Thread by @vhobbs5

A few morning thoughts about intersectionality.

A Nov 2020 doc, written by a signif number of @crutweets staff members,
objecting to Cru's anti-racism efforts,
contains these misguided statements about intersectionality.

The source? John MacArthur
dailywire.com/news/macarthur…

One of the main problems with these statements is that they meet the concept of intersectionality through the lens of defensiveness, realised through projection.

This defensiveness is a feature of the entire document, centred as it is on certain Cru staff members' hurt feelings at having to think about racism.

languageandreligion.com/2021/05/07/cal…

But there is another layer of defensiveness in these statements about intersectionality.
They assume that oppressed groups are, like many currently positions of privilege, seeking to rise up & gain power *over* others.
The oppressed become the oppressor.

I see this not least in striking language like "segregation" and "advantage over."
Implicit in these are the idea that people who are oppressed are seeking to divide, to push others down.

I see this as psychological projection.
Those who see their relationship to others in terms of competition often assume that everyone else is also competing. They project their own desires onto others.

Intersectionality isn't about competition, nor the oppressed/oppressor switching places.
It's intended to illuminate previously unacknowledged aspects of inequality.

Kimberlee Crenshaw: "We all know that, when there's no name for a problem, you can't see a problem.
And when you can't see a problem, you pretty much can't solve it."

The goal is for *all to flourish*.
So rather than getting all defensive about intersectionality, consider how it can help u to identify those who face hardship in ways that you haven't had to.

Crenshaw again: "African-American women, like other women of color, like other socially marginalized people ...[face] ... dilemmas & challenges as a consequence of intersectionality. All of these social dynamics come together & create challenges that are sometimes quite unique."

Intersectionality has been helped me think *beyond* the ways I've been treated unfairly simply b/c of my sex,
to the ways I occupy privilege & receive unjust benefits b/c of it.
Intersectionality helps me consider how I can start using that privilege to help others.

For (at least) these reasons, the statements on intersectionality by John MacArthur, repeated by Cru staff & countless others, are completely misguided, even slanderous.
And, imo, they are completely counter to the Christian faith. #CruToo

But ofc the first step is acknowledging that inequality exists and is systemic. Something the Cru doc authors likewise downplay.