Great question. Intersectionality shows how discrimination often happens at the overlap of identities—like being both Black and female—where harm isn’t captured by looking at race or sex alone. We see this in employment cases too, where someone might not face bias as a woman or as a Black person, but does as a Black woman. The Court’s tiered framework treats traits in isolation, so it often misses those combined effects.
Are these cleanly-cut tiers impacted at all by Kimberly Crenshaw's concept of intersectionality?
Great question. Intersectionality shows how discrimination often happens at the overlap of identities—like being both Black and female—where harm isn’t captured by looking at race or sex alone. We see this in employment cases too, where someone might not face bias as a woman or as a Black person, but does as a Black woman. The Court’s tiered framework treats traits in isolation, so it often misses those combined effects.