attempts to maintain the integrity of the community. The articulation of this perspective takes different forms, Some critics allege that feminism has no place within communities of color, that the issues are internally divisive, and that they represent the migration of ‘white women’s concerns into a context in which they are not only irrelevant but also harmful, At its most extreme, this rhetoric denies that gender vio- lence is a problem in the community and characterizes any effort to politi- cize gender subordination as itself a community problem. This is the Position taken by Shahrazad Ali in her controversial book, The Blackman’s Guide to Understanding the Blackwoman.%” In this stridently antiferinist tract, Ali draws a positive correlation between domestic violence and the 37. SWaunAzAD Aus, The BLACKMAN'S GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING Tie BLACKWOMAN (1989). Al's book sold quite well fran independently published tl, an accomplishment no doubt {ue in prt to her appearances on the Phil Donahue, Oprah Winey, and Sally Jesse Rape lee sion tall shows. For public and press ceation, see Dorothy Giim, Sick, Distorted Thinking. Wash, Post, Oct. 11, 1990, at D3; Lena Wiliams, Black Woman's Book Stare Predictable Stamm N.Y. Times, Oct 2,1990, af Ci; see alo PEARL CLEAGUE, Mab AT Mitts. A BLACK WoMan’s Guroe To Tauta (1990), The tlle clearly syle after All's, Ad at Miles responds not only 20 Uses raised by All’ book, but also to Miles Davis's admission in his autobiography, lls: The -Autobcgrapy (1989), that he had physically abused, among other women, his former wile, atress (Cicely Tyson1254 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 liberation of Aftican Americans. Ali blames the deteriorating conditions within the Black community on the insubordination of Black women and on the failure of Black men to control them.2* Ali goes so far as to advise Black men to physically chastise Black women when they are “disrespectful."»® While she cautions that Black men must use moderation in disciplining “theic” women, she argues that Black men must sometimes resort to physi- cal force to reestablish the authority over Black women that racism has disrupted *° Ali's premise is that patriarchy is beneficial for the Black community,*! and that it must be strengthened through coercive means if necessary.4? Yet 38, Shahrazad All suggests that che “[Blackwoman] cenaily doesnot believe that er div tepect forthe Blackman is destructive, nor that hee opposition to him has deteriorated the Black ation.” S. Ati, supra not 37, a vi. Blaming the problems ofthe commnity onthe failure of the ‘Black woman to accept het “real definition,” AW explains tat "alo nation can re when te natural order of the behavior of the male and the female bave been altered agus thee wishes by fore. No species can survive i the female ofthe genus disturbs the balance of her nature by acting ther than here” dat 76 3. Ali advises the Blackman to it the Blackwoman inthe mouth, “(because it From that hole in the lomer part of her face tha al er rebellion culminates into Words, Her enbriled tongue fsa main reason she cannot get along with the Blackman. She oflen needs reminder” 1. at 16. Ali warns that “if the Blackworaa] ignores the authority and superiority ofthe Blackman, there is 8 penalty. When she eroses this line and Becomes viciously insulting its time forthe Blackman to soundly slap her inthe mouth” Ue 40._Ali explains that, “(regretfully some Blackwomen want tobe physically controlled by the Backman.” 1d: at 174. “The Blackwoman, deep inside her her,” Ali Feveals “wants fo surrender but she wants tobe coerced" Zd at 72. [The Blackwoman} wants [the Blackman] to stand up a defend himself even if it means he has to knock her out of the way Yo do #0. Thie ix necesa Whenever the Blackwoman steps out of the protection of womanly behavior and entes the danger- ‘vs domain of masculine challenge.” Id. at 174 41, Aliponts out that “(the Blackman being number 1 andthe Blackwoman being number 2 fs another absolute law of mature. ‘The Blackman was eteated fist, he has seniority. And the Blackwoman was created 2nd, He is fest She is second, The Blackman is the beginning and all ‘others come from him. Everyone on earth knows this except the Blackwoman,” Id. at 67 42. In this gard, Al's arguments bear much in common wit those of neoconservatives who ‘ibute many of the Social ils plaguing Black America tothe breakdown of patriarchal family valves, Se, eg. Willam Raspberry If We Are to Rescue American Familie, We Have o Sov the Boys, Chicago Tri. July 18, 1989, at C15; George F. Will Vong Rights Won't Fix I Wash. Post, Jan. 23, 1986, at AZ; George F. Will, “White Ralam” Docin't Make Blacks Mere Victims of Fate Milwaukee Feb. 21, 1986, a9. Ali's argument shares remarkable similarities tothe controversial “Moysihan Report" on the Back family, 4 elledbecatte its principal author was now: Senator Danie P. Moyniban (D-NY). In the infamous chapter ettled "The Tangle of Pathology,” My nian argued that the Negro community has been forced into # matischal structure which, because it 0 ‘out of ine with the rest of American society, seriously retard the progres ofthe group 28 ‘whole and imposes rushing burden the Negro male and, in consequence, oma est, ‘many Negro women a8 wel, Orrice oF PoLicy PLANING AND RESEARCH, US, DEPARTMENT OF Lanon, THE NEORO PaMt WY: THE Case Fon Narional. ACTION 29 (1968), reprinted in Lex RAINWATER & WILLIAM L Yancey, THe MovNinaw REPORT AND THE Potities Or CONTKOVERSY 75 (1967). A storm of controversy developed over the bok, although few commentators challenged the patriarchy embed ded inthe analysis. il Moyers, then @ young minister and speechwriter for President Johason, froty believed that the ertcis directed at Moyathan wos nai Some 20 yeas later, Moyers fesurrcted the Moynihan thesis in special television program, The Vanishing Faris: Crit Black America (CBS television broadcast, Jan. 25, 1986). The show frst sired Ia January 1986 and featured several Atican-Amercan men and women who had become parents but were uwiling 10 marry, Arthut Unger, Hardhiting Speco! Abou Black Families Christian Sel. Mon. Jen 23, 1986,July 1991) INTERSECTIONALITY 1255 the violence that accompanies this will to control is devastating, not only for the Black women who are victimized, but also for the entire Black commu nity.*® The recourse to violence to resolve conflicts establishes a dangerous pattern for children raised in such environments and contributes to many other pressing problems. It has been estimated that nearly forty percent of all homeless women and children have fled violence in the home,** and an estimated sixty-three percent of young men between the ages of eleven and twenty who are imprisoned for homicide have killed their mothers’ batter- ers. And yet, while gang violence, homicide, and other forms of Black-on- Black crime have increasingly been discussed within African-American poli- tics, patriarchal ideas about gender and power preclude the recognition of domestic violence as yet another compelling incidence of Black-on-Black crime. Efforts such as Ali's to justify violence against women in the name of Black liberation are indeed extreme."” The more common problem is that 4123. Many saw the Mayers show as vindisaton of Moynihan, President Reagan took the oppor tunity to introduce an intative to revamp the welfare system a week aftr the program aed Michael Barone, Por Children and Polites. Wash. Post, Feb. 1, 1986, at Al. Sid one offal, "ill Moyers has mace it safe for people to talk about thi ue, the dkinterating black family struc ture" Robert Pear, President Reported Ready to Propose Orrhaul of Secal Welfare System. N'Y. ‘Times, Fe. 1, 1986, at AI2. Cries ofthe Moynihan? Moyers thei have argued that Wt seapepoats the black family generally and Black women in particular. For a series of response, sce Scapegoat ‘ng the Black Family, Namiow, Sly 24, 1989 (special issue, edited by Jewell Handy Gresham nd ‘Margaret B. Wilkerson, with contributions from Margaret Burmhars, Constance Cayton, Dorothy Height, Faye Watton, and Marian Wright Edelman). Foran analysis ofthe medias endorsement ofthe Moynihan/ Moyers thesis see CARL GINSBURG, RACE AND MEDIA: THE ENDURING LIFE OF THE MoyNinan RétonT (1989, 43. Domestic violence relates directly to issues that even those who subseribe to Al's postion rust also be concerned about. The socioeconomic contin of Black males has been one such znra concern. Recent statisti estimate that 25% of Black males in ther twenties are involved in {he criminal justice systems, See David G. Savage, Young Black Males Jal orl Court Control ‘Study Say, LA. Tine, Feb 27, 1980, at Al; Newsday, Feb 27,199, at 1S; Study Shows Ractel Imbalance in Penal System. N.Y. Times, Feb. 77, 199, at ALB. One woul think that the linkages between violence in the Home andthe violence onthe steels would alone persuade those like Ali to conclude that the African-American community cannot aford domes violence and the patriarchal values that suppot i 44. A pressing problem is the way domestic violence reproduces itself in subsequent genera- tions. Its estimated that boys who witnes violence aginst women ar te times more likely (0 bate female pariners as adults. Women and Violence: Hearings Before the Senate Com. on the Judiciary on Leghltion to Reduce the Growing Problem of Violent Crime agarst Women 101s Cong, 24 Ses, pt. 2, a $9 (1991) (hereinafter Hearings on Vialen! Crime Agoins! Women} (est ‘mony of Charlotte Feder), Other associated problems for boys who witness voenee agains wo. ‘en ince higher rates of suicide, violent asst, sexual asnult and alcohol and drug use Td, pe 2, at 131 Gatement of Sarah M, Buel, Assistant District Attorney, Mastachuset, and Supervise, Harvard Law School Battered Women’s Advocacy Projet $5, Ud. at 142 (statement of Susan Kelly-Dreis) (discussing several studies in Pennsylvania linking homelesnes to domestic violence). 46. Td. at 143 statement of Susan KellyDreiss). 47. Another historical example includes Eldridge Cleaver, who argued that he raped white women as assault upon the white community. Cleaver “practiced” on lack women fist. EL DDRIDOE CLEAVER, SOUL OW TCE 14-15 (1968). Despite the appearance of misogyny in both work, ch professes to worship Black women as “queen of the Black community. This “queenly suber. ence” parallels closely the image ofthe "woman on a pedestal” against which whit feminists have riled, Because Black women hve been denied pedestal status within dominant society, the image Of the Afnean qucen has some appeal 1o many Afcan-American women. Although it nota1256 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 the political or cultural interests of the community are interpreted in a way that precludes full public recognition of the problem of domestic violence. ‘While it would be misleading to suggest that white Americans have come to terms with the degree of violence in their own homes, itis nonetheless the se that race adds yet another dimension to why the problem of domestic violence is suppressed within nonwhite communities. People of color often ‘must weigh their interests in avoiding issues that might reinforce distorted public perceptions against the need to acknowledge and address intracom- munity problems. Yet the cost of suppression is seldom recognized in part because the failure to discuss the issue shapes perceptions of how serious the problem is in the first place. The controversy over Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple can be un- derstood as an intracommunity debate about the political costs of exposing gender violence within the Black community.‘ Some critics chastised Walker for portraying Black men as violent brutes." One critic lambasted Walker's portrayal of Celie, the emotionally and physically abused protago- nist who finally triumphs in the end, Walker, the critic contended, had ere- ated in Celie a Black woman whom she couldn't imagine existing in any Black community she knew or could conceive of:5° The claim that Celie was somehow an unauthentic character might be read as a consequence of silencing discussion of intracommunity violence. Celie may be unlike any Black woman we know because the real terror ex- Perienced daily by minority women is routinely concealed in a misguided (though perhaps understandable) attempt to forestall racial stereotyping. Of course, it is true that representations of Black violence—whether statistical or fictional—are often written into a larger script that consistently portrays Black and other minority communities as pathologically violent. The prob- lem, however, is not so much the portrayal of violence itself as itis the ab- sence of other narratives and images portraying a fuller range of Black experience, Suppression of some of these issues in the name of antiracism imposes real costs, Where information about violence in minority communi- ‘eins positon, there re significant waa in which the promulgation ofthe image directly counters the intersectona fect of racism and sexism that have denied Afcan-Amercan women & etch in the "glided cage 48, Lice WaLKER, Tas Coton PuRFLs (1982), The most severe criticism of Walker devel: oped ater the book was fmed ss a movie, Donald Bogle, fm historian, argued that pat ofthe iim of the movi termed from the one-dimensional portrayal of Miser, the abusive man. See Jacqueline Tresctt, Pasions Over Purple Anger and Uneaee Over Fils Depiction of Black Men, ‘Wash, Post, Feb 5, 1986, at CL Bogle sepues that in the novel, Walker linked Mise’ abusive conduct to his oppression ia the white world-since Mister “can't be himself he bas to asset himself With the black woman.” The movie filed to make any eomnetion between Mister’ abusive teat ‘ment of Black Women and racism, and thereby presented Mister only an “insensitive, callous san” fd, 49, Se, eg, Gerald Early, Her Petre x the Paper: Remembering Some Black Women, AN- ‘TAEUS, Spring 1988, at 9; Daryl Pinckney, Black Pisin, Block Vila N.Y. REVIEW OF BOOKS, Jan. 28,1987 at 17; Trescote, supra note 88 50. Trudie Haris, On the Clor Purple, Serotype, and Silence, 18 Back AM. Lat. F155 15 (198.July 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1257 ties is not available, domestic violence is unlikely to be addressed as a serious issue. The political imperatives of a narrowly focused antiracist strategy sup- port other practices that isolate women of color. For example, activists who have attempted to provide support services to Asian- and African-American ‘women report intense resistance from those communities." At other times, cultural and social factors contribute to suppression. Nilda Rimonte, direc tor of Everywoman’s Shelter in Los Angeles, points out that in the Asian community, saving the honor of the family from shame is a priority.®® Un- fortunately, this priority tends to be interpreted as obliging women not to scream rather than obliging men not to hit. Race and culture contribute to the suppression of domestic violence i other ways as well. Women of color are often reluctant to call the police, a hesitancy likely due to a general unwillingness among people of color to subject their private lives to the scrutiny and control of a police force that is frequently hostile. There is also a more generalized community ethic against public intervention, the product of a desire to create a private world free from the diverse assaults on the public lives of racially subordinated people. ‘The home is not simply a man’s castle in the patriarchal sense, but may also function as a safe haven from the indignities of life in a racist society. How- ever, but for this ‘safe haven” in many cases, women of color vietimized by violence might otherwise seek help. There is also a general tendency within antiracist discourse to regard the problem of violence against women of color as just another manifestation of racism. In this sense, the relevance of gender domination within the com- munity is reconfigured as a consequence of discrimination against men, Of Si. The ‘esstance reveals an intersting ference between the Asiai-Amevican and Alfinn- American communities. In the African-American community the resistance Is ustlly {rounded in efforts to avoid confeming negative stereotypes of Afzan-Avnercans as violent the onceen of members in some Asian-American commits to oid tarnishing the model minority ‘myth, Imerview with Nilde Rimonte, Director ofthe Everyworan Shelter, in Los Angels, Califor fla (April 19, 1991), SL. Nilda Rimonte, 4 Question of Cultures Cultural Approval of Molence Against Women it ‘he Poif- Asian Community and the Cultural Defense, 43 STAN, L. REV. [31] (1981) se abo Nida Rimonte, Domestic lolenee Against Pacfc Aslan, in Maxine: WAVES: AN ANTHOLOGY oF WRIT Ings BY AND ABOUT ASIAN AMERICAN WoMEN 327,328 (Asian Women United of California ed 1985) ("Traditionally Pcie Asians conceal and deny problems that thresten group pide and may ‘bring on shame, Because of the sirongemphais on obligations to the family, a Pcie Asian wom will ofencemain lent rater than adit to problem that might disgrace her family”) Addition aly, the possibilty of ending the marriage may ibibt an immigrant woman Trom seeking help Tina Shum, fanny counsel, explains tat a "divorce ea shame onthe whole Tail... The Asian woman who divorces (els temendous guilt” OF couse, one coud, in an attempt to be Sensitive to cultural diference, stereotype a culture or defer toi in ways thst abandon women to buss. When-—or, more importantly, how_—to ake culture into account when addressing the neds fot women of olor isa compliented sue. ‘Testimony a 0 the particulates of Asian “culture” has Increasingly been sed in tals to determine the culpability of both Asan immigrant women and ‘men who at charged with crimes of interpersonal violence. A poston oa the use ofthe "eultural tefensein thse instances depends on hw “eltureis being defined 9 well ab on Whether and to what extent the “cultural defense" has been used dieenly for Asian men and Asian women, ati Voip, (Mis)identifying Culture: Asian Women and the "Cultural Delense,” (unpublished tterip (on fle withthe Stonfard Law Review).1258 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 course, it'is probably true that racism contributes to the cycle of violence, given the stress that men of color experience in dominant society. It is there- fore more than reasonable to explore the links between racism and domestic violence. But the chain of violence is more complex and extends beyond this single link, Racism is linked to patriarchy to the extent that racism denies men of color the power and privilege that dominant men enjoy. When vio- lence is understood as an acting-out of being denied male power in other spheres, it seems counterproductive to embrace constructs that implicitly link the solution to domestic violence to the acquisition of greater male power. The more promising political imperative is to challenge the legiti- macy of such power expectations by exposing their dysfunctional and debilitating effect on families and communities of color. Moreover, while understanding links between racism and domestic violence is an important component of any effective intervention strategy, it is also clear that women of color need not await the ultimate triumph over racism before they can expect to live violence-fre lives. 2. Race and the domestic violence lobby. Not only do race-based priorities function to obscure the problem of vio- lence suffered by women of color; feminist concerns often suppress minority experiences as well. Strategies for increasing awareness of domestic violence within the white community tend to begin by citing the commonly shared assumption that battering is a minority problem. The strategy then focuses on demolishing this strawman, stressing that spousal abuse also occurs in the white community. Countless first-person stories begin with a statement like, “Twas not supposed to be a battered wife.” That battering occurs in families of all races and all classes seems to be an ever-present theme of anti-abuse campaigns.*? First-person anecdotes and studies, for example, consistently assert that battering cuts across racial, ethnic, economic, educational, and religious lines.°* Such disclaimers seem relevant only in the presence of an SB. Sex ei, Hearings on Violet Crime Against Women. supra vote 4, pt 1, at 101 Gestimony ‘of Roni Young. Director of Domestic Vilence Unit, Oe of the Site's Attorney for Baltimore City, Baltimore, Maryland) ("The vits donot ft mold by any means”) pe. 2 at 89 (lest mony of Charlete Fedders) (“Domestic violence occurs inal economic, cra, rail, and rei- ous groups. There isnot atypical woman to be abused"; I pt, 2 ai 139 (latement of Susan Keliy-Dress, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Vielnce) (Victims ome from a wide spectrum of life experiences and backgrounds. Women can be besten in any ‘neighborhood and in ny town"), 54. Sea eg. LENORE F- WALKER, TERRIFYING Love: Way BatreteD WoMEN KILL AND How Socisty Resronps 101-02 (1989) ("Battered women come from al ype of economies: tural religious. and racial backgrounds... They ate women like you Like me. Like thowe whom you know and love." MURRAY A. STAAUS, RICHARD I GFLLES, SUZANNE K. STEINMETZ, FIND CLoseD DookS: VIOLENCE IN THE AMERICAN FAMILY 31 (1980) C*Wife-beating i found in every clas at every income level." Natale Loder Clark Crime Bins At Home Le’ Stop Punish {ng Victims nd Peperuating Violence, 28 Wet. & MARY L, REV. 26), 282 1.74 (1981) ("The prob Jem of domestic vielence cuts across al scial ines and acts "ilies regardless of hee economic lat, race national eign or educational background. Commentators hve indicated that domestic volece is prevalent among upper middle-class fies" (elttons omited), Kathleen Watts, The Criminal Justice System's Response to Batering: Undersonding the Problem, Forging the Solutions 9 Wasn. L. Rev. 267, 276 (1988) (Tes important to emphasize that wife abuse is prevalentJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1259 initial, widely held belief that domestic violence occurs primarily in minority ‘or poor families, Indeed some authorities explicitly renounce the ‘‘stere- typical myths” about battered women.%> A few commentators have even transformed the message that battering is not exclusively a problem of the Poor of minority communities into a claim that it equally affects all races and classes.°° Yet these comments seem less concerned with exploring do- mestic abuse within “stereotyped” communities than with removing the ster- cotype as an obstacle to exposing battering within white middle- and upper- class communities.*7 Efforts to politicize the issue of violence against women challenge beliefs that violence occurs only in homes of “others.” While it is unlikely that advocates and others who adopt this rhetorical strategy intend to exclude or ignore the needs of poor and colored women, the underlying premise of this seemingly univeralistic appeal is to keep the sensibilities of dominant social ‘throughout our society. Recently collected data merely confirm what people working with victims ‘hve long known: battering occurs inal social and economic groups”) (tations omitted); Liza G. Lerman, Mediation of Wife Abuse Cases: The adverse Impact of Informal Dipute Resolution on Women. 7 Hany. WoMeN's L1_ 87,63 (1984) ("Batering occurs in all racial, economic, and eel ‘ows group, in rural, urban, and suburban secings" (cation omitted), Steven M. Cook, Domestic Abuse Legislation in iincis and Other States: A Survey and Suggestions for Reform, 1983 U.T1. L Rev. 261 262 (1983 (student author) (“Although domestic velnce i diet to measure, several studies suggest tha spouse abuse i an extensive problem, ane which strikes families regardless of ‘heir economic cas, race, national origin, or educational background." (citations omited). 58. For example, Susan Kelly-Dress states “The public holds many myths about tattered women—they are poor, they are women of ‘olor, they are uneducated, they are on welfare, they deserve tobe beaten ad they even ike it, However, contrary to common mispereeptions, domestic violence isnot confined 10 any one socioeconomic, ethnic, religious racial ot age group “Hearings an Violent Cime Against Women, supra note 4, p. 2, at 139 (testimony of Susan Kelly- Deis, Executive Dzector, Pa. Coalition Against Domestic Violence). Kathleen Waits ofes a por sible explanation foe this misperception [tis trac that batered women who ae also poor are more likely to comet the attention of {governmental ofcials than are their midale- and upper-class counterparts. However, this [Phenomenon i caused more by the lack of alternative resovres andthe incurvenes of the ware ate than y any ently higher ndence of ence among owes Waits, supra note $4, st 276.77 (citations omitted), $6. However, no reliable staisties sopport such a claim, Infact, some statistics suggest that there ia greater fFequency of violence among the working cists and the poor. See M. Staats, R Geites, &'S. Stenswer2, spre note 56 at 31. Yet there sais are aso unelable because follow Waits’ observation, violence in midle- and upper-class homes remains hidden from the view of satisicans and governmental ofc lle. See note 85 rupra. I would suggest that assertions that the problem is he same across race ad clas are driven less by actual Knowledge about the prevalence of domestic volence in diferent communities than by advocates’ recognition that the Image of domestic violence as an issue involving primarily the poor and minorities complicates ef forts to mobilize against it 57. On January 14, 199), Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.) introduced Senate Bil 1S, the Vio: lence Against Women Act of 1991, comprehensive legislation addressing violent crime eanfeonting women, S.15, 1024 Cong, tt Ses (1991), The bill onssts of several measures designed (0 ereate Safestrets, safe homes, and safe campuses for women. More specially, Tite Il ofthe bil creates ‘chil rights remedy for eres of violence modvated bythe vet's gender. 14. § 301. Among the findings supposing the bill were") crimes motivate by the victim's gender constue bis eres in volton ofthe victin's ight tobe fe fom discrimination on the basso gender” and "(Q) Cure ‘ent law (oes not provide a ivi ights remedy] for gender crimes committed on the street in the hhome” 8. REF. No. 197, 12d Cong, Ist Sess. 27 (199).1260 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 groups focused on the experiences of those groups. Indeed, as subtly sug- gested by the opening comments of Senator David Boren (D-Okla.) in sup- port of the Violence Against Women Act of 1991, the displacement of the “other” as the presumed victim of domestic violence works primarily as a Political appeal to rally white elites. Boren said, Violent crimes against women are not limited to the streets of the inner cities, but also occur in homes in the urban and rural areas across the country. Violence against women affects not only those who are actually beaten and brutalized, but indirectly afects all women. Today, our wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and colleagues are held captive by fear generated from these violent erimes—held captive not for what they do or who they are, but solely because of gender.** Rather than focusing on and illuminating how violence is disregarded when the home is “othered,” the strategy implicit in Senator Boren’s remarks functions instead to politicize the problem only in the dominant community. This strategy permits white women victims to come into focus, but docs little to disrupt the patterns of neglect that permitted the problem to continue as, long as it was imagined to be a minority problem. The experience of vio- lence by minority women is ignored, except to the extent it gains white sup- port for domestic violence programs in the white community. Senator Boren and his colleagues no doubt believe that they have pro- vided legislation and resources that will address the problems of all women victimized by domestic violence. Yet despite their universalizing thetoric of “all” women, they were able to empathize with female victims of domestic violence only by looking past the plight of “other” women and by recogniz~ ing the familiar faces of their own. The strength of the appeal to “protect ‘our women” must be its race and class specificity. After al, it has always bbeen someone's wife, mother, sister, or daughter that has been abused, even when the violence was stereotypically Black or Brown, and poor. The point here is not that the Violence Against Women Act is particularistic om its own terms, but that unless the Senators and other policymakers ask why violence remained insignificant as long as it was understood as a minority problem, itis unlikely that women of color will share equally in the distribu- tion of resources and concern. It is even more unlikely, however, that those {in power will be forced to confront this issue. As long as attempts to politi cize domestic violence focus on convincing whites that this is not a “minor- 'y" problem but their problem, any authentic and sensitive attention to the 458. 137 Gong. Re, S6I1 (aly ed. Jan. 14, 1991 (statement of Sen. Boren). Senator Willams Cohen (D-Me) followed with a similar statement, neing that rapes and domestic assaults ‘are not imited tothe streets of our inereites oto those few highly publicized cases that we read about in the newspapers or see onthe evening news. Women throughout the country, n our Nation's urtan teas and rural communities, afe being besten and brutal ize inthe sees and in thelr homes. It sour mothers, wives, daughters, ster, fends, neighbors, and coworkers who ate being veimized; and in many cases, they are being ‘etimzed by Tamily members, ends, and acquaintances 1. (statement of Sen. Coben)July 1991], INTERSECTIONALITY 1261 experiences of Black and other minority women probably will continue to be regarded as jeopardizing the movement. While Senator Boren’s statement reflects a self-consciously political pres- entation of domestic violence, an episode of the CBS news program 48 Hours® shows how similar patterns of othering nonwhite women are appar- ent in journalistic accounts of domestic violence as well. The program presented seven women who were victims of abuse, Six were interviewed at some length along with their family members, friends, supporters, and even detractors. The viewer got to know something about each of these women, These victims were humanized. Yet the seventh woman, the only nonwhite ‘one, never came into focus, She was literally unrecognizable throughout the segment, frst introduced by photographs showing her face badly beaten and later shown with her face electronically altered in the videotape of a hearing at which she was forced to testify. Other images associated with this woman included shots of a bloodstained room and blood-soaked pillows. Her boy- friend was pictured handcuffed while the camera zoomed in for a close-up of his bloodied sneakers. Of all the presentations in the episode, hers was the most graphic and impersonal. The overall point of the segment “featuring” this woman was that battering might not escalate into homicide if battered women would only cooperate with prosecutors. In focusing on its own agenda and failing to explore why this woman refused to cooperate, the pro- ‘gram diminished this woman, communicating, however subtly, that she was responsible for her own victimization. Unlike the other women, all of whom, again, were white, this Black wo- ‘man had no name, no family, no context. The viewer sees her only as vic- timized and uncooperative. She cries when shown pictures. She pleads not to be forced to view the bloodstained room and her disfigured face. The program does not help the viewer to understand her predicament. ‘The pos- sible reasons she did not want to testify—fear, love, or possibly both—are never suggested.® Most unfortunately, she, unlike the other six, is given no epilogue. While the fates of the other women are revealed at the end of the episode, we discover nothing about the Black woman. She, like the “others” she represents, is simply left to herself and soon forgotten. I offer this description to suggest that “other” women are silenced as much by being relegated to the margin of experience as by total exclusion. ‘Tokenistic, objectifying, voyeuristic inclusion is at least as disempowering as complete exclusion. The effort to politicize violence against women will do little to address Black and other minority women if their images are retained simply to magnify the problem rather than to humanize their experiences. Similarly, the antiracist agenda will not be advanced significantly by forcibly suppressing the reality of battering in minority communities. As the 48 Hours episode makes clear, the images and stereotypes we fear are readily 39. 48 Hours: Till Death Do Us Part (CBS television broadcast, Feb. 6, 1991). 60. See Christine A Litton, Women’s Experience andthe Problem of Traston: Perspectives on Male Bauerng of Women, 1989 U. Ci. LEGAL F. 23.1262 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 available and are frequently deployed in ways that do not generate sensitive understanding of the nature of domestic violence in minority communities. 3. Race and domestic violence support services. Women working in the field of domestic violence have sometimes repro- duced the subordination and marginalization of women of color by adopting policies, priorities, or strategies of empowerment that either elide or wholly disregard the particular intersectional needs of women of color. While gen- der, race, and class intersect to create the particular context in which women of color experience violence, certain choices made by “allies” can reproduce intersectional subordination within the very resistance strategies designed to respond to the problem. This problem is starkly illustrated by the inaccessibility of domestic vio- lence support services to many non-English-speaking women. In a letter written to the deputy commissioner of the New York State Department of Social Services, Diana Campos, Director of Human Services for Programas de Ocupaciones y Desarrollo Econémico Real, Ine. (PODER), detailed the case of a Latina in crisis who was repeatedly denied accomodation at a shel- ter because she could not prove that she was English-proficient. The woman had fled her home with her teenaged son, believing her husband’s threats to kill them both. She called the domestic violence hotline administered by PODER secking shelter for herself and her son. Because most shelters would not accommodate the woman with her son, they were forced to live on the streets for two days. The hotline counselor was finally able to find an agency that would take both the mother and the son, but when the counselor told the intake coordinator at the shelter that the woman spoke limited Eng- lish, the coordinator told her that they could not take anyone who was not English-profcient, When the woman in crisis called back and was told of the shelter’s “rule,” she replied that she could understand English if spoken to her slowly. As Campos explains, Mildred, the hotline counselor, told ‘Wendy, the intake coordinator ‘that the woman said that she could communicate a litle in English. Wendy fold Mikdred that they could not provide services to this woman because they have house rules that the woman must agree to follow. Mildred asked her, “What if the woman agrees to follow your rules? Will you still not take hher?" Wendy responded that all ofthe women atthe shelter are required t0 attend [a] support group and they would not be able to have her in the group ifshe could not communicate. Mildred mentioned the severity of this wo- man's case. She told Wendy that the woman had been wandering the streets at night while her husband is home, and she had been mugged twice. She also reiterated the fact that this woman was in danger of being killed by either her husband or a mugger. Mildred expressed that the woman's safety ‘was a priority at this point, and that once in a safe place, receiving counsel- ing in & support group could be dealt with.*! G1. Later of Diana M. Campos, Diretor of Human Services PODER, to Joseph Senda,July 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1263 The intake coordinator restated the shelter’s policy of taking only Eng- lish-speaking women, and stated further that the woman would have to call the shelter herself for screening, If the woman could communicate with them in English, she might be accepted. When the woman called the PODER hotline later that day, she was in such a state of fear that the hotline counselor who had been working with her had difficulty understanding her in Spanish.‘ Campos directly intervened at this point, calling the executive director of the shelter. A counselor called back from the shelter. As Cam- Pos reports, Marie (the counselor] told me that they did not want to take the woman in the shelter because they felt that the woman would feet isolated. I explained that the son agreed to translate for his mother during the intake process. Furthermore, that we would asist them in locating a Spanish-speaking bat- tered women’s advocate to assist in counseling her. Marie stated that utiliz~ ing the son was not an acceptable means of communication for them, since it ‘urther vetimized the vietim. 1n addition, she stated that they had similar ‘experiences with women who were non-English-speaking, and that the wo- ‘men eventually just left because they were not able to communicate with ‘anyone. I expressed my extreme concern for her safety and reiterated that ‘we would assist them in providing her with the necessary services until we could get her placed someplace where they had bilingual stafl.°° After several mote calls, the shelter finally agreed to take the woman, ‘The woman called once more during the negotiation; however, after a plan was in place, the woman never called back. Said Campos, “After so many calls, we are now left to wonder if she is alive and well, and if she will ever have enough faith in our ability to help her to call us again the next time she is in crisis." Despite this woman's desperate need, she was unable to receive the pro- tection afforded English-speaking women, due to the shelter’s rigid commit- ment to exclusionary policies. Perhaps even more troubling than the shelter’s lack of bilingual resources was its refusal to allow a friend or rela- tive to translate for the woman. This story illustrates the absurdity of a feminist approach that would make the ability to attend a support group without a translator a more significant consideration in the distribution of resources than the risk of physical harm on the street. The point is not that the shelter’s image of empowerment is empty, but rather that it was imposed without regard to the disempowering consequences for women who didn’t match the kind of client the shelter’s administrators imagined. And thus they failed to accomplish the basic priority of the shelter movement—to get the woman out of danger. Deputy Commissioner, New York Sse Depertment of So PODER Letter} 62._The woman ha been slipping back nto her hore during the day when her husband was at ‘work, She remained ina heightene sat of anvity because he was retutng shortly and she would be forced to go back out into the steets for yet another night. (8. PODER Letter supra note 61 (emphasis ade). 8. ta1264 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 Here the woman in erisis was made to bear the burden of the shelter’s refusal to anticipate and provide for the needs of non-English-speaking wo- men. Said Campos, “It is unfair to impose more stress on victims by placing them in the position of having to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to receive services that are readily available to other battered wo- ‘men.”*5 The problem is not easily dismissed as one of well-intentioned igno- rance. The specific issue of monolingualism and the monistic view of ‘women's experience that set the stage for this tragedy were not new issues in New York. Indeed, several women of color reported that they had repeat- edly struggled with the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Vio- lence over language exclusion and other practices that marginalized the interests of women of color.‘ Yet despite repeated lobbying, the Coalition did not act to incorporate the specific needs of nonwhite women into its central organizing vision. ‘Some critics have linked the Coalition’s failure to address these issues to the narrow vision of coalition that animated its interaction with women of color in the first place. The very location of the Coalition’s headquarters in Woodstock, New York—an area where few people of color live—seemed to guarantee that women of color would play a limited role in formulating pol- icy. Moreover, efforts to include women of color came, it seems, as some- thing of an afterthought. Many were invited to participate only after the Coalition was awarded a grant by the state to recruit women of color. How- ever, as one “recruit” said, “they were not really prepared to deal with us or ur issues. They thought that they could simply incorporate us into their organization without rethinking any of their beliefs or priorities and that we would be happy.”*” Even the most formal gestures of inclusion were not to be taken for granted. On one occasion when several women of color at- tended a meeting to discuss a special task force on women of color, the ‘group debated all day over including the issue on the agenda. The relationship between the white women and the women of color on the Board was a rocky one from beginning to end. Other conflicts developed over differing definitions of feminism. For example, the Board decided to hire a Latina staffperson to manage outreach programs to the Latino com- munity, but the white members of the hiring committee rejected candidates favored by Latina committee members who did not have recognized feminist id {55 Roundtable Discussion on Racism andthe Dometic Violence Movement (Apel 2, 1992) (Geansript on fle with the Stanford Law Review). The participants inthe discusion ~Diana Cam por, Director, Bilingual Outreach Project of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Vio ence; Elst A. Rio, Project Director, Veta Intervention Projet (a community-based project In Fast Harlem, New York, serving btiered women); and Haydee Resaro. «socal worker with the Eas Harlem Counei for Human Services anda Vietm Intervention Project volunteer—eecounted ones celning to race and culture during thei association withthe New York State Coalition ‘Amainst Domestic Violence, a state oversight group that distributed resources (o baitred women’s shes touout the atc ard gna pay pire forth ater tha erp afc Cealton. 6” id 6h IdJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1265 credentials. As Campos pointed out, by measuring Latinas against their ‘own biographies, the white members of the Board failed to recognize the different circumstances under which feminist consciousness develops and ‘manifests itself within minority communities. Many of the women who in- terviewed for the position were established activists and leaders within their ‘own community, a fact in itself suggesting that these women were probably familiar with the specific gender dynamics in their communities and were accordingly better qualified to handle outreach than other candidates with ‘more conventional feminist credentials.° The Coalition ended a few months later when the women of color walked out.” Many of these women returned to community-based organizations, preferring to struggle over women's issues within their communities rather than strugele over race and class issues with white middle-class women. Yet as illustrated by the case of the Latina who could find no shelter, the domi- nance of a particular perspective and set of priorities within the shelter com- munity continues to marginalize the needs of women of color. The struggle over which differences matter and which do not is neither an abstract nor an insignificant debate among women. Indeed, these con- flicts are about more than difference as such; they raise critical issues of power. The problem is not simply that women who dominate the antivi- ‘lence movement are different from women of color but that they frequently have power to determine, either through material or rhetorical resources, whether the intersectional differences of women of color will be incorporated at all into the basic formulation of policy. Thus, the struggle over incorpo- rating these differences is not a petty or superficial conflict about who gets to sit at the head of the table. In the context of violence, it is sometimes a deadly serious matter of who will survive—and who will not.”! B. Political Intersectionalities in Rape In the previous sections, T have used intersectionality to describe or frame various relationships between race and gender. I have used intersec- tionality as a way to articulate the interaction of racism and patriarchy gen- erally. T have also used intersectionality to describe the location of women of color both within overlapping systems of subordination and at the mar- teins of feminism and antiracism, When race and gender factors are ex- amined in the context of rape, intersectionality can be used to map the ways in which racism and patriarchy have shaped conceptualizations of rape, to describe the unique vulnerability of women of color to these converging sys- @. Id 70. Ironically, the specie dapute that eto the walk-out concerned the housing of the Span- Ish-language domestic violence hotline. The hotline wa inital housed a the Colin's head ‘ers, but languished fer a succession of coordinators left the ofganization. Latinas on the Coalition boat argued thatthe holine shouldbe Routed atone ofthe community sevice agencies, While the board insisted on maintaining contra oft. The hotline 8 now housed at PODER fa 71. Said Camps, “Tt would bea shame that in New York sates battered woman's hie or death were dependent upon her English language skills” PODER Letter, supra note 61266 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 tems of domination, and to track the marginalization of women of color within antiracist and antirape discourses.”? 1. Racism and sexism in dominant conceptualizations of rape. Generations of critics and activists have criticized dominant conceptual- izations of rape as racist and sexist. These efforts have been important in revealing the way in which representations of rape both reflect and reproduce race and gender hierarchies in American society.” Black women, as both women and people of color, are situated within both groups, each of which has benefitted from challenges to sexism and racism, respectively, and yet the particular dynamics of gender and race relating to the rape of Black ‘women have received scant attention, Although antiracist and antisexist as- saults on rape have been politically useful to Black women, at some level, the monofocal antiracist and feminist critiques have also produced a political discourse that disserves Black women. Historically, the dominant conceptualization of rape as quintessentially Black offender/white victim has left Black men subject to legal and extrale- gal violence. The use of rape to legitimize efforts to control and discipline the Black community is wel established, and the casting of all Black men as potential threats to the sanctity of white womanhood was a familiar con- struct that antiracists confronted and attempted to dispel over a century ago. Feminists have attacked other dominant, essentially patriarchal, concep- tions of rape, particularly as represented through law. The early emphasis of rape law on the property-like aspect of women’s chastity resulted in less s0- licitude for rape victims whose chastity had been in some way devalued. Some of the most insidious assumptions were written into the law, including the early common-law notion that a woman alleging rape must be able to show that she resisted to the utmost in order to prove that she was raped, rather than seduced, Women themselves were put on trial, as judge and jury scrutinized their lives to determine whether they were innocent victims ot women who essentially got what they were asking for. Legal rules thus func- tioned to legitimize a good woman/bad woman dichotomy in which women who lead sexually autonomous lives were usually least likely to be vindicated if they were raped. 72. The discussion in flowing scion focuses rather narrowly on the dypamies of « Black/ hte sexual hierarchy. T pacify Azan American in part because given the centaiy of sexuality 2 ast of racial domination of Alican Americans, any generalizations tht might be deawe fom {his history seem least apliable to other racial groups. To be sure, the specie dynamics of racial ‘oppression experienced by other racial group are ikely to have a sexual eomponant 8 Wel Indeed, the epertcre of racist imagery tht i commonly associated with diferent aca groups each contain 4 sextal stereotype as well These images probably infuence the way that rapes Lavoving other ‘minority groups ae perceived both intcnally aod in socety-a-large, bat they are likely to funtion in diferent ways 73. For example, the ure of rape to leiimize efforts to contol and discipline the Black com ‘munity Is Well established in historical erature on rape and rae. See Joyce E. WILLIAMS & KAREN A. Hoses, THE SucoND ASSAULT: RAFE AND PUBLIC ATTITUDES 26 (1981) ("Rape, oF the threa of rape, isan important too of soeal control in a complex system of racial-exual stratifcaton.")July 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1267 Today, long after the most egregious discriminatory laws have been erad- ‘cated, constructions of rape in popular discourse and in criminal law con- tinue to manifest vestiges of these racist and sexist themes. As Valerie Smith notes, “a variety of cultural narratives that historically have linked sexual violence with racial oppression continue to determine the nature of public response to [interracial rapes).””* Smith reviews the well-publicized case of a jogger who was raped in New York’s Central Park”? to expose how the public discourse on the assault “made the story of sexual victimization insep- arable from the rhetoric of racism." Smith contends that in dehumanizing the rapists as “savages,” “wolves,” and “beasts,” the press ‘shaped the dis- course around the event in ways that inflamed pervasive fears about black men."”" Given the chilling parallels between the media representiions of the Central Park rape and the sensationalized coverage of similar allegations that in the past frequently culminated in lynchings, one could hardly be sur- prised when Donald Trump took out a full page ad in four New York news- papers demanding that New York “Bring Back the Death Penalty, Bring Back Our Police.""* Other media spectacles suggest that traditional gender-based stereotypes that are oppressive to women continue to figure in the popular construction of rape. In Florida, for example, a controversy was sparked by a jury's ac- quittal of a man accused of a brutal rape because, in the jurors’ view, the woman's attire suggested that she was asking for sex.” Even the press cov- 74. Valete Smith, Split Afintes The Case of Tweracal Raps. in CONFLICTS IN Fenian 271, 214 (Marianne Hissch & Evelyn Fox Keller eds. 1990). 75, On April 18,1989, a young white woman, jogging through New York's Cental Park, was ‘ape, severly beaten, and'left unconscious in an ala by ae many as 12 Black youths. Crag Wolf, Youths Rape and Beat Cenral Park Jeger, N.Y. Ties Ape. 21,1983, at Bl 76. Seth, s4pra note 4, st 276-78, 77. Smith cites the use of animal images to characterize the accused Black apis, including Aeseripions suchas: "a wolfpack of more than a doven young teenagers’ and {here Was full ‘moon Wednesday nigh. A suitable backdrop forthe howling of wolves. A vious pack ran ram pont through Centra Park. This was besa brutality" An editorial inthe New York Times was entitled “The Jogger and the Wolf Pack." 1d at 277 (italions ome), Evidence ofthe ongoing link between rape and racism in American culture is by no means unigue vo medi coverage ofthe Central Patk jogger ease. In December 1990, the George Washing ‘on University student newspaper, Th Hatchet printed» story in which a white student alleged tht she fad been raped at knifepoint by two Black men on or near the campus. The story caused considerable racial tension Shortly aller the report appeared, the woman’ sltorney informed the campus police that his client had fabricated the attack Afer the host was uncovered, the woman Said that she hoped the story “would highlight the problems of safety for women." Felicy Banger, False Rape Report Upsetting Compus, N.Y. Times, De, 12,1990 at A2; see also Les Payne, 4 Rape Hoax Sirs Up Hate, Newsy, Des. 18.199, at 6 78, Wiliam C. Trot, Deadly Donald, UPI, Apr. 30 1989. Donald Trump explained that he spent $85,000 to take out these ads because “I want to hate thee muggers and murderers. They Should be forced to suffer and, when they kil, dhey should be exected for thee crimes." Trump all for Death wo Magers Ls, Ties, May 1, 1989 at AZ. But of Letders Fer “Lynch Hysterts in Response Trump dds, UPI, May 6 1989 (community leader feared that Trurps ads wold fan “the flames of rail polriation and hatred); Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, Cot of Full Poge A Could Hela Fight Cases of Urban Violence, N.Y. Times, May 1S, 1989, at 18 (Mr. Trump's proposal could wel lead to further violence), 78. Ian Ball, Rope Viet to Blame, Saye Jury, Daily Telegraph, Oct. 6, 1985, at 3. Two "months after the acquit, the same man ped guilty to raping « Georgia woman fo whom he si1268 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 iam Kennedy Smith’s rape trial involved a considerable degree of speculation regarding the sexual history of his accuser.®° The racism and sexism written into the social construction of rape are merely contemporary manifestations of rape narratives emanating from a historical period when race and sex hierarchies were more explicitly policed, Yet another is the devaluation of Black women and the marginalization of their sexual victimizations. This was dramatically shown in the special at- tention given to the rape of the Central Park jogger during a week in which twenty-eight other cases of first-degree rape or attempted rape were reported in New York.*! Many of these rapes were as horrific as the rape in Central Park, yet all were virtually ignored by the media. Some were gang rapes,*? and in a case that prosecutors described as was “one of the most brutal in recent years,” a woman was raped, sodomized and thrown fifty feet off the top of a four-story building in Brooklyn, Witnesses testified that the victim “screamed as she plunged down the air shaft. ... She suffered fractures of both ankles and legs, her pelvis was shattered and she suffered extensive internal injuries.” This rape survivor, like most of the other forgotten vic- tims that week, was a woman of color. In short, during the period when the Central Park jogger dominated the headlines, many equally horrifying rapes occurred. None, however, elicited the public expressions of horror and outrage that attended the Central Park rape.** To account for these different responses, Professor Smith suggests a i's your fault. You'e wearing a skit.” Roger Simon, Rape: loving ts Not the Criminal LA, Times Feb 18, 1980, at 2. 80, See Barbara Kantrowit, Naming Names, NEWSWEEK, Apt. 29, 1991, at 26 (discussing the tone of several newspaper inveatigations into the character of the woman who alleged that she ‘was raped by William Kennedy Smith). Thee were other dubious assumptions animating the cover- age, One article desribed Smith a an “unlikely candidat forthe rapists role.” Boys Night Ou in Pai Beach, Tite, Ape. 22,191, a 82. Bus see Hillary Rustin, Levers The Kennedy Problom, Tint, May 20,191, a? (eiczing authors for perpetuating stererypical images of the whois 5 not alkely” raps). Smith wat eventually segue 1. The New York Times pointed out that “ofeary all the rapes reported during that April ‘weck were af black o¢ Hispanic women, Most went unnoticed bythe publi." Don Terry, ln Week af an Infamous Rape, 28 Other Vins Sur: NY. Ties, May 2, 1989, at B2S. Newly allo the ‘apes occurred between atackers and vitins ofthe same race: “Among the vitims were 17 bck ‘Hispanic women, 8 whites, and ? Asians” Id 2, In Gien Ridge, an afMuent New Jersey suburb, five white midleclass teenagers allegedly angrapod a retarded white woman with 2 broom handle and a miniature baseball bat See Robert Hanley, Sexual soul Spi a New Jerey Town, N.Y. Times, May 26, 1989, at Bl; Dectick Z Jackson, The Seeds of Violence, Boston Globe, June 2,198, at 23; Bil Turgue, Gang Rape nthe ‘Suburbs, Newswerk, Jone 5, 1989, at 26 ‘3. Robert D. McFadden, 2 Men Gt 6 10 18 Years for Rape in Brooklyn, N.Y. Times, Oct. 2, 1980, i B2. The woman “lay half naked, moaning and erying for help until neighbor herd her™ in the air sha. Community Rallies to Suppor Viet of Bratal Brooklyn Rope. N.Y. Daily News, June 26, 1989, a6 The vitin “suferd such extensive injuries that she had to iaen to walk pun. She faces years of psychological coutselng», "McFadden, pra 48, This ferential response was epitomized by public reaction tothe rapermurder of a young Black woman in Boston on Octobe 3 38 unwed mothe, an osasionl prostitute, and 4 ‘vetim was e white, Upper-elis profesional. The Black woman was iy. The white woman was raped and left for dead interracial. The raped and murdered CCenrat Park rape became a national rallying case against eandom (read Dlack male volenes heJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1269 sexual hierarchy in operation that holds certain female bodies in higher re- gard than others.®* Statistics from prosecution of rape cases suggest that this hierarchy is at least one significant, albeit often overlooked factor in evaluating attitudes toward rape.*® A study of rape dispositions in Dallas, for example, showed that the average prison term for a man convicted of raping a Black woman was two years,*7 as compared to five years for the rape of a Latina and ten years for the rape of an Anglo woman." A related issue is the fact that African-American victims of rape are the least likely to be believed.*? The Dallas study and others like it also point to a more subtle problem: neither the antirape nor the antiracist political agenda has focused ‘on the Black rape victim. This inattention stems from the way the problem of rape is conceptualized within antiracist and antirape reform discourses. Although the rhetoric of both agendas formally includes Black women, ra- cism is generally not problematized in feminism, and sexism, not problema- tized in antiracist discourses. Consequently, the plight of Black women is relegated to a secondary importance: The primary beneficiaries of policies supported by feminists and others concerned about rape tend to be white ‘women; the primary beneficiaries of the Black community's concern over racism and rape, Black men, Ultimately, the reformist and rhetorical strate- ‘ies that have grown out of antiracist and feminist rape reform movements have been ineffective in politicizing the treatment of Black women. 2. Race and the antirape lobby. Feminist critiques of rape have focused on the way rape law has reflected ‘ape of Kimberly Rac Harbour was written iio a Tosa srpt highlighted by the Boston Police Department’ siege upon Black men in pursuit ofthe “Bctional” aol Stuart murderer. See John Ellement, § Teerogers Charged in Rape. Kling of Dorchester Woman, Boston Globe, Nov. 20, 1990, ati; James S. Kunen, Homicide No. 119, Peorce, Jan. 14,1991, at 42. Fora comparison of the Stuart and Harbour murders, see Christopher B. Daly, Scont Attention Paid Victim as Homicides ‘Reach Record in Bason, Wash, Pot, De. 5, 1990, 3, 485, Smith points out that “he relative lnvisiiity of black women vstms of expe ako reflects the deren value of women's bodies in capitalist societies, To the extent that a tracted 1a crime aguins! the property of privileged white men, crimes again! lest valuable women wo men of cole, workingeass women, and lesbians, fr example-mesn les or mean diferent than "ose aginst white women from the middle and upper cates” Sith, supra note 74 at 276-16. 86, "Cases involving black offenders and black victims wer treated the lest seriously." GARY D. LaPaus, RATE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT (1989), LaFree also notes, however, that “the race composition af the vieiofender dyad" wes ot "he only predetr of ese dispasitins. 1. st 219-20, 87. Race Tits the Seales of Justice. Study: Dallas Punishes Attacks om Whites More Harsh Dallas Times Herld, Aug. 19, 1990, at AL. A study of 1988 cases in Dallas County's criminal justice system concued that rapists whose vietims were white wee punished more severely than those whose vietims were Black or Hispanic. The Dallas Times Heral, which had commissioned the study, reported that "(he punishment almost doubled when the attacker and yictim were of lierent races. Except for sich interracial erie, sentencing dsparie were much less pronounced ct pt : Pr 88. 14, Two criminal law experts, lowa law profesor Davi Baldus and Carnegie Mellon Uni- versity profesor Aled Blumsein “said thatthe racial inequities might be even worse than the Figures suggest.” 89. See G, LaFREE, supa note 86, Black rape survivors see alo H. PEALD st 219-20 (quoting jurors who doubted the credibility of 1. BIENEN, supra note 35, a0 117-181270 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 doriinant rules and expectations that tightly regulate the sexuality of wo- ‘men. In the context of the rape trial, the formal definition of rape as well as the evidentiary rules applicable in a rape trial discriminate against women by ‘measuring the rape victim against a narrow norm of acceptable sexual con- duct for women, Deviation from that norm tends to turn women int illegit- imate rape vietims, leading to rejection of their claims. Historically, legal rules dictated, for example, that rape victims had to have resisted their assailants in order for their claims to be accepted. Any abatement of struggle was interpreted as the woman’s consent to the inter- course under the logic that a real rape victim would protect her honor virtu- ally to the death, While utmost resistance is not formally required anymore, rape law continues to weigh the credibility of women against narrow norma- tive standards of female behavior. A woman's sexual history, for example, is frequently explored by defense attorneys as a way of suggesting that a wo- man who consented to sex on other occasions was likely to have consented in the case at issue, Past sexual conduct as well as the specific circumstances leading up to the rape are often used to distinguish the moral character of the legitimate rape victim from women who are regarded as morally debased or in some other way responsible for their own victimization. This type of feminist critique of rape law has informed many of the fun- damental reform measures enacted in antirape legislation, including in- creased penalties for convicted rapists” and changes in evidentiary rules to preclude attacks on the woman's moral character. ! These reforms limit the tactics attorneys might use to tarnish the image of the rape victim, but they operate within preexisting social constructs that distinguish victims from nonvictims on the basis of their sexual character. And so these reforms, while beneficial, do not challenge the background cultural narratives that undermine the credibility of Black women. Because Black women face subordination based on both race and gender, reforms of rape law and judicial procedures that are premised on narrow conceptions of gender subordination may not address the devaluation of Black women. Much of the problem results from the way certain gender ‘expectations for women intersect with certain sexualized notions of race, no- 90, For example, Tite F ofthe Vielenoe Against Women Act crests leeral penalties for sex rimes. See 137 CONG. REC. S597, S899:600 (ily ed. Jan, 14, 1991), Specifeally, section 111 of the Act authorizes the Sentencing Commission to promulgate guidelines to provide that any perion ‘who commits violation afte a prior conviction cam be punished by aterm a imprisonment or Snes up to twice of what is otherwise provided inthe guidelites. S15, supra not 57, at&. Additionally section 112 ofthe Act authorizes the Sentencing Commision to amend its sentencing guidelines (© provide that a defendant convicted of rape or aggravated rape, “shall be assigned a base offense {hat is a leat 4 levels aveatr than the base offense level sppicable to such ofenses™ Ta. at 5. 91, Title Hof the Act also creates new evidetiacy rales forthe introduction of sexual sory in ériminal and civil ests. Le Sections 1St and 152 amend Fed. R. Evi. $12 by prohibiting "cept tion or opinion evidence ofthe pat senutl behavior ofan alleged victim” smite, nd Hii eter evidence of past sexual behavior Za 39:44, Similarly section 153 amends the rape Shield Inw. fe. a 44-48, States have abo either enacted or atemped to enact rape shield law ‘eforms of thee own. See Harriet R. Galvin, Shielding Rae Vitis inthe State and Federal 4 Proposal for the Second Decade, 70 Minn. L_ REV. 768 (1986); Barbara Eom, Sexual Battery ‘Mived-Signal Leilation Reveals Need far Further Reform, 18 FLA. St. U. L. REV. 579 (1991),Suly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1271 tions that are deeply entrenched in American culture. Sexualized images of African Americans go all the way back to Europeans’ first engagement with Africans, Blacks have long been portrayed as more sexual, more earthy, more gratifcation-oriented, These sexualized images of race intersect with norms of women’s sexuality, norms that are used to distinguish good women from bad, the madonnas from the whores. Thus Black women are essen- tially prepackaged as bad women within cultural narratives about good wo- ‘men who can be raped and bad women who cannot. The discrediting of Black women’s claims is the consequence of a complex intersection of a gendered sexual system, one that constructs rules appropriate for good and bad women, and a race code that provides images defining the allegedly ¢s- sential nature of Black women. If these sexual images form even part of the cultural imagery of Black women, then the very representation of a Black female body at least suggests certain narratives that may make Black wo- ‘men’s rape either less believable or less important. These narratives may explain why rapes of Black women are less likely to result in convictions and long prison terms than rapes of white women,” Rape law reform measures that do not in some way engage and challenge the narratives that are read onto Black women’s bodies are unlikely to affect the way cultural beliefS oppress Black women in rape trials. While the de- ‘tee to which legal reform can directly challenge cultural beliefs that shape rape trials is limited,®* the very effort to mobilize political resources toward addressing the sexual oppression of Black women can be an important first step in drawing greater attention to the problem. One obstacle to such an effort has been the failure of most antirape activists to analyze specifically the consequences of racism in the context of rape. In the absence of a direct attempt to address the racial dimensions of rape, Black women are simply Presumed to be represented in and benefitted by prevailing feminist critiques. 3. Antiracism and rape. Antiracist critiques of rape law focus on how the law operates primarily to condemn rapes of white women by Black men. While the heightened 92, Soe note 5 pra 93. One can imagine certain ri based interventions that might assist prosecutors in strug ling with these bei. For example, one might consider expanding the spe of voir dite Lo eX Amine juror’ attitudes toward Blick rape vitins.. Moreover, as more is learned about Black women's response to rape, this information may be deemed relevant in evaluating Black women’s testimony and thus warrant inteoduetion through expert testimony. In this regard, itis worth noting that the battered women’s syirome andthe rape travma syndrome are both forms of expert test mony that frequently fonction inthe coment of tril to counter stereotypes and other dominant naretives chat might otherwise preduce a negative oulome forthe woman "on tial” These ite ‘ventions probably unimaginable a short while ago, grew ou of efor to study and somehow quan Uy Women’s experience. Simi interventions that addres the particular dimensions of the ‘experiences of women of color may well be posible. This knowledge may grow out of forts to map hhow women of color have fared under standard interventions. Foran example of an intersetinal eritigue ofthe battered women's syndrome see Sharon A. Allard, Rethinking Battered Woman Sy ‘drome: A Black Feminist Perspective, 1 UCLA. WoMEN'S LJ 191 (1991) (student author. ‘94. See Smith, supra note 74 (sessing media senatonalizton ofthe Central Park jogger ase a consistent with historical patterns of focusing almost eaclnvely on Black male/white emsle1272 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 concern with protecting white women against Black men has been primarily criticized as a form of discrimination against Black men, it just as surely reflects devaluation of Black women.** This distegard for Black women re- sults from an exclusive focus on the consequences of the problem for Black ‘men.>7 Of course, rape accusations historically have provided a justification for white terrorism against the Black community, generating a iegitimating power of such strength that it created a veil virtually impenetrable to appeals based on either humanity or fact.®® Ironically, while the fear of the Black rapist was exploited to legitimate the practice of lynching, rape was not even alleged in most cases.” The well-developed fear of Black sexuality served primarily to increase white tolerance for racial terrorism as a prophylactic measure to keep Blacks under control. Within the African-American community, cases involving race-based accusations against Black men have stood as hallmarks of racial injustice. The prosecution of the Scottsboro bboys'*t and the Emmett Till! tragedy, for example, triggered African- ‘vad eee ato Tere, supra note 81 (outing the 2 other rapes that occured during the same ‘week, But that were not given the same media coverage), ANough rape i largely an intraacial rime, tis explanation forthe disparate coverage given to nonwhite vetms i doutful, however, ven the findings oft least one study that 48% of those surveyed belived that mos apes involved {Blick offeader anda white victim, See H. FEILD & L. DIENEN, supra ate 35, at 80. Ironically, Feil and Bleaen include in their book-length stidy of rape two photographs distibuted to the ‘subjects in thelr study depicting the alleged vein as white and the alleged aslant as Black. Given the author’ acknowiedgmen tha rape was overwhelmingly intaracl, the appearance of these ‘photos was particularly striking, especially Beene they were the only photos ineluded inthe ete book, 85, Sea eg, G. LAFRER, supra note 86, at 23738. 96, For s simile argument that raceotvctim aisceimination in the administration of the death penalty actually represents the devalued status of Black victims cather than discrimination against Black offenders, see Randall L, Kennedy, MCleskey Kemp: Roce. Capitol Punishment, ‘and the Supreme Cour, 101 Haav. L. Rev. 1388 (1988) 7. The statisti that 89% of all men executed for rape inthis country were Black i familar one, Farman ¥. Georgia 48 U.S. 238,368 (1972) (Marshal, concurring). Unfortunately, the ‘dominant analysis of racial dscimination in ape prosecutions generally doesnot discuss whether ny ofthe ape veins in thes eases were Black. See Jenifer Wrggins, Rape. acim, andthe Lew Hany, Women’s LJ. 103, 113 (1983) (student authon. ‘8. Race was frequently sufiint to fl infact that were unknown or unknowable. As late as 1953, the Album Supreme Court eu that a jury could take race into account in determining whether a Black man was guilty of "an atemp co commit an assault with an attempt to raps.” See MeQuirterv. State, 63 So, 24. 38,390 (Als. 1953). According to the "vitim's testimony, the man ‘ineligible as hey pasted. [at 389. 99. Ida Well, an early Black feminist, investigated every Inching she could for about a dec- ade. Afierresearchiog 728 lynching, she conluded that "olay a third ofthe murdered Blacks Were even accused of rap, mich lem guy oft” PAULA GrbDINGS, WHEN AND WHERE I ENTER THE Pact oF BLACK WOMEN ON RACE AND SEX IN AMERICA 28 (1984) (quoting Well). 100, Seo Jacquelyn Dowd Hal, "Phe Mind That Burns n Bach Body": Women, Rape, and ‘Racal Viiene, in POWERS OF DESIRE: THE POLITICS OF SEXUALITY 128, 334 (Ann Snitow, Chi tine Stansell, & Sharon Thompson ef. 1983). TOL. Nine Black youths Were charged with the rape of two white Women in railroad freight ‘ar near Scottsboro, Alabama. ‘Thee tals Secured it heated atmosphere. Each til was com pleted ina single day, and the defendants were all convicted and sentenced to death. See DAN T. Caren, Scotrsnona: A Taacby of rit Asenicas SOUTH (1876) The Supreme Couet re: ‘ered the defendants’ convictions and death sentences, holding that they were unconstitutonally enied the right to counsel. Powell. Alabama, 287 US. 45, 65 (1932), However, che defendants were reid by an allwhite jury after the Supremne Court reversed their convictions. 102. Emmett Till was a 14-year-old Black boy frm Chicago visting his relatives near MoneyJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1273 American resistance to the rigid social codes of white supremacy.'©> To the extent rape of Black women is thought to dramatize racism, itis usually cast san assault on Black manhood, demonstrating his inability to protect Black women. The direct assault on Black womanhood is less frequently seen as an assault on the Black community. !°# The sexual politics that this limited reading of racism and rape engenders, continues to play out today, as illustrated by the Mike Tyson rape trial. The use of antiracist rhetoric to mobilize support for Tyson represented an ongo- ing practice of viewing with considerable suspicion rape accusations against Black men and interpreting sexual racism through a male-centered frame. ‘The historical experience of Black men has so completely occupied the dom- inant conceptions of racism and rape that there is little room to squeeze in the experiences of Black women. Consequently, racial solidarity was contin- ually raised as a rallying point on behalf of Tyson, but never on behalf of Desiree Washington, Tyson's Black accuser. Leaders ranging from Benj min Hooks to Louis Farrakhan expressed their support for Tyson," yet no established Black leader voiced any concern for Washington. The fact that Black men have often been falsely accused of raping white women underlies the antiracist defense of Black men accused of rape even when the accuser herself is a Black woman, Asa result ofthis continual emphasis on Black male sexuality as the core issue in antiracist critiques of rape, Black women who raise claims of rape against Black men are not only disregarded but also sometimes vilified within the African-American community. One can only imagine the aliena- tion experienced by a Black rape survivor such as Desiree Washington when the accused rapist is embraced and defended as a victim of racism while she is, at best, disregarded, and at worst, ostracized and ridiculed. In contrast, ‘Tyson was the beneficiary of the longstanding practice of using antiracist rhetoric to deflect the injury suffered by Black women victimized by Black men, Some defended the support given to Tyson on the ground that all Afti- VMisissipp On a dare by loral boys, fe entered a store and spoke toa white Woman. Several days later, ErmettTil's body was found inthe Tallahatchie River. "The barbed wire holding the cotton- in fa aroun his neck ad became sagged on angled river rot.” After the corpse was discov. red, the white woman's hosband and his rothersinvlaw were charged with Emmet Ts murder. JUAN WILLIAMS, Eves ow THE PRizE 39-43 (1987), Fora historical account of che Emmett Til tragedy, see STEPHEN J. WHITFIELD, A DEATH IN THE DELTA (1988) 103. Cremhaw, pra note 7, at 159 (discussing how the generation of Black activists who treated the Black Liberation Movement were contemporaries of Emmett Til tos, Uni quite recently, for example, when historians talked of rape in the slavery experience they often bemoased the damage this act did to the Black male's sense of esteem and ‘respect. He was powerless o protect his woman from white rapists. Few scholars probed the effect that rape, the threat f ape, and damestic violence had on the poyhie develope rent ofthe female victims, Darlene Clark Hine, Rape and the Inner Lives of Black Women inthe Middle Wes: Preliminary Thoughts on the Culare of Disemblance i UNEQUAL SISTURS: A MULT-CULTURAL READER IN US: Women’s History (Elen Carol Dubois & Vicki L. Ruz ed. 1950) 10S. Michael Madden, No Of fom Defense, Boston Globe, Feb, 1, 1992, t 33 (Hooks) Farrakhan Backs Call for Precing Tyson, UP, uly 10, 1992.1274 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 can Americans can readily imagine their sons, fathers, brothers, or uncles being wrongly accused of rape. Yet daughters, mothers, sisters, and aunts, also deserve at least a similar concern, since statistics show that Black wo- men are more likely to be raped than Black men are to be falsely accused of it. Given the magnitude of Black women’s vulnerability to sexual violence, it is not unreasonable to expect as much concern for Black women who are raped as is expressed for the men who are accused of raping them, Black leaders are not alone in their failure to empathize with or rally around Black rape victims. Indeed, some Black women were among Tyson’s staunchest supporters and Washington's harshest critics.!° The media widely noted the lack of sympathy Black women had for Washington; Bar- bara Walters used the observation as a way of challenging Washington’s credibility, going so far as to press Washington for a reaction.!®” The most troubling revelation was that many of the women who did not support Washington also doubted Tyson’s story. These women did not sympathize with Washington because they believed that Washington had no business in Tyson’s hotel room at 2:00 am. A typical response was offered by one young Black woman who stated, “She asked for it, she got it, it's not fair to cry rape.”!08 Indeed, some of the women who expressed their disdain for Washington acknowledged that they encountered the threat of sexual assault almost daily.!® Yet it may be precisely this threat—along with the relative absence of rhetorical strategies challenging the sexual subordination of Black wo- ‘men—that animated their harsh criticism. In this regard, Black women who condemned Washington were quite like all other women who seck to dis- tance themselves from rape victims as a way of denying their own vulnerabil- ity. Prosecutors who handle sexual assault cases acknowledge that they ‘often exclude women as potential jurors because women tend to empathize the least with the vietim."° To identify too closely with victimization may reveal their own vulnerability.'"! Consequently, women often look for evi- 106. See Megan Rosenfeld, After she Verdict, The Doubts Black Women Show Lite Sympathy for Tyson's Aecuse, Wash. Post, Feb. 13, 1992, at Di; Allan Jobson, Tyson Rape Case Sikes a ‘Nerve Among Blacks, Chicago Te, Mar. 28, 192, at Cl; Suzanne P. Kelly, Black Women Wrestle with Abuse Ise: Many Say Choosing Racial Over Gender Lolly 1s Too Grea a Senfic Stat Tb Feb 1, 192, at Al 107, 20/20 (ABC television broadcast, Feb. 21,1992). 1g, 1a 19. According oa study by the Bureau of Justice, Black women ae signicantly more likly to beaped than white women, and women inthe 16-24 age group are >to 3 tes more likly fo be victims of rape or attempted rape than women in any oer age group. See Ronald J. Ostow, Typical Rape Vietim Called Poor Young. LA. Times, Mar 25, 1985, at 8 110, ‘See Pep Tyre, What Experts Say About Rope Juror, Newsy, May 19, 191, at 10 (ce porting that "restachers had determined that juroes i criminal lls side withthe complainant fefendant whose ethnic, economic and religous background most cosly resembles ee own. The tection tothe rae.” the way womte jurors judge vit of rape and sental assault"). Linda Fairel, a Manhattan prosecutor stats, "(Too afte women tend to be vey ental ofthe conduct ‘of other women, andthe often are not good jurors in aequsintance-ape cates” Margaret Carson, The Til of Conetng Rept, Te, Oc. 14,1991 tI 111. As sex crimes proseetoe Barbra Eganhauser note, e¥en young women wth contempo- rary Hfesyles often reject a woman's rape neceation out offs. "Ta call anater woman the wtJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1275 dence that the victim brought the rape on herself, usually by breaking social rules that are generally held applicable only to women, And when the rules classify women as dumb, loose, or weak on the one hand, and smart, dis- criminating, and strong on the other, it is not surprising that women who cannot step outside the rules to critique them attempt to validate themselves within them. The position of most Black women on this issue is particularly problematic, first, because of the extent to which they are consistently re- minded that they are the group most vulnerable to sexual victimization, and second, because most Black women share the African-American commu- nity's general resistance to explicitly feminist analysis when it appears to run up against long-standing narratives that construct Black men as the primary victims of sexual racism. C. Rape and Intersectionality in Social Science ‘The marginalization of Black women’s experiences within the antiracist and feminist critiques of rape law are facilitated by social science studies that fail to examine the ways in which racism and sexism converge. Gary LaFree's Rape and Criminal Justice: The Social Construction of Sexual As- sault''? ig a classic example. Through a study of rape prosecutions in Min- neapolis, LaFree attempts to determine the validity of two prevailing claims regarding rape prosecutions. The first claim is that Black defendants face significant racial discrimination.'! The second is that rape laws serve to regulate the sexual conduct of women by withholding from rape victims the ability to invoke sexual assault law when they have engaged in nontradi- tional behavior.'"* LaFree’s compelling study concludes that law constructs rape in ways that continue to manifest both racial and gender domination. 1° Although Black women are positioned as victims of both the racism and the sexism that LaFree so persuasively details, his analysis is less illuminating than might be expected because Black women fall through the cracks of his dichotomized theoretical framework 1. Racial domination and rape. LaFree confirms the findings of earlier studies that show that race is a ificant determinant in the ultimate disposition of rape cases. He finds that Black men accused of raping white women were treated most harshly, while Black offenders accused of raping Black women were treated most leniently.!!® These effects held true even after controlling for other factors af rape is wo acknowledge the vulnerability In yoursel. They go out at night, they date, they go 10 ‘bars and walk alone To deny ts to saya the tril that Women ate not vets” Tye, supra note no. 12. G. LaFRue, supra note 86. M3, td at 430, M4, ta at S01 HS, fda 237-40, 18, LaFree concludes that cecet studies finding no dieriminatory eect were inconclusive becuase they analyzed the eft of the defendant's race independently of the race of vietim, ‘The Aieretl race eft n sentencing aeolten concealed by combining the harsher sentenes given to1276 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 such as injury to the victim and acquaintance between victim and assailant, Compared to other defendants, blacks who were suspected of assaulting white women reeived more serious charges, were more likely to have their ‘cases filed as felonies, were more likely to receive prison sentences if con- Vieted, were more likely to be incercerated in the state penitentiary (as op- posed to a jail or minimum-security facility), and received longer sentences fon the average.!!7 LaFree’s conclusions that Black men are differentially punished depend- ing on the race of the victim do not, however, contribute much to under- standing the plight of Black rape victims. Part of the problem lies in the author's use of “sexual stratification” theory, which posits both that women are differently valued according to their race and that there are certain “rules of sexual access” governing who may have sexual contact with whom in this sexually stratified market.'"® According to the theory, Black men are iscriminated against in that their forced “access” to white women is more harshly penatized than their forced “access” to Black women.!!? LaFree’s analysis focuses on the harsh regulation of access by Black men to white ‘women, but is silent about the relative subordination of Black women to Black ren accused of aping white women with the more leient reatment of Black men aacused of raping Black women. 1d st 117, 14. Silt tests Wete found in another study. Soe Anthoay Walsh, The Seu! Siraijfeation Hypothesis and Sexual Asault in Light ofthe Changing Conceptions of Roce, 28 CRuNOLoGY 153, 170 (1987) ("sentence severity mean for blacks who assaulted ‘whites, which was signal i excess of mean for whites who assaulted whites, was masked by the lenient sentence severity mean for blacks who assaulted blacks") 117. G. LaFRE, supra note 86, a 139-40, 18. Sexual stratiation, according to LaFree, refers tothe diferential valuation of women according to their race and tthe cretion of "ules of sexual acces” governing who aay have ontat with whom. Senua statif\eation also dictates what the penelty wil befor breaking these ules: The rape ofa white woman by a Black man Is Seen asa trespass on the valuable property Fights of white men and is punished most severely. Id at 449 “The fundamental propositions of the sexual stratication thesis have been summarized 3s follows (1) Women are viewed asthe valued and searce property ofthe men oftheir own race. 2) White women, by vttu of membership in the dominant race, are more valuable than black women, (3) The sexual assault ofa white by a black threatens both the white man’s "property rights" and his dominant social postion. This dul threat accounts forthe strength ofthe taboo attached to interracial sexual ase. (@) A sexual assault by male of any race upon members ofthe les valued black race is perecved as nonthreatening to the status quo and therefore ls serious, (©) White men predominate as agents of secal control. Therefore, they have the power to sanction diferenally according t0 the perceived threat to thee favored socal pastion Walsh, supra note 116, a 155, 19. T use the term “accor” guardedly because it i an inapt euphemism for rape. On the other hand, rape is conceptualized diferetly depending on whether certain race-specie rules of eal aos ae volte. Although violence isnot explicitly written into the senaal sratcation ‘theory, It dos work itselinto the ules, i that sexual ntrcourse that violates the racial acces ules 's presumed to be coercive eater that voluntary. See ef Sins v Bulk, 136 SE. 24 766, 769, (Ga, 1964 (esribing the cape of white wornan by a Bek man as “a crime more horible than deat"); Story v, Sate, $9 So, 480 (Ala 1912) ("The consensus of public opinion, unrestricted to fither rae, i that a white woman prostitute is yet, though lst of virtue, above the even greater ‘sacrifice ofthe voluntary submision of er person to the embraces of the other race"); WRG, supra note 97, at 128,127July 1991) INTERSECTIONALITY 277 white women, The emphasis on differential access to women is consistent with analytical perspectives that view racism primarily in terms of the ine- quality between men. From this prevailing viewpoint, the problem of dis- crimination is that white men can rape Black women with relative impunity while Black men cannot do the same with white women.!2° Black women are considered victims of discrimination only to the extent that white men can rape them without fear of significant punishment, Rather than being Viewed as victims of discrimination in their own right, they become merely the means by which discrimination against Black men can be recognized The inevitable result of this orientation is that efforts to fight discrimination tend to ignore the particularly vulnerable position of Black women, who must both confront racial bias and challenge their status as instruments, rather than beneficiaries, of the civil rights struggle. ‘Where racial discrimination is framed by LaFree primarily in terms of a contest between Black and white men over women, the racism experienced by Black women will only be seen in terms of white male access to them. When rape of Black women by white men is eliminated as a factor in the analysis, whether for statistical or other reasons, racial discrimination against Black women no longer matters, since LaFree’s analysis involves comparing the “access” of white and Black men to white women.!2! Yet Black women are not discriminated against simply because white men can rape them with little sanction and be punished less than Black men who rape white women, or because white men who rape them are not punished the same as white men who rape white women. Black women are also discrimi- nated against because intraracial rape of white women is treated more seri- ously than intraracial rape of Black women, But the differential protection that Black and white women receive against intraracial rape is not seen as racist because intraracial rape does not involve a contest between Black and white men, In other words, the way the criminal justice system treats rapes of Black women by Black men and rapes of white women by white men is not seen as raising issues of racism because Black and white men are not involved with each other's women. In sum, Black women who are raped are racially discriminated against because their rapists, whether Black or white, are less likely to be charged with rape, and when charged and convicted, are less likely to receive signifi cant jail time than the rapists of white women. And while sexual stratifica- tion theory does posit that women are stratified sexually by race, most applications of the theory focus on the inequality of male agents of rape rather than on the inequality of rape victims, thus marginalizing the racist 10_This traditional approach places Black wowen ln a poniton of denying thei own vsti ation, requiring Black women {0 argue that iis rai o punish Back men tore harshly for raping White women than for raping Black women. However, the wake ofthe Mike Tj tial seems that many Black women are prepared to do jist that” See notes 106-109 supra and accompanying 121. In fact, crites and commentators often use the term “interracial rape” when they are scaly talking only about Black male/white female rape,1278 STANFORD LAW REVIEW (ol, 43:1241 treatment of Black women by consistently portraying racism in terms of the relative power of Black and white men. In order to understand and treat the victimization of Black women as a consequence of racism and sexism, it is necessary to shift the analysis away from the differential access of men and more toward the differential protec- tion of women. Throughout his analysis, LaFree fails to do so. His sexual stratification thesis—in particular, its focus on the comparative power of ‘male agents of rape—illustrates how the marginalization of Black women in antiracist politics is replicated in social science research, Indeed, the thesis leaves unproblematized the racist subordination of less valuable objects (Black women) to more valuable objects (white women), and it perpetuates the sexist treatment of women as property extensions of “their” men. 2 Rape and gender subordination. Although LaFree does attempt to address gender-related concerns of wo- ‘men in his discussion of rape and the social control of women, his theory of sexual stratification fails to focus sufficiently on the effects of stratification on women. LaFree quite explicitly uses a framework that treats race and gender as separate categories, giving no indication that he understands that Black women may fall in between or within both. The problem with LaFree’s analysis lies not in its individual observations, which can be in- sightful and accurate, but in his failure to connect them and develop a broader, deeper perspective. His two-track framework makes for a narrow interpretation of the data because it leaves untouched the possibility that these two tracks may intersect. And it is those who reside at the intersection of gender and race discrimination—Black women—that suffer from this fun- damental oversight. LaFree attempts to test the feminist hypothesis that “the application of Jaw to nonconformist women in rape cases may serve to control the behavior of all women.”"2> This inquiry is important, he explains, because “if women who violate traditional sex roles and are raped are unable to obtain justice through the legal system, then the law may be interpreted as an institutional arrangement for reinforcing women’s gender-role conformity.””"™* He finds that “acquittals were more common and final sentences were shorter when nontraditional victim behavior was alleged.""25 Thus LaFree concludes that the victim’s moral character was more important than victim injury, and was second only to the defendant's character. Overall, 82.3 percent of the traditional victim cases resulted in convictions and average sentences of 122. G. LAFREE, supra woe 86, at 4B. LaF ed's iamaiton between race and gender suggests thatthe shit ight not loosen the fame enough to permit discussion ofthe combine eflets of ace and gender subordination on Bek women. LaFtee repeatedly separate ace fot gender, eating ‘hem as wholly distinguishable seus “See, at 47, 123. Id, 124. at 151. LaFree interprets nontraditional behavior to include drinking. dug use, extra ‘marital sex illepitimate children, ad “having a reputation asa arti pleasure seek’ some- ‘one who says out latest nigh” fd at 20) 128. 1d a 208,July 1991) INTERSECTIONALITY 1279 43.38 months.'2 Only 50 percent of nontraditional victim cases led to con- victions, with an average term of 27.83 months.12” The effects of traditional and nontraditional behavior by Black women are difficult to determine from the information given and must be inferred from LaFree's passing com- ‘ments. For example, LaFree notes that Black victims were evenly divided between traditional and nontraditional gender roles. This observation, to- gether with the lower rate of conviction for men accused of raping Blacks, Suggests that gender role behavior was not as significant in determining case disposition as it was in cases involving white victims. Indeed, LaFree explic- itly notes that “the victim’s race was . .. an important predictor of jurors’ ‘ease evaluations.”!28 Jurors were les likely to believe in & defendants guilt when the victim was black. Our interviews with jurors suggested that part ofthe explanation for this eect was that jurors... were influenced by stereotypes of black women ‘as more likely to consent to sex or as more sexually experienced and hence less harmed by the assault. In a case involving the rape of a young black Birl, one juror argued for acquittal on the grounds that a git! her age from “that kind of neighborhood? probably wasn't a virgin anyway.!29 16 Td 1 1d 128. 1d, at 219 (emphasis added). While there i ite divest evidence that prosecutors are intuenced by the race ofthe victim itis not unreasonable to assume that since rice Is an important predictor of conviction, prosecutors determines to maintain high conviction rate might be les likly to pursue a ease involving a Black victim than a white one, This ealutus fy probaly ein forced when juries fal to convict in siong eases nvaving Black victim. Forexarpl, the acquittal of three white St John's University athletes forthe gang rpe of Jaacan schoolnte was iter- ted by many a racially influenced. Witnesses tsifed tht the woman was incapacitated during much of th ordeal, having ingested a mixture ofalahol given ta herby clsenate who subse venly tiated the assault. ‘The jurors insisted that race played no role ther decision to segue. There was no race, We all ageeed to i” said one juror; “They were trying to make it racial But i wasn" said another. Jurors Wasnt Racal Newsday, July 25,1991, at Yet its pessible that race did influence on some level thee belief chat the wom consented to what by all account ‘mounted to dehumanizing conduct. See eg. Carole Agus, Whatever Happened to "The Rules, [Newsday July 28, 191, a 11 (iting testimony that at east two ofthe esalant tthe vei in he head with thee penises). The jury nonetheless though in the words of its Foreman, thatthe defend ants’ behavior was “obnoxious” but not criminal. See Sydney H.Schanberg, Those ‘Obnoxious St “John’s Ate, Newsy, July 30, 1991, at 79. One ean imagine a diferent outcome had the races of the parties only been revered Representative Charles Rangel (D-N.Y,) calle the verdt “a rerun of what wed t happen in the South." James Michael Brodie, The St. John's Rape Aequital: Old Wounds Tha Just Won't Go ‘Ana. Black Issuts IN HicHER EDUC. Avg. 15, 1991, at 18, Dense Snyder, execulve decor of the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, commented Wa historical precedent that white men can assault black women and get away with it Wor be tothe Black man who assaults white women, All the prejudices the existed a hundred years ago are dormant and not 30 dormant, and they rear the uly heads a situations like this. Contrast this wih the Cental Park Jogget who mas aa uppersant white woman, Judy Mana, New dgs, Old Myths. Wash. Post, July 26 191, at C3 (quoting Snyder; te Keitin Bumiler, Rope ax Legal Symbol An Esay on Sexual Volnce nd Ravsm, 42 U. Miavt L Rev. 75, 88 ("The cultural meaning of rape i rooted ina syebions of acim and sexism that has tle ‘Mo the ating out of male aggression agnnst women snd, in particular, black women”) 128, 1d. at 219-20 (citations omitted). Anecdotal evidence suggests that this atude exits ‘mong some who are responsible for procesing rape ease Fran Weinman «tent ny seminat (on race, ger, and the law, conducted a eld stay atthe Rosa Parks Rape Crisis Center, Duras1280 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol, 43:1241 LaFree also notes that “other jurors were simply Jess willing to believe the testimony of black complainanis.”!"° One white juror is quoted as saying, “Negroes have a way of not telling the truth. They've a knack for coloring the story. So you know you can’t believe everything they say.”!! Despite explicit evidence that the race of the victim is significant in deter- mining the disposition of rape cases, LaFree concludes that rape law func- tions to penalize nontraditional behavior in women."? LaFree fails to note that racial identification may itself serve as a proxy for nontraditional behav- ior. Rape law, that is, serves not only to penalize actual examples of non- traditional behavior but also to diminish and devalue women who belong to sroups in which nontraditional behavior is perceived as common, For the Black rape victim, the disposition of her case may often turn less on her behavior than on her identity. LaFree misses the point that although white and Black women have shared interests in resisting the madonna/whore di chotomy altogether, they nevertheless experience its oppressive power differ- ently. Black women continue to be judged by who they are, not by what they do. 3. Compounding the marginalizations of rape. LaFree offers clear evidence that the race/sex hierarchy subordinates Black women to white women, as well as to men—both Black and white. However, the different effects of rape law on Black women are scarcely men- tioned in LaFee’s conclusions. Ina final section, LaFree treats the devalua- tion of Black women as an aside—one without apparent ramifications for ape law. He concludes: “The more severe treatment of black offenders who rape white women (or, for hat matter, the milder treatment of black offend rs who rape black women) is probably best explained in terms of racial dis- crimination within a broader context of continuing social and physical segregation between blacks and whites.”!* Implicit throughout LaFree’s her study, she counseled and aevompanied a T2-yearold Black rae survivor who became pregnant as result of the rape. The girl was afaid (0 tll her parents, who discovered the rape afc she became depressed and began to slip in school, Police weee lily reluctant to interview the gi Only after the gir’ father threatened o take matters into his own hands di the police Jepartnent send an investigator tothe g's house. The City proseewtor indicated that the case was a erous ‘one, and was reluctant to prosecute the defendant for statutory rape eventhough the gil Was unde. 1ags. The prosecutor reasoned, "After ll, she looks 16°" After many frustrations the pi fay limately desied not to pressure the prosecutor any futher and the case was dropped. See Fran Weinman, Racism and the Enforcement of Rape Law, 13-30 (190) (anpubished manuscript) (on He wih the Stnford Law Review), 120, G. LAFREE, supra note 86, at 220, On id 152 at 226 133. 4 8239 (emphasis added). The lover conviction rates fr those who rape Black women may be analogous othe fow conviction rates for acquaintance rape, The ental sve in men tape «ase is proving that the victim did not consent. ‘The basic presurption inthe absence of explich «evidence of lack of consent is that consent exis. Certain evidence b sulfiient to disprove that resumption, andthe quantum of evidence necessary to prove nonconsentinereses a he psu tions warcantingan inference of consent increases. Some women—based on their characte en, or dress—are vewed as more likely Yo consent tha other women, Perhaps i the combination of the seual stereotypes about Black peopl along withthe greater degre of faniliarty presumed £0July 1991) INTERSECTIONALITY 1281 study is the assumption that Blacks who are subjected to social control are Black men. Moreover, the social control to which he refers is limited to securing the boundaries between Black males and white females. His con- clusion that race differentials are best understood within the context of social segregation as well as his emphasis on the interracial implications of bound- ary enforcement overlook the intraracial dynamics of race and gender subor- dination, When Black men are leniently punished for raping Black women, the problem is nor “best explained” in terms of social segregation but in terms of both the race- and gender-based devaluation of Black women. By ing to examine the sexist roots of such lenient punishment, LaFree and other writers sensitive to racism ironically repeat the mistakes of those who ignore race as a factor in such cases. Both groups fail to consider directly the situation of Black women. Studies like LaFree’s do little to illuminate how the interaction of race, class and nontraditional behavior affects the disposition of rape cases involv- ing Black women, Such an oversight is especially troubling given evidence that many cases involving Black women are dismissed outright." Over 20 percent of rape complaints were recently dismissed as “unfounded” by the Oakland Police Department, which did not even interview many, if not most, of the women involved.'35 Not coincidentally, the vast majority of the complainants were Black and poor, many of them were substance abusers or prostitutes.'2® Explaining their failure to pursue these complaints, the police remarked that “those cases were hopelessly tainted by women who are tran- sient, uncooperative, untruthful or not credible as witnesses in court.”""7 ‘Grit tatwewn Black men and Black women that leads to the conexplulization of such rapes «8 xsting somewhere between acquaintance rape and sang eape 14. See, eg, Candy J. Cooper, Nowhere 10 Tur for Rope Vietime: High Proportion of Cases Tossed Aside by Oakland Police SF. Examiner, Sept 15, 1980, at Al [hercinafier Cooper, Nowhere to Turn), ‘The most persuasive evidence that the mages and bli that Oakland police ofcers hold foward rape vstns influence the disposition of thet ase ik represented in two followup stores. ‘See Candy J. Cooper, A Rape Vitim Vindiated, SF- Examiner, Sep. 17, 1980, at Al; Candy J Cooper, Pistin of Rape Victim ofthe System, SE Examine, Sep. 17, 199, at AIO. These stories contrasted the experiences of two Black women, both of whom had been raped by an arqusniance flee smoking crack. Inthe fst as, although there was tle physical evidence and the woman Was inal reluctant o testy, her rapist was prosecuted and ultimately convicted, Inthe second case the woman was severely besten by her asalant. Despite ample physial evidence and corrobora- tion and cooperative vst, her cae was pursued. The former case was handled by the Herkeley, California, poice department while the later was handle by the Oakland police depart ‘ment. Perhaps the diferent approsches producing there isparat reuliscan best be captured by the Dlilosopbies ofthe investigators Oficers in Berkeley “ike every woman's case so seriously that not ‘ne in 1989} was found to be alse,” Se Candy J. Cooper, Berkeley Unit Takes Al Cses as Leg ‘nate, SF, Examiner, Sept. 16, 1990, a AUG. The same year, 284% of Oakland's rape cases were assed as “unfounded” Cooper, Nowhre to Tura supra 135. Coopes, Nowhere Tura, supra note 134, at ALO. 136, 1d. (Police, prosecutors, victims and rape ess Workers agre that most ofthe dropped cases were reported by women of calor who smoked crack or were iavelved in othe criminal, high Fisk behave, such as prostitution.” 1. 1d. Advocates point out that beause investigators work rom a profile of the kind of ease kel co ge a convieton, people let out of tha profil are people of coor, prostitutes, drug users and people raped by acquntanes. This exclusion results in "a whole class of women. systemati= ally Beng denied justice Poor Women sie the most.” Za1282 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 The effort to politicize violence against women will do little to address the experiences of Black and other nonwhite women until the ramifications of racial stratification among women are acknowledged. At the same time, the antiracist agenda will not be furthered by suppressing the reality of in- traracial violence against women of color. The effect of both these marginal- izations is that women of color have no ready means to link their experiences ith those of other women. This sense of isolation compounds efforts to politicize sexual violence within communities of color and permits the deadly silence surrounding these issues. D. Implications With respect to the rape of Black women, race and gender converge in ways that are only vaguely understood. Unfortunately, the analytical frameworks that have traditionally informed both antirape and antiracist agendas tend to focus only on single issues. They are thus incapable of de- veloping solutions to the compound marginalization of Black women vic tims, who, yet again, fall into the void between concerns about women’s issues and concerns about racism. This dilemma is complicated by the role that cultural images play in the treatment of Black women victims. That is, the most critical aspects of these problems may revolve less around the polit- ical agendas of separate race- and gender-sensitive groups, and more around the sociat and cultural devaluation of women of color. The stories our cul- ture tells about the experience of women of color present another chal- enge—and a further opportunity—to apply and evaluate the usefulness of the intersectional critique. IIL, REPRESENTATIONAL INTERSECTIONALITY With respect to the rape of Black women, race and gender converge so that the concerns of minority women fall into the void between concerns about women’s issues and concerns about racism. But when one discourse fails to acknowledge the significance of the other, the power relations that each attempts to challenge are strengthened. For example, when feminists fail to acknowledge the role that race played in the public response to the rape of the Central Park jogger, feminism contributes to the forces that pro- duce disproportionate punishment for Black men who rape white women, and when antiracists represent the case solely in terms of racial domination, they belittle the fact that women particularly, and all people generally, should be outraged by the gender violence the case represented. Perhaps the devaluation of women of color implicit here is linked to how women of color are represented in cultural imagery. Scholars in a wide range of fields are increasingly coming to acknowledge the centrality of is- sues of representation in the reproduction of racial and gender hierarchy in the United States. Yet current debates over representation continually elide the intersection of race and gender in the popular culture's construction of images of women of color. Accordingly, an analysis of what may be termedJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1283 “representational intersectionality” would include both the ways in which these images are produced through a confluence of prevalent narratives of race and gender, as well as a recognition of how contemporary critiques of racist and sexist representation marginalize women of color. In this section I explore the problem of representational intersectional- ity—in particular, how the production of images of women of color and the contestations over those images tend to ignore the intersectional interests of women of color—in the context of the controversy over 2 Live Crew, the Black rap group that was the subject of an obscenity prosecution in Florida in 1990, T oppose the obscenity prosecution of 2 Live Crew, but not for the same reasons as those generally offered in support of 2 Live Crew, and not without a sense of sharp internal division, of dissatisfaction with the idea that the “real issue” is race or gender, inertly juxtaposed. An intersectional analysis offers both an intellectual and political response to this dilemma ‘Aiming to bring together the different aspects of an otherwise divided sensi bility, an intersectional analysis argues that racial and sexual subordination are mutually reinforcing, that Black women are commonly marginalized by 4 politics of race alone or gender alone, and that a political response to each form of subordination must at the same time be a political response to both. A. The 2 Live Crew Controversy In June 1990, the members of 2 Live Crew were arrested and charged under a Florida obscenity statute for their performance in an adults-only club in Hollywood, Florida. The arrests came just two days after a federal ‘court judge ruled that the sexually explicit lyrics in 2 Live Crew's album, As Nasty As They Wanna Be, were obscene." Although the members of 2 Live Crew were eventually acquitted of charges stemming from the live per- formance, the federal court determination that Nasty is obscene still stands. This obscenity judgment, along with the arrests and subsequent tral, prompted an intense public controversy about rap music, a controversy that merged with a broader debate about the representation of sex and violence in popular music, about cultural diversity, and about the meaning of freedom of expression. ‘Two positions dominated the debate over 2 Live Crew. Writing in News- week, political columnist George Will staked out a case for the prosecu- TBE 2 Live Cnbw, As Nasty AS Tey Wawa BE (Lake Records 1989), 139, In June 1990 a federal judge ruled that 2 Live Crew's Iie referring to sodomy and sexual intercourse were cbscene. Skywalker Records, In. v. Navarf, 139 F.Supp. 578,596 (S. Fla, 1990). The cour held thatthe recording appealed tothe prurient intrest, was patent fer ‘sive as defined by state law, and taken as a whole, lacked serious trary, artiste or pital value 1d. at 591-96, However, the court alo held that the sherf's office ad subjected the recoding 0 ‘unconstitutional prior restraint and consequently granted 2 Live Crew petmanent injunctive ele. 1d. at S960. ‘Two days ater the judge declare the recording obscene 2 Live Crew members vere charged with giving an obscene performance ata club in Hollywood, Florida, Experts Defend Live Grew Lyrics UPI, Oct. 19,1990. Deputy sherity alo arested Chatles Freeman, merchant who was sling copies ofthe Naty recocding. Soe Gene Santoro, How 2 8 Nasty Narion, July 2 199, 414. The TIth Ciccuit reversed the conviction, Luke Record, Inc ¥. Navarro, 960 F-2d 136 (10h Git. 1992)1284 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 tion.“ Will argued that Nasty was misogynistic filth and characterized 2 Live Crew's performance as a profoundly repugnant “combination of ex- treme infantilism and menace” that objectified Black women and repre- sented them as suitable targets of sexual violence.'*! The most prominent defense of 2 Live Crew was advanced by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard professor and expert on African-American literature. In a New York Times op-ed piece and in testimony at the criminal trial, Gates contended that 2 Live Crew's members were important artists operating within and inven- tively elaborating upon distinctively African-American forms of cultural ex- pression.'“? According to Gates, the characteristic exaggeration featured in 2 Live Crew's lyrics served a political end: to explode popular racist stereo- types in a comically extreme form.'*3 Where Will saw a misogynistic assault fon Black women by social degenerates, Gates found a form of “sexual carnivalesque” with the promise to free us from the pathologies of racism." Unlike Gates, there are many who do not simply “bust out laughing” upon first hearing 2 Live Crew.'*° One does a disservice to the issue to describe the images of women in Nasty as simply “sexually explicit.""° Li tening to Nasty, we hear about “cunts” being “fucked” until backbones are cracked, “asses” being “busted,” “dicks” rammed down throats, and semen 1990, a 64 142, Henry Louis Gat . ‘Times, Jun 19,190, at A23. Profesor Gates, who (ested on behalf of 2 Live Crew inthe eximinal proceding stemming from thir live performance, pointed out thatthe member of Live Crew were expressing themselves in coded messages and were engaging in parody. “For centuries, Afican-Amercans have been forced (0 Aevelop coded ways of communicating to protect them from danger Alleories and double mea ‘words redefined to mean their opps. have enabled bscks to shire messages only the inated understood.” Fa. Similarly, parody isa component of “the sret tradition called ‘sig ing’ ceplaying the dozens’ which has generally ben risqu, and where the Best sigs or ‘rapper iethe one who invent the most extravagant images the biggest nas the culture says” I 143. Testifying during 2 Live Crew's prosecution for obscenity, Gates argued that, “ole of the ilint things about these four songs i they embrace that stereotype [of backs having overly larg sexuelorgune and beng hypersexed individuals). ‘They name i and they explode it. You can Ihave no reaction but to bust out laughing The fct that they'e being sung by Tour virile young black men i ineseapnble tothe audience” Laura Parker, Rap Lis Likened to Literature: Witness In Live Cow Trial Cts ar, Parody. Precedents, Wash, Post, Oct, 20,1990, at DL 144, Compare Gates, supra note 142 (labeling 2 Live Crews braggadocio as carivalesgue”) with Wil supra note 140 (characterizing ? Live Crew as “lower animals”) US, See note 1 supra, M46, Although Ihave elected to print some of the actual Ionguage ftom Nast, much of the debate abou this ate hoe procecded without any speci cussion ofthe lyrics. There are reasons fone might avoid repeating soc senully expt materia Among the more compelling ones i the Concern tha presenting ris outside of thee fuller musical context hampers a complex understand ing and appreciation ofthe artform af rap ite, Doing so alo esetialize one dimension af the art ‘work—itsyriee—to stand forthe whole. Finally, focusing onthe production of single group may ontibute to the impeesion that that grouper, 2 Live Crew fry represents all appet. [Recognizing these rss, I Believe that Is nonetheless Important to lncoporate excerps rom the Crew's res nt this analysis. Not only ace the Iie legally relevant i any substantive dscus- ‘on ofthe abeentyposccution, but ls thei inclusion here serves orevea! the det of miso ‘many Altican-American women must grapple with in order to defend? Live Crew. This particu Iunly tue for Aftican-Ameciean women who have been sexually abused by men in thelr lives. OF ours it is alo the ene that many African-American women who ste touble by the sexual degra ation of Black women in some rap music can and do enjoy rap music generally xualJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1285 splattered across faces. Black women are “cunts,” “bitches,” and all-pur- pose "hos." This is no mere braggadocio. Those who are concerned about high rates of gender violence in our communities must be troubled by the possible con- nections between these images and the tolerance for violence against women. Children and teenagers are listening to this music, and one cannot but be concerned that the range of acceptable behavior is being broadened by the constant propagation of misogynistic imagery. One must worry as well about young Black women who, like young men, are learning that their value lies between their legs. But the sexual value of women, unlike that of men, is a depletable commodity; boys become men by expending theirs, while girls become whores. ‘Nasty is misogynist, and an intersectional analysis of the case against 2 Live Crew should not depart from a full acknowledgement of that misogyny. But such an analysis must also consider whether an exclusive focus on issues of gender risks overlooking aspects of the prosecution of 2 Live Crew that raise serious questions of racism, B. The Obscenity Prosecution of 2 Live Crew An initial problem with the obscenity prosecution of 2 Live Crew was its apparent selectivity.!*® Even the most superficial comparison between 2 Live Crew and other mass-marketed sexual representations suggests the like- lihood that race played some role in distinguishing 2 Live Crew as the first group ever to be prosecuted for obscenity in connection with a musical re- cording, and one of a handful of recording artists to be prosecuted for a live performance. Recent controversies about sexism, racism, and violence in popular culture point to a vast range of expression that might have provided targets for censorship, but was left untouched. Madonna has acted out mas- turbation, portrayed the seduction of a priest, and insinuated group sex on stage," but she has never been prosecuted for obscenity. While 2 Live Crew was performing in Hollywood, Florida, Andrew Dice Clay's record- ings were being sold in stores and he was performing nationwide on HBO. 14. See generally 2 Live Crew, supra note 138; N.W.A, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (Pr vty Records, Ine. 1988), NW.A, NIW.A. & THE Posse (Priority Records, n=. 1985). 148. Thoresconsiderble support for the assertion that prosecution of? Live Crew and other ‘ap groups ia manifestation of selective repression of Black expression which is no mote rit oF sex than expression by non-Black group. The most flagrant example is Geffen Records” decision ‘ot to distribute an album by the rapa, the Geto Boys, Geffen explained that "the exten 0 which the Geto Boys albu glamorizes and posibly endorses violence, racism, and misogyay compels us 10 encourage Def American (the groups label to select dstbutor with a greater aft for this Imusial expression." Greg Ket, No Sale. Citing Explicit Lsrcn Distributor Books Away Prom Gelo oss Albu Chicago Tb Sept. 13, 1990, § 5, at 9. Gefen apparently has a greater aft To the likes of Andrew Dice Clay snd Guns "N Roses, non-Black ats which hive come under fie for racist and sens comments. Despite exticism of Guns ‘N Roses for Iyrics which inelude “nigger” and Clay's “joke” about Native Americath (ee note 150 infty Gefen continued to distribute their recordings 1d 149.” Seo Derick 2. Jackson, Why Must Only Rappers Take the Rap?, Boston Globe, Sune 17, 1990, aA?1286 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 Well-known for his racist “humor,” Clay is also comparable to 2 Live Crew in sexual explicitness and misogyny. In his show, for example, Clay offers, ““Benie, meenie, minee, mo / Suck my [expletive] and swallow slow,” and “Lose the bra, bitch.”!#° Moreover, graphic sexual images—many of them violent—were widely available in Broward County where the performance and trial took place. According to the testimony of a Broward County vice detective, “nude dance shows and adult bookstores are scattered throughout the county where 2 Live Crew performed.”**! Given the availability of other forms of sexually explicit “entertainment” in Broward County, Flor- da, one might wonder how 2 Live Crew could have been seen as uniquely obscene by the lights of the “community standards” of the county.'S* After all, patrons of certain Broward County clubs “can see women dancing with at least their breasts exposed,” and bookstore patrons can “view and purchase films and magazines that depict vaginal, oral and anal sex, horno- sexual sex and group sex.”"53 In arriving at its finding of obscenity, the court placed little weight on the available range of films, magazines, and live shows as evidence of the community’s sensibilities. Instead, the court appar- ently accepted the sheriff's testimony that the decision to single out Nasty ‘was based on the number of complaints against 2 Live Crew “communicated by telephone calls, anonymous messages, or letters to the police.”!5* Evidence of this popular outery was never substantiated. But even if it 150, Td. at 20. Not only does Clay exhibit sexism comparable, ino greater than, that of2 Live Grew, be also intensities the level of hatred by Raunting racism: "Indians bright people hu? ‘They sil vn’ in fexpletive epee, They deserved it, Theyre dumb as fexpletve]"™ 1d (quot ing Chay), One commentator asked, "What separates Andrew Dice Clay and 2 Live Crew? Answer: Fo ‘mouthed Andrew Die Clay is being chased by the producers of ‘Saturday Night Live’ Foul- mouthed 2 Live Crew are Being chased bythe police” Id. at ALT. When Clay ald eppear on Saturday Night Live, a controversy was sparked becase cast metsber Nora Dunn and musial guest Sinead O'Connor refused to appen. Jen Seligman, Dicey Prablem, NEWSWEEE, May 21, 199, at 95 131, Jane Suton, Unued,? Lite Crew, UPI, Oct. 18, 1990 152, Prosecuting 2 Live Crew but not Clay might be used by the argument that there a istnction between “obscenity.” defined as expressions of prurient interests, and “pornography” or “racist speech," defined as expressions of misogyny and race hated, respectively. 2 Live Crew's prurient expressions could be prosecuted as constitutionally unprotected obscenity while Cys pro tested racist and misogynistic expressions could not- Such a dstincton has ben subjected to critical, analysis Sbe Catharine A. Mackinnon, Not Mora Ite, 2 Yate 1. & POLY REV. 321 (1984) ‘The distinction doesnot explain why other expressions which appeal more dreedy to "prurient interests" ate not prosecuted. Further 2 Live Crew's prorient appeals prodced, atlas in et, "rough the degraation of women. Accordingly, there can be no compeling distinction between the appeal Clay makes and that of 2 Live Crew. 153, Sutton supra note 151 154. Skywalker Record, Ine. . Navareo, 739 F. Supp. S74, $89 (SD. Fi 1990). The court, ‘ejected the defendants’ srpument that “admission of other sexually explicit works” i ented to [ret weight in determining community standards and hed that "this typeof evidence doesnot even have tobe considered even ifthe comparable works have been found tobe noncbscene.” Zd (citing Hamling v. United Stats, 418 US. 82, 126-29 (1974) Although the court gave "some weight” 10 Sexually explicit writings in books and magazines, Eddie Murphy's audi tape of Raw, and Andrew Dice Clay's tape recording, it dd not explain why these verbal messages “analogous to the format in the Nay eecording™ were not cbeeene aswell. 7dJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1287 were, the case for selectivity would remain.'*5 ‘The history of social repres- sion of Black male sexuality is long, often violent, and all too familiar.'5* Negative reactions to the sexual conduct of Black men have traditionally hhad racist overtones, especially where that conduct threatens to “cross over” into the mainstream community.'57 So even if the decision to prosecute did reflect a widespread community perception of the purely prurient character of 2 Live Crew’s music, that perception itself might reflect an established pattern of vigilante attitudes directed toward the sexual expression of Black ‘men.'** In short, the appeal to community standards does not undercut a 155. One epor suggested that the complaint came Fom a lawyer, Jack Thompson. Thomp- son has continued his campaign, expanding his net to include rap arts the Geto Boys and Teo Short. Sara Rimer. Obicenty or Art? Trial on Rap Lyrics Opens. N.Y. Times, Oct 17,1990, at A. Despite the appearance of selective enforcement, itis doubtful that any court would be persuaded thatthe regu racial motivation was proved. Even evidence of racial disparity in the heaviest of criminal pealtis—the death sentence i insuicient to warrant elf absent speciic evidence of Aiserimination in the defendant's ease. See MeClesky . Kemp, 481 U, 8 279 (1987) 156. See notes 101-104 supra and accompanying text 153. Same estes speculate that the prosecution of 2 Live Crew has less todo with obscenity ‘than with the tational policing of Black mals, especialy as it eclates to sexuality. Questioning whether 2 Live Crow more obscene than Andrew Dice Clay, Gates tte, "Clearly, this ap grou is seen as more threatening than others that at jst as sexually explicit. Can this be completly Unrelated to the specter ofthe young black male axa fgureoftexal and social disruption he very Stereotypes that 2 Live Crew Seems determined to undermine?” Gates, supra note 142. Clarence Page makes u similar point, speculating that "2 Live Crew has become the Seapepoat for widespread Feustzation shared by many blacks and whites over a brosd range of teil problems that sem to have goiten out of control” Clarence Page, Culture, Taste and Standard-Seing. Chieago Tb, (ct. 7, 1990, §4, at 3. Page implies, however, tht this explanation is something more than oF iret from racism. “Could it be (druntol please racism? Or could it be fear?" fd (emphasis added). Page's definition of racism apparently does not include the posibity that ii rait to tach one's societal fens and discomforts to subordinated and highly stigmatized “other.” In fother word, scapegoating, at least in this county, hes aditionally been, abd sil, considered ‘cist, whatever the source ofthe fae, 18. "Even inthe current era, this viglatsm is sometimes tragically expressed. Yusef Haw- kins became a victim of iin New York on August 23, 1989, when he was Killed by a mob of white men who believed themselves tobe protecting “thei” women from being taken by Black men, UPI, May 18,1990. Jesse Jackson ealed Hawkine's slaying “racially and sexually motivate lynching” nd compared ito the 1958 murder of black Missisipi youth Emmatt Til, who was killed by men ‘who thought he whistled at white woman. 14. Even those who denied the racial overtones of Hrawkine’s murder produced alternative explanation that were part ofthe same historical narrative. Articles about the Hawkins incident cused cn Gina Feliciano as the cause ofthe incident, tack ing her credibility. See eg, Lorin Anderson, Cracks inthe Mosaie, Na". REV, June 25,1990, at 36, “Gina instigated the eouble... Gina sed drugs and eppareily stil des. She dropped out of ‘rehabilitation program before tying for the prosecution trial” and was later picked up bythe police and “charged with possession of cocaine—18 vials of crack fll ut of her purse, police Sid, And she had a crack pipe inher bra.” 1d at 37. At Wil, defense atlorney Stephen Murphy claimed that Feliciano “ied, perjred herself... She divides, polatizes eight lon people 1s espcable what she did, making thi 8 racial incident” (quoting Murphy). But feminis st tacked the "scapegoating” of Feliciano, one stating, “Not only are women the vitims of male vo. lence, they'e Blamed for it” Alesis Jeter, Provesers Blast Scapegoat Tacs, Newsday, Apr. 3 1990, at 29 (quoting Francoise Jacobsohn, president ofthe New York chaper ofthe National Oe ‘nization for Women). According 1 Merle Hoffman, founder of the New York Pro-Choiee Coat tion, “Gina's persona ie has nothing todo with the eime, [Ju rest assured, the'l go into her sexual history. =. Tes all part ofthe “she made me do it dea.” Ue (quoting Hofiman). And New York columnist ene Barth observed that Gender. has.a role in New Yorks race war. Fingers were pointed in Bensonhurst last week at aYeoage girl. [ho] never harmed anyone Word of her invitation ‘fended local studs, sprouing machotreaks determined to own local turf and the young1288 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 concern about racism; rather, it underscores that concern, A second troubling dimension of the case brought against 2 Live Crew was the court’s apparent disregard for the culturally rooted aspects of 2 Live Crew's music, Such disregard was essential to a finding of obscenity given the third prong of the Miller test requiring that material judged obscene must, taken as a whole, lack literary, artistic, or political value.'%® 2 Live Crew argued that this criterion of the Miller test was not met in the case of Nasty since the recording exemplified such African-American cultural modes as “playing the dozens,” “‘call and response,” and “signifying.”"® The court denied each of the group's claims of cultural specificity, recharacterizing in more generic terms what 2 Live Crew contended was distinctly African American, According to the court, “playing the dozens” is “commonly seen in adolescents, especially boys, of all ages”; “boasting” appears to be “part of the universal human condition”; and the cultural or gins of “call and response”—featured in a song on Nasty about fellatio in which competing groups chanted “less filling” and “tastes great"—were to bbe found in a Miller beer commercial, not in African-American cultural tra- dition." ‘The possibility that the Miller beer commercial may have itself evolved from an African-American cultural tradition was apparently lost on the court. In disregarding the arguments made on behalf of 2 Live Crew, the court denied that the form and style of Nasty and, by implication, rap music in general had any artistic merit. This disturbing dismissal of the cultural at- tributes of rap and the effort to universalize African-American modes of ex- pression are a form of colorblindness that presumes to level all significant racial and ethnic differences in order to pass judgment on intergroup con- flicts, The court's analysis here also manifests a frequently encountered strategy of cultural appropriation. African-American contributions that have been accepted by the mainstream culture are eventually absorbed as ‘eles nthe emis group. [Women fave not made te headlines ar pat af ma ‘auding bands intent on rc asa,” Du they number anong the wet ene Barth, Ler the Women of Bensonhurst Lead Us Prayer Vig, Newsday, Sep, 1989, a 10 159. The Supreme Court artcalted is standard for oben fa Merv California 413 US 15 1979), rehidened, 414 US. B81 (1973) The Court el thatthe ase guidelines forte tera fact were) “whether the ‘average person, apiying contemporary community standards would fnd that the wrk taken as a wale, appeal othe pant inerest ©) vwhther the wrk pes or dese, na ptelyofesive way, sexalcondut special dened bythe appleabe sate Jaw" and (“whether the work, ten ava whol, aks serous Merary, artis polteal or Seen: {ie value iat 24 (hats mite) Te See Oates, spr note 12. 161. Skywalker Records new: Navaro, 739 F Sup, $78, $95 SD, Fla. 1990. The com: snes appropratin ofa ready apparent in po cle. Sf rink a fst fod commercials tow feature ap even tough these meine presented witht feral face Dane ing MeDonales trench ies andthe Pilsary Doughoybave gotten info the rap ac. The cose! at aps mt the probes sea, ts the endncy, epresented in Skywaler fo reject the clara origins f language and protes which are suring Thies pat of nova pater of eultural ‘propiton tat pets the rap conto. Most arly sad Tn mse and dae tural tables tke Lie Richa abd Sunes Brown hive been used ou of tet plein popular eoncioumes to make room fr Elvi Prey, Mick Taggers cir The meters Fit ohte rapper Vailas 2 Contemporary exeJuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1289 simply “American” or found to be “universal.” Other modes associated with African-American culture that resist absorption remain distinctive and are either neglected or dismissed as “deviant.” ‘The court apparently rejected as well the possibility that even the most misogynistic rap may have political value as a discourse of resistance. The element of resistance found in some rap is in making people uncomfortable, thereby challenging received habits of thought and action, Such challenges are potentially political, as are more subversive attempts to contest tradi- tional rules by becoming what is most feared.'©2 Against a historical back- drop in which the Black male as social outlaw is a prominent theme, ‘gangsta’ rap” might be taken as a rejection of a conciliatory stance aimed at undermining fear through reassurance, in favor of a more subversive form of opposition that attempts to challenge the rules precisely by becoming the very social outlaw that society fears and attempts to proscribe. Rap repre- sentations celebrating an aggressive Black male sexuality can be easily con- strued as discomforting and oppositional. Not only does reading rap in this way preclude a finding that Nasty lacks political value, it also defeats the court’s assumption that the group's intent was to appeal solely to prurient interests. ‘To be sure, these considerations carry greater force in the case of other rap artists, such as N.W.A., Too Short, Iee Cube, and The Geto Boys, all of whose standard fare includes depictions of violent assault, rape, rape- murder, and mutilation." In fact, had these other groups been targeted rather than the comparatively less offensive 2 Live Crew, they might have successfully defeated prosecution. ‘The graphic violence in their representa- tions militate against a finding of obscenity by suggesting an intent not to appeal to prurient interests but instead to more expressly political ones. So long as violence is seen as distinct from sexuality, the prurient interest re- quirement may provide a shield for the more violent rap artists. However, even this somewhat formalistic dichotomy may provide litle solace to such rap artists given the historical linkages that have been made between Black gues that 2 Live Crew is undermining the “specter ofthe young back wale aa Sgure of sexual and social disruption." Gate, supa note 142. Faced with “ris stereotypes about back sexuality,” he explains, "you can do one of two things: you can disavow them or explode the With exaggeration.” 1d. 2 Live Crew, Gates suggest, has chosen to burst the myth by parodying exaggerations of the “oversexed blak female and mal.” 1d 163. Other cap aes that have been singled out for their violent lyrics include Tee Cube, the Geto Hoy and Too Short. Sex eg Ice Cube. Ki. AT Wits (Gangsta Boogie Music (ASCAP)/ JAMA Music, Inc, 1990); Geto Bows, Tas Gero Bovs (N-The-Water Mute, Ine. (ASCAP) 1985), Too SuoRT, SHORT Doc's IN THE HOUSE (RCA Records 1990). Not all rap lyrics ace misogynist. Moreover, even misogynist acts aso express political world view. The difrences famong rap groups and the artistic value of the medium ie sometimes overlooked by mainstream stiles. See, eg Jerry Adler, The Rap Aiud, NEWSWEEK, Mat. 19, 1980, a 56,57 (being rap 4 "bombast selfaperandzing” by-product ofthe growing "Culture of Atitude’), Adler's treat ‘ment of rap se off storm of responses. Sen, eg, Patrick Goldstein, Pop Eye: Ropers Don't Have Time For Newsweek's Auiude. L.A. Times, Mat. 35, 1980, a 90 (Magazine). Suid Rosell Simmons, chairman of DefJIam Records, caps most succesful label, "Surely the moet outrage in (Adler's) Piece would be beter applied to contemporary American erss in health ear, education, homelese es... Blaming the vetms~in ths case America's black working clas and underclass never Very Useful appresch to problem-solving” Jd. (quoting Simmons).1290 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 male sexuality and violence. Indeed, it has been the specter of violence that surrounds images of Black male sexuality that presented 2 Live Crew as an acceptable target of an obscenity prosecution in a field that included Andrew Dice Clay and countless others The point here is not that the distinction between sex and violence should be rigorously maintained in determining what is obscene or, more specifically, that rap artists whose standard fare is more violent ought to be protected. To the contrary, these more violent groups should be much more troubling than 2 Live Crew. My point instead is to suggest that obscenity prosecutions of rap artists do nothing to protect the interests of those most ted in rap—Black women. On the one hand, prevailing no- separate out sexuality from violence, which has the effect of shielding the more violently misogynistic groups from prosecution; on the other, historical linkages between images of Black male sexuality and vio- lence permit the singling out of “lightweight” rappers for prosecution among all other purveyors of explicit sexual imagery. C. Addressing the Intersectionality Although Black women's interests were quite obviously irrelevant in the 2 Live Crew obscenity judgment, their images figured prominently in the public case supporting the prosecution. George Will's Newsweek essay pro- vides @ striking example of how Black women’s bodies were appropriated and deployed in the broader attack against 2 Live Crew. Commenting on “America’s Slide into the Sewers,” Will laments that America today is capable of teriic intolerance about smoking, oF toxie ‘waste that threatens trout. But only a deeply confused society is more con- cerned about protecting lungs than minds, trout than black women. We legislate against smoking in restaurant; singing “Me So Horny" isa consti- tutional right. Secondary smoke is earcinogeni; celebration of torn vaginas is “mere words." Lest one be misled into thinking that Will has become an ally of Black women, Will’s real concern is suggested by his repeated references to the Central Park jogger assault. Will writes, “Her face was so disfigured a friend took 15 minutes to identify her. ‘T recognized her ring.’ Do you recognize the relevance of 2 Live Crew?”!65. While the connection between the threat of 2 Live Crew and the image of the Black male rapist was suggested subtly in the public debate, it is blatant throughout Will’s discussion. Indeed, it bids to be the central theme of the essay. “Fact: Some members ofa partic- ular age and societal cohort—the one making 2 Live Crew rich—stomped and raped the jogger to the razor edge of death, for the fun of it.”!% Will directly indicts 2 Live Crew in the Central Park jogger rape through a fic- tional dialogue between himself and the defendants. Responding to one de- 164. See Will supra note 40. 165. 1a, 168. 1Tuly 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1291 fendant’s alleged confession that the rape was fun, Will asks, “Where can you get the idea that sexual violence against women is fun? From a music store, through Walkman earphones, from boom boxes blaring forth the rap lyries of 2 Live Crew."'6? Since the rapists were young Black males and Nasty presents Black men celebrating sexual violence, 2 Live Crew was in Central Park that night, providing the underlying accompaniment to a vi- cious assault. Ironically, Will rejected precisely this kind of argument in the context of racist speech on the ground that efforts to link racist speech to racist violence presume that those who hear racist speech will mindlessly act ‘on what they hear.'6 Apparently, the certain “social cohort” that produces and consumes racist speech is fundamentally different from the one that pro- duces and consumes rap music. Will invokes Black women—twice—as victims of this music. But if he were really concerned with the threat of 2 Live Crew to Black women, why does the Central Park jogger figure so prominently in his argument? Why not the Black woman in Brooklyn who was gang-raped and then thrown down an aitshaft? In fact, Will fails even to mention Black victims of sexual violence, which suggests that Black women simply function for Will as stand-ins for white women. Will's use of the Black female body to press the case against 2 Live Crew recalls the strategy of the prosecutor in Richard Wright’s novel Native Son. Bigger Thomas, Wright's Black male protago- nist, is on trial for killing Mary Dalton, a white woman. Because Bigger burned her body, it cannot be established whether Bigger had sexually as- saulted her, so the prosecutor brings in the body of Bessie, a Black woman raped by Bigger and let to die, in order to establish that Bigger had raped Mary Dalton. ‘These considerations about selectivity, about the denial of cultural speci- ficty, and about the manipulation of Black women's bodies convince me that, race played a significant, if not determining, role in the shaping of the case against 2 Live Crew. While using antisexist rhetoric to suggest a concern for women, the attack on 2 Live Crew simultaneously endorses traditional read- ings of Black male sexuality. The fact that the objects ofthese violent sexual images are Black women becomes irrelevant in the representation of the threat in terms of the Black rapist/white victim dyad. The Black male be- comes the agent of sexual violence and the white community becomes his potential victim. The subtext of the 2 Live Crew prosecution thus becomes a re-reading of the sexualized racial politics of the past. i ta 168. See George F. Will On Campuses, Liberals Would Gag Free Speech, Newsday, Nov. 6 1989, at 62. 168, RucuaRo Wright, NaTIVE SoN 305-08 (Perean Though he had killed a black gel and a white gil he knew that it would be For the death of the white girl thst he would be punished. ‘The Black girl was merely “evidence” And ‘under ial he knew that white people id not really ear about Bessie’ beng ile. White People never searched for Negroes who killed ocher Negroes 1a 91306407 Libeary of, 1989) (1940), Weight1292 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 While concerns about racism fuel my opposition to the obscenity prose- cution of 2 Live Crew, the uncritical support for, and indeed celebration of, 2 Live Crew by other opponents of the prosecution is extremely troubling as well. If the rhetoric of antisexism provided an occasion for racism, so, too, the rhetoric of antiracism provided an occasion for defending the misogyny of 2 Live Crew. That defense took two forms, one political, the other cul- tural, both advanced prominently by Henry Louis Gates. Gates's political defense argues that 2 Live Crew advances the antiracist agenda by exagger- ating stereotypes of Black male sexuality “to show how ridiculous [they] are."1?© The defense contends that by highlighting to the extreme the sex- ism, misogyny, and violence stereotypically associated with Black male sexu- ality, 2 Live Crew represents a postmodern effort to “liberate” us from the racism that perpetuates these stereotypes.'7" Gates is right to contend that the reactions of Will and others confirm that the racial stereotypes still exist, but even if 2 Live Crew intended to explode these stereotypes, their strategy was misguided. Certainly, the group wholly miscalculated the reaction of their white audience, as Will's polemic amply illustrates. Rather than exploding stereotypes, as Gates sug- gests, 2 Live Crew, it seems most reasonable to argue, was simply (and un- successfully) trying to be funny. After all, trading in sexual stereotypes has long been a means to a cheap laugh, and Gates's cultural defense of 2 Live Crew recognizes as much in arguing the identification of the group with a distinctly African-American cultural tradition of the “dozens” and other forms of verbal boasting, raunchy jokes, and insinuations of sexual prowess, all of which were meant to be laughed at and to gain for the speaker respect, for his word wizardry, and not to disrupt conventional myths of Black sexu- ality." Gates's cultural defense of 2 Live Crew, however, recalls similar efforts on behalf of racist humor, which has sometimes been defended as antiracist—an effort to poke fun at or to show the ridiculousness of racism. 170. Gas supra note 42. Gale's defese of? Live Crew portrayed the group as engning in postmodern guerila warfare against racst stereotypes of Dlack sexuality. Says Gates, "2 Live Crew's musi exaggerates stereotypes of black men and worsen to show how ridteulous thse por: {raya are. One of the brillant things about these songs is thal they embrace the stereotypes ts tdieulous. That's why we laugh about them. That is one of the things I noied in the nudi- tence’s reaction. There sno undertone of vilence, There's laughter, there's joy." Id. Gates repeats the celebratory theme elsewhere linking 2 Live Crew to Edaie Murphy and other Blick male per Formers bacause {hey're saying al the things that we couldn't say even inthe 1960s about our own excesses, things we could only whisper in dark rooms. They're saying we're pong 10 explode all thse sacred cows. I's fascinating and i's upssttingeverybod)—not jst white people bat black people Buti’ liberating moment. John Pareles, An Album is Judged Obscene: Rap: Sek, Vent, Nasty and, Maybe Hopeful N.Y. ‘Times, une 17,1990, at I (quoting Gates) For coget intersection analysis of Ede Murphy's popular appeal, see Herman Beavers, The Cool Pore: Intrestionality, Masculinity’ and Quiesoence in the Comedy and Films of Richard Pryor and Edaie Murphy (unpublished manuscript) (on Se withthe Stanford Law Rerien. 17. Gates and others who defend 2 Live Crew as post downplay the misogyny represented in thir rp. Sald Gates, "Thee ‘that i almost cancels itself out ina hyperboie war between the sexe 172 See note 142 supe, een comie heroes tend to dismiss of sm is 0 Ragrant, however, Gates, supra note 14,July 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1293 More simply, racist humor has often been excused as “just joking”—even racially motivated assaults have been defended as simple pranks. Thus the racism of an Andrew Dice Clay could be defended in either mode as an attempt to explode racist stereotypes or as simple humor not meant to be taken seriously. Implicit in these defenses is the assumption that racist rep- resentations are injurious only if they are intended to injure, or to be taken literally, or are devoid of some other nonracist objective, It is highly un- likely that this rationale would be accepted by Blacks as a persuasive defense of Andrew Dice Clay. Indeed, the Black community's historical and ongo- ing criticism of such humor suggests widespread rejection of these arguments. The claim that a representation is meant simply as a joke may be true, bbut the joke functions as humor within a specific social context in which it frequently reinforces patterns of social power. Though racial humor may sometimes be intended to ridicule racism, the close relationship between the stereotypes and the prevailing images of marginalized people complicates this strategy. And certainly, the humorist’s positioning vis-4-vis a targeted Broup colors how the group interprets a potentially derisive stereotype or gesture, Although one could argue that Black comedians have broader li ceense (o market stereotypically racist images, that argument has no force here. 2 Live Crew cannot claim an in-group privilege to perpetuate misogy- nist humor against Black women: the members of 2 Live Crew are not Black women, and more importantly, they enjoy a power relationship over them, ‘Humor in which women are objectified as packages of bodily parts to serve whatever male-bonding/male-competition needs men please subordi- nates women in much the same way that racist humor subordinates African ‘Americans, Claims that incidences of such humor are just jokes and are not meant (0 injure or to be taken literally do little to blunt their demeaning quality—nor, for that matter, does the fact that the jokes are told within an intragroup cultural tradition. ‘The notion that sexism can serve antiracist ends has proponents ranging from Eldridge Cleaver" to Shahrazad Ali,"™ all of whom seem to expect Black women to serve as vehicles for the achievement of a “liberation” that functions to perpetuate their own subordination.""S Claims of cultural spect- ficity similarly fail to justify toleration of misogyny." While the cultural TTR See note 47 spr, 174. See notes 37-42 supra and accompanying tex 178, Gates occasionally claims that both Black male and Black female images ae exploded by 2 Live Crow. Even if Gaes's view holds tue for Black male images, the strategy does not work 'nd was not meant to work—for Black women. Black women are not the actors in2 Live Crew's strategy they are acted upon. To challenge the images of Black women, Black women themselves would have fo embrace them, nt simply permit Black men to "act out” on the. The only Black female rap groups that might conelvably claim such a strategy are Bytches With Problems and Hoes With Attitudes. Yet, having listened fo the mosic of these Black female rap groups, Tam not sure that exploding acs inages ls either tele intent or effec. Thi saat o sa ofcourse, that all Black female cap is without i statgies of resistance. Soe note 179 fafa ‘76 Ieistnerstng that whether thot judging the 2 Live Crew ease came out fr or against1294 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol 43:1241 defense of 2 Live Crew has the virtue of recognizing merit ina form of music common to the Black community, something George Will and the court that convicted 2 Live Crew were all too glib in dismissing, it does not eliminate the need to question both the sexism within the tradition it defends and the objectives to which the tradition has been pressed. ‘The fact that playing the dozens, say, is rooted in the Black cultural tradition, or that themes repre- sented by mythic folk heroes such as “Stackolee” are African American does not settle the question of whether such practices oppress Black women.'77 Whether these practices are a distinctive part of the African-American cul- tural tradition is decidedly beside the point. The real question is how subor- inating aspects of these practices play out in the lives of people in the community, people who share the benefits as well as the burdens of a com- mon culture. With regard to 2 Live Crew, while it may be true that the Black community has accepted the cultural forms that have evolved into rap, that acceptance should not preclude discussion of whether the misogyny within rap is itself acceptable. With respect to Gates’s political and cultural defenses of 2 Live Crew, then, litle turns on whether the “word play” performed by the Crew is a postmodern challenge to racist sexual mythology or simply an internal group practice that crossed over into mainstream America, Both defenses are problematic because they require Black women to accept misogyny and its attendant disrespect and exploitation in the service of some broader group objective, whether it be pursuing an antiracist political agenda or maintain- ing the cultural integrity of the Black community. Neither objective obli- gates Black women to tolerate such misogyny. Likewise, the superficial efforts of the ant Live Crew movement to link fl seemed to reject the notion that race has anything to do with their analy See Skywalker Records Inc. v. Navarro, 739 F.Supp. 878, $9496 (S.D. Fla 1990) (edosting defense contention that 2 Live Crew's Nosy had artis value as Black cult Rimes, Rap Band Members Found Not Gully Obscenity Trial, NYT arora {hey didnot agree withthe defens's assertion that the 2 Live Crew's music had tobe derstood in the contet of black culture. They sed they thought race had nothing to do with." Clarence Page also rejects the argument that 2 Live Crews NASTY mst be valued as Black cultural expres Sion: ° don" thnk 2 Live Crew ean be said to represent black culture any more than 8, Andrew Dice Cay canbe said to represent white culture. Rather, I think both represent a lack of eure” ‘See Page, supra note 157 177. Gay men ae also targets of homophobic humor that might be defended as culturally specifi. Consider the homophobic humor of such comedians a8 Ede Murphy, Arsenio Hal, and Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier, the two actors who curently portray Black gay ten on the {elevision show dn Lining Color. Cries hav linked these homaptob representations of Bleck gay ‘men to pattems of subordination withia the Black community, Black sy fmmaker Marlon Rigas ‘argued that such caricatures discredit Black gay men's claim to Blick manhood, presenting then as “game for play, to be wsed joked about, put down, beaten, sapped. and bashed, aot Just by iterate homophobic thugs in the night, but by black American culture's best and brightest.” “Marlon Riggs, Black Macho Revised" Relcins of « SNAP! Queen, in BROTHER TO BROTHER New Warns ny Back Gay MEN 253,254 (Fssex Hemphill ed. 1991), se aio Bir Fell, Ganface/Blackfce: Parallels of Oppresion. NVQ, Apr. 5, 1992, a 32 (drawing parallels Between syle and blackface and arguing that guyficed contemporary comedy - serves a8 10) 10 Soxthe the gully consienes and perpetuate the injustices ofgay-bashing Arctica After al Iugh lng at something barely human i easier than dealing with Bying bullet spit skulls, dying bodies and demands for ivi rights").July 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1295 the prosecution of the Crew to the victimization of Black women had little to do with Black women’s lives. Those who deployed Black women in the ser- vice of condemning 2 Live Crew's misogynist representations did not do so in the interest of empowering Black women; rather, they had other interests in mind, the pursuit of which was racially subordinating. The implication here is not that Black feminists should stand in solidarity with the support- ers of 2 Live Crew. The spirited defense of 2 Live Crew was no more about defending the entire Black community than the prosecution was about de- fending Black women, After all, Black women whose very assault is the subject of the representation can hardly regard the right to be represented as bitches and whores as essential to their interest. Instead, the defense primar- ily functions to protect 2 Live Crew's prerogative to be as misogynistic as they want to be.!”* Within the African-American political community, Black women will have to make it clear that patriarchy is a critical issue that negatively affects the lives not only of Black women, but of Black men as well. Doing so would help reshape traditional practices s0 that evidence of racism would not constitute sufficient justification for uncritical rallying around misogynis- tic politics and patriarchal values. Although collective opposition to racist practice has been and continues to be crucially important in protecting Black interests, an empowered Black feminist sensibility would require that the terms of unity no longer reflect priorities premised upon the continued ‘marginalization of Black women. 78, Although mush ofthe sexism that voiced in rap pervades the Industy, Black female rapper have gine a Toolhold and have undertaken vatious states of resistance. For some, their ‘ery presence in rap challenges prevailing estumptions that rp is «Black mae dition. See Tic Rose, One Queen. One Tribe Ore Destiny, Visiace Voice Rock & Rout QUARTERLY, Spring 1990, 10 (profling Queen Latah, widely regarded as one ofthe best female rappers Although Latifah bas eschewed the head-on approach her rap and videos are olen Women-entered as ee plied by her single, "Ladies Fist” QUEEN LaTifall ALL HalL THE QUEEN (Tommy Boy 1989). ‘The “Ladies Firs” video Rated other female rappers, “showing a depth of womea’s solidarity overseen before.” Rose supra, at 18. Rappers like Yo-Yo, “hip-hop's st self procaimed feminist sotvs” take » more confrontational line, for example, Yo-Yo duels directly with rapper Ice Cube ints a Man's World” Joan Morgan, Throw the F Vilage Voice, June 11, 1991, at 75. ‘Some femal capers, suchas Bytes With Problems, have attempted to subvert the categories oftitches and whores taking om the ppelations and infusing them with power. As Joan Mongan It's common practice for oppressed peoples to neralize terms of disparagement by adopt ing and redetning them. Lyndah MeCaskil and Tanisha Michelle Morgan's decision to define ick “a a strong woman who doesn't take erp fom anyone, male or female and to encourage women ta “wear the tile a 4 badge of honor and keep geting yours” does not fr significantly from backs opting to we the word gg or gas embracing queer. 14, However in the eae ofthe Bytches, Joan Morgan ultimately found the atempt wnsoccessful, in part because the subversion operated merely as am exception for the few (Lynda and Tanisha Michele ae the only B-Y-T-CH's hee ll he other women they speak about, including the men strualaccizent, the woman whose boyfriend Lyndah srews, and anyone else who does Ike thet Sipe, are BALT-C-H's inthe very mae sense of the word") and becae lime, thelr world View Serves orenscibe mal power. Said Morgan, “I's a ted female rendition of age-old sexi, pat atcha thinking’ the power i in the pistol orth penis” 2d1296 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Vol. 43:1241 ‘CONCLUSION ‘This article has presented intersectionality as a way of framing the vari- ‘ous interactions of race and gender in the context of violence against women of color. Yet intersectionality might be more broadly useful as a way of mediating the tension between assertions of multiple identity and the ongo- ing necessity of group politics. It is helpful in this regard to distinguish in- tersectionality from the closely related perspective of antiessentialism, from which women of color have critically engaged white feminism for the ab- sence of women of color on the one hand, and for speaking for women of color on the other. One rendition of this antiessentialist critique—that femi- nism essentializes the category woman—owes @ great deal to the postmodernist idea that categories we consider natural or merely representa~ tional are actually socially constructed in a linguistic economy of differ- ence.! While the descriptive project of postmodernism of questioning the ‘ways in which meaning is socially constructed is generally sound, this cri- tique sometimes misreads the meaning of social construction and distorts its political relevance. ‘One version of antiessentialism, embodying what might be called the vul- garized social construction thesis, is that since all categories are socially con- structed, there is no such thing as, say, Blacks or women, and thus it makes, tno sense to continue reproducing those categories by organizing around them."* Even the Supreme Court has gotten into this act. In Metro Broad- casting, Ine. v. FCC,'*" the Court conservatives, in rhetoric that oozes vulgar constructionist smugness, proclaimed that any set-aside designed to increase the voices of minorities on the air waves was itself based on a racist assump- tion that skin color is in some way connected to the likely content of one’s broadcast." But to say that a category such as race or gender is socially constructed is not to say that that category has no significance in our world. On the con- trary, a large and continuing project for subordinated people—and indeed, one of the projects for which postmodern theories have been very helpful—is 79, 1 follow the prstce of others in Hnkinganteseatitsm to pastmoderism, See generally Linon Nicioisox, FeMiNist/PostMODERNISM (1990) 80. I'do not mean {o imply that all theorists who have made anissevaisteiiques have Ineped into vlgae constrctinism. Indeed, aniessemalists avoid making these troubling moves tind would no doubt be receptive to much of the eiiqu st forth herein. T use the term vulgar Consiuetonsn to dtingubh Getween those anliestentalistcitiqus that leave room for identity polis and thote that do nt BL. HOS. Ct. 2997 (1990), ie, The FCC's choice to employ a eaciaerterion embotsthe related notion that «pacticu- Iarand distinct viewpoint inerss in certain rosa groups and tht particular applicant, by vtoe of race orehniiy alone, fe more valved than other applicants because the appli- {ant kel o provide that} dtinet perspective.” ‘The polites directly equate race with bit and behavior, for they etalish race arm necesary snd suclent condition of eeu ing the preference. The policies inpersibly vale individuals beease they presume that perons think in manner associated with their race 1 30 (© Coan, pe Retna Cy nd Sia and Kenly, ct) iter ‘al lations ome).July 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1297 thinking about the way power has clustered around certain categories and is exercised against others. This project attempts to unveil the processes of subordination and the various ways those processes are experienced by peo- ple who are subordinated and people who are privileged by them. It is, then, project that presumes that categories have meaning and consequences. ‘And this project's most pressing problem, in many if not most cases, is not the existence of the categories, but rather the particular values attached to them and the way those values foster and create social hierarchies. This is not to deny that the process of categorization is itself an exercise of power, but the story is much more complicated and nuanced than that. First, the process of categorizing—or, in identity terms, naming—is not u lateral. Subordinated people can and do participate, sometimes even sub- verting the naming process in empowering ways. One need only think about the historical subversion of the category “Black” or the current transforma- tion of “queer” to understand that categorization is not a one-way street. Clearly, there is unequal power, but there is nonetheless some degree of agency that people can and do exert in the politics of naming. And it is important to note that identity continues to be a site of resistance for mem- bers of different subordinated groups. We all can recognize the distinction ‘between the claims “I am Black” and the claim ‘I am a person who happens to be Black.” “I am Black” takes the socially imposed identity and empow- ersit as an anchor of subjectivity. "I am Black” becomes not simply a state- ment of resistance but also a positive discourse of self-dentitication, intimately linked to celebratory statements like the Black nationalist “Black is beautiful.” ““T am a person who happens to be Black,” on the other hand, achieves sel-identification by straining for a certain universality (in effec am first a person”) and for a concommitant dismissal of the imposed cate- gory (“Black”) as contingent, circumstantial, nondeterminant. There is ‘ruth in both characterizations, of course, but they funetion quite differently depending on the political context. At this point in history, a strong case can be made that the most critical resistance strategy for disempowered groups is to occupy and defend a politics of social location rather than to vacate and destroy it. Vulgar constructionism thus distorts the possibilities for meaningful identity politics by conflating at least two separate but closely linked mani- festations of power. One is the power exercised simply through the process of categorization; the other, the power to cause that categorization to have social and material consequences. While the former power facilitates the latter, the political implications of challenging one over the other matter sreatly. We can look at debates over racial subordination throughout his tory and see that in each instance, there was a possibility of challenging er the construction of identity or the system of subordination based on that identity. Consider, for example, the segregation system in Plessy ». Fer~ sguson.'#8 At issue were multiple dimensions of domination, including cate- 1, 16 US. 597 1).1298 STANFORD LAW REVIEW [Wol, 43:1241 gorization, the sign of race, and the subordination of those so labeled. There ‘were atleast two targets for Plessy to challenge: the construction of identity (What is @ Black?"), and the system of subordination based on that identity (“Can Blacks and whites sit together on a train?”). Plessy actually made both arguments, one against the coherence of race as a category, the other against the subordination of those deemed to be Black. In his attack on the former, Plessy argued that the segregation statute's application to him, given his mixed race status, was inappropriate, The Court refused to see this as an attack on the coherence of the race system and instead responded in a way that simply reproduced the Black/white dichotomy that Plessy was chal- lenging. As we know, Plessy's challenge to the segregation system was not successful either. In evaluating various resistance strategies today, itis use- fal to ask which of Plessy’s challenges would have been best for him to have ‘won—the challenge against the coherence of the racial categorization system or the challenge to the practice of segregation? The same question can be posed for Brown ¥. Board of Education, 18+ Which of two possible arguments was politically more empowering—that segregation was unconstitutional because the racial categorization system on which it was based was incoherent, or that segregation was unconstitutional because it was injurious to Black children and oppressive to their communi- ties? While it might strike some as a difficult question, for the most part, the dimension of racial domination that has been most vexing to African Am cans has not been the social categorization as such, but the myriad ways in which those of us so defined have been systematically subordinated. With Particular regard to problems confronting women of color, when identity Politics fail us, as they frequently do, itis not primarily because those politics take as natural certain categories that are socially constructed but rather because the descriptive content of those categories and the narratives on which they are based have privileged some experiences and excluded others. Along these lines, consider the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill controversy. During the Senate hearings for the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, Anita Hill, in bringing allegations of sexual harassment against Thomas, was rhetorically disempowered in part because she fell be- tween the dominant interpretations of feminism and antiracism. Caught be- ‘tween the competing narrative tropes of rape (advanced by feminists) on the one hand and lynching (advanced by Thomas and his antiracist supporters) fon the other, the race and gender dimensions of her position could not be told. This dilemma could be described as the consequence of antiracism’s essentializing Blackness and ferninism’s essentializing womanhood, But rec- ognizing as much does not take us far enough, for the problem is not simply linguistic or philosophical in nature. It is specifically political: the narra- tives of gender are based on the experience of white, middle-class women, and the narratives of race are based on the experience of Black men. The solution does not merely entail arguing for the multiplicity of identities or 184. 397 US. 483 (1954),July 1991] INTERSECTIONALITY 1299 challenging essentialism generally. Instead, in Hill’s case, for example, it would have been necessary to assert those crucial aspects of her location that were erased, even by many of her advocates—that is, to state what difference her difference made. IE, as this analysis asserts, history and context determine the utility of identity polities, how then do we understand identity polities today, espe- cially in light of our recognition of multiple dimensions of identity? More specifically, what does it mean to argue that gender identities have been ob- scured in antiracist discourses, just as race identities have been obscured in feminist discourses? Does that mean we cannot talk about identity? Or in- stead, that any discourse about identity has to acknowledge how our identi- ties are constructed through the intersection of multiple dimensions? A ‘beginning response to these questions requires that we first recognize that the organized identity groups in which we find ourselves in are in fact coali- tions, or at least potential coalitions waiting to be formed, Tin the context of antiracism, recognizing the ways in which the intersec- tional experiences of women of color are marginalized in prevailing concep- tions of identity polities does not require that we give up attempts to organize as communities of color. Rather, intersectionality provides a basis for reconceptualizing race as a coalition between men and women of color. For example, in the area of rape, intersectionality provides a way of explain- ing why women of color have to abandon the general argument that the interests of the community require the suppression of any confrontation around intraracial rape. Intersectionality may provide the means for dealing with other marginalizations as well. For example, race can also be a coali- tion of straight and gay people of color, and thus serve as a basis for critique of churches and other cultural institutions that reproduce heterosexism, With identity thus reconceptualized, it may be easier to understand the need for and to summon the courage to challenge groups that are after al, in cone sense, “home” to us, in the name of the parts of us that are not made at home. This takes a great deal of energy and arouses intense anxiety. The ‘most one could expect is that we will dare to speak against internal exclu- sions and marginalizations, that we might call attention to how the identity of “the group” has been centered on the intersectional identities of a few. Recognizing that identity politics takes place at the site where categories intersect thus seems more fruitful than challenging the possibility of talking about categories at all. Through an awareness of intersectionality, we can better acknowledge and ground the differences among us and negotiate the ‘means by which these differences will find expression in constructing group polities.