Loyola Faculty Connect Intersectionality to Race, Justice and Everyday Life

The Interdisciplinary Race and Ethnicity Program hosted a Loyola faculty panel discussion Oct. 2 in Cuneo Hall to explore the concept of intersectionality. 

The panelists, including Professor Jason Cummings, Ruth Gomberg, Tikia Hamilton and Zhandarka Kurti explained how the framework has evolved into a tool for understanding identity and systems of power which inform Loyola students different ways of viewing ethnic, racial and gender issues, in and outside of class.

Professor Cristian Paredes, director of the Race and Ethnicity Program and associate professor of sociology who led the discussion said the event was organized to encourage conversations about issues, which typically occur outside of academic settings to Loyola, and to promote the race and ethnicity minor as an incredible opportunity for students who are interested in multiple issues.

Coined by legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw in the 80s, intersectionality describes how multiple identities such as race, gender, class and sexuality overlap to shape unique experiences of discrimination and power, according to her journal “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.”

“Intersectionality is a critical theoretical approach,” Paredes said. “It aims at questioning and looking for explanations that aim to challenge powerful structures. It allows scholars to pay attention to the margin.” 

Cummings, professor of sociology, expands on what the critical approach could look like in practice in and outside of Loyola.

“The next move is to help people understand that people who are marginalized are human beings, and they have experience and people experience oppression, but also experience joy, love, faith and connection,” Cummings said.

The event drew a crowd of about 40 students who participated in the discussion.

Third-year international business major Rose Gasongo said they had previously learned of intersectionality through reading Black feminist sociology but was intrigued by how the panel linked it to systems like policing and criminalization.

“We’re all part of the same culture at home, but people see you differently in school or public spaces,” Gasongo said. “Your identity changes based on how others view you. Intersectionality can help us understand that, and maybe start unlearning how we’re taught to see people.”

Some students pointed out obstacles which often suppress the way intersectionality is perceived or causes others to look down upon the critical approach.

Fourth-year education major Indigo TenEyck attended the event to learn how to introduce the concept of intersectionality in their future classroom for middle school students. 

They said concepts like “oppression olympics” where people compare levels of oppression can dilute the meaning of intersectionality when taken out of context. They said it’s important to have open discussions at Loyola, but to also think about how to take those discussions outside of academia. 

“We are within a private Catholic university and having these discussions, which is awesome that a group of people now have a better understanding of it,” TenEyck said. “But then how do you take that further, out of the university system?”

Cummings also said the concept of “oppression olympics” often gets thrown around by scholars.

“If we only talk about the oppression that groups experience, then we just view them almost like an avatar of oppression,” Cummings said. “Scholars often focus on oppression because we aren’t paying attention to those in power and how these systems hurt. So we often feel like a broken record because people aren’t prioritizing eliminating and eradicating these systems of oppression.”

TenEyck and Gasongo emphasized the importance of open discussions at Loyola, as well as making them accessible to as many people as possible, such as making information more reachable and being able to learn outside of academia.

Both students said they hope Loyola continues to host accessible events on race and intersectionality. Gasongo suggested expanding discussions to include a global perspective. 

“We always talk about race in a U.S. context,” Gasongo said. “But systems of inequality were never built in isolation, they’re global.”

Paredes said the Interdisciplinary Race and Ethnicity Program plans to organize more panels, including one focused on inequality. 

“We want to show students that intersectionality is not just for the social sciences,” Paredes said. “It’s a lens that can help us all understand how power operates. That could apply to other areas such as pre-med, in law and in our communities.”