The Gentrification Of Intersectionality

Summary

What A Day – “The Gentrification Of Intersectionality” (May 11, 2026)
Host: Jane Coaston
Guest: Kimberlé Crenshaw (Columbia University professor, legal scholar, author)
Main Theme:
The episode explores the evolution, misappropriation, and political backlash against the term “intersectionality,” as coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, and what the erasure of such concepts means for democracy and marginalized communities. Jane Coaston interviews Crenshaw, examining her new memoir and the ongoing political challenges to intersectional thinking—from right-wing bans to Democratic Party ambivalence.

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Episode Overview

• The episode opens with satirical commentary on a Trump statue unveiling and segues into the main story: the Trump administration’s systematic effort to limit or ban progressive language (including “intersectionality”) from federal use (00:03).
• Jane Coaston interviews Kimberlé Crenshaw about her new memoir, the coining of “intersectionality,” the term’s journey into popular culture and politics, current attempts to erase it, and its deeper meaning and relevance.
• Commentary on the erasure of intersectionality and related concepts in policy, culture, and discourse, including detailed discussion of political strategies and failures (by both Republicans and Democrats) that endanger civil rights progress.
• News recaps on U.S.-Iran tensions, Virginia’s redistricting battle, and a hantavirus outbreak are included post-interview (skip for main topic).

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origin and Meaning of Intersectionality

(02:01–02:56)

• Jane Coaston asks what “intersectionality” means, returning to Crenshaw’s original definition.
• Crenshaw:

  “The word simply means that patterns of discrimination sometimes are not singular...discrimination is compounded. It happens to you because of more than one thing...It’s a metaphor for the idea that power can be overlapping, not singular.” (02:16)

2. Evolution and “Gentrification” of the Concept

(02:56–04:53)

• Coaston notes the term’s entrance into broader political discourse and asks if its meaning has changed for Crenshaw.
• Crenshaw:
  • The core idea is unchanged, but its application and misinterpretation have expanded.
  • “It’s been misinterpreted. I use the word sometimes gentrified. It’s space that we created for ourselves...now it’s been utilized by people who are not supportive of the overall agenda to create greater forms of equity and inclusion.” (03:11)

3. Intersectionality in Media and Popular Debate

(04:53–07:04)

• Coaston references their 2019 conversation and the concept’s rise to national debate.
• Crenshaw:
  • Initially gratified, seeing the public application of intersectionality.
  • Later “deep distress” over its framing as “a dangerous ideology” or a weapon for social resentment.
  • “A lot of people talk about intersectionality is basically trying to create a new pariah class out of straight white men. That’s a quote...I just got a report two weeks ago...saying that intersectionality was a dangerous ideology that needed to be contained and destroyed. That’s kind of distressing.” (05:16)

4. Personal “Intersectional Failures” and the Motivation to Write

(07:04–08:55)

• Coaston refers to examples from Crenshaw’s memoir—her experience with domestic violence and pushback from within her own community (07:14).
• Crenshaw:
  • “Back talking...implies that you are having contested conversations within spaces in which respect and quietude are often expected...Back talking at home, back talking to fellow members of your community, of your political party, or in your church...That’s the kind of back talking that is often the most difficult, the most consequential.” (07:50)

5. The Consequences of Erasing Key Terms from Public Discourse

(08:55–11:42)

• The Trump administration’s explicit removal of words like “intersectionality” from curricula and websites.
• Crenshaw:
  • Not just about forbidden words, but a larger attack on the “civil rights infrastructure.”
  • “What’s improper about [these ideas]? …We know what they consider to be proper are the things that say everything is the way it needs to be...They’re going after the entire civil rights infrastructure, all the concepts, framing that is necessary to establish it.” (09:31)
  • Early warnings weren’t heeded—even by some progressive allies.

6. The Democratic Party’s Response (or Lack Thereof)

(11:42–14:00)

• Coaston asks whether Democrats are defending or distracting from intersectionality.
• Crenshaw:
  • “There is…asymmetry in modern politics.”
  • “What’s left of the Republican Party is completely aligned with the idea that their fortunes turn on being able to suppress and repress...I would say on the Democrat side, there is not alignment, there is not consistency...So for this to be such an important part of the Democratic Party and for the messaging around the importance to be so muddled, so skewed...one has to look at that failure as a condition of this moment’s possibility.” (12:14)
  • “Pivoting away from a fight when people are trying to destroy you, that’s not the best way to go about...the future of the party and the future of the democracy.” (13:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the gentrification and weaponization of intersectionality:
  “It’s space that we created for ourselves…now it’s been utilized by people who are not supportive of the overall agenda to create greater forms of equity and inclusion.” (Crenshaw, 03:41)

• On erasure in the Trump administration:
  “The first thing they came after was intersectionality or critical race theory or the 1619 project…They’re going after the entire civil rights infrastructure.” (Crenshaw, 10:43)

• On Democratic Party failures:
  “For them not to have done that until this moment, one has to look at that failure as a condition of this moment’s possibility.” (Crenshaw, 13:36)

• On what is left when intersectionality is erased:
  “[They] leave on the shelf Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Charles Murray, The Bell Curve…we know the end game.” (Crenshaw, 09:46)

• On back talking family and community:
  “Back talking at home, back talking to fellow members of your community…is often the most difficult, the most consequential to your connection to those places and spaces.” (Crenshaw, 08:10)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:03 – Show opens; background on Trump admin language bans
• 02:01 – Kimberlé Crenshaw joins; definition of intersectionality
• 03:41 – Expansion and gentrification of intersectionality
• 05:16 – Intersectionality in public debate and backlash
• 07:32 – Crenshaw’s memoir and “back talking” those you love
• 09:31 – Consequences of erasure from public conversation
• 12:14 – Political analysis: Democrats and Republicans on intersectionality
• 14:00 – Interview ends

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Tone and Style

• Jane’s tone is informed, wry, and direct—a mix of journalistic curiosity and sharp commentary.
• Crenshaw is reflective, urgent, and analytical—speaking with moral clarity about trends shaping public life and civil rights.

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Summary Takeaway:
Through Jane Coaston’s interview with Kimberlé Crenshaw, this episode makes clear that intersectionality isn’t just an academic concept, but a lived reality under attack. The discussion pulls no punches in tracing how the fight over language reveals deeper efforts to roll back rights, and how resistance means “back talking”—not just to power, but sometimes to your own community. The episode calls listeners to consider not just how language shapes policy, but how defending contested concepts matters for the future of inclusion, democracy, and justice.

Transcript

[A]

It's Monday, May 11th. I'm Jane Coston, and this is what a day. The show congratulating President Donald Trump on the 22 foot tall golden statue of himself at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Florida. The statue was dedicated by televangelist and Trump ally Pastor Mark Burns, who posted an important clarification on Twitter. Let me be clear, this is not a golden calf. You know, like pastors normally say about golden statues of presidents they're dedicating at golf courses. On today's show, Virginia Democrats are mulling over a plan that would replace all of the judges on its state Supreme Court. And President Trump finds Iran's response to a ceasefire proposal, quote, totally unacceptable. But let's start with words. Over the last year and a half, the Trump administration has made a big effort to limit which words are used in federal documents, in government memos, and official and unofficial agency guidance. Hundreds of terms and ideas have been explicitly or implicitly forbidden from use or at best, heavily discouraged. These terms include words like accessible, activism, anti racist, inclusive, and injustice. Another intersectionality. But unlike many of the words on the government's list, the term intersectionality has an origin story and an Columbia University professor, Kimberle Crenshaw. It's been nearly 40 years since Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality, and in that time, she's seen it grow into popular culture, turn into a divisive idea and become a target of the federal government. Now she's put it all into a book, an American Memoir. I spoke to Crenshaw about her new book, her work, and how her past has given her the strength to keep talking back. Kimberly, welcome to what a day.

[B]

So happy to join you. Great to see you again.

[A]

It's wonderful to see you again. And we'll talk about how it's been a couple of years since we've spoken, but actually it's been now more than 30 years since you first coined the term intersectionality. What does that word mean?

[B]

The word simply means that patterns of discrimination sometimes are not singular. You're not discriminated against just because you're a person of color or just because you're a woman, or you may be queer. But often discrimination is compounded. It happens to you because of more than one thing. And as a consequence of that compounding of discrimination or exclusion, some of the interventions that imagine discrimination just to be singular based on one thing or another don't actually work. For people who are looking at compounded forms of exclusion, that really is all it is. It's a metaphor for the idea that power can be overlapping, not singular.

[A]

Right. It's interesting. It's a very simple concept, but for the last decade and a half or so, it's become a part of a larger political zeitgeist conversation. In that time, has the meaning changed for you?

[B]

No. I mean, the basic observation that discrimination and exclusion can be compounded is not a new thing. It wasn't even new when I articulated it. I was articulating it to help judges interpret and understand claims that were made by black women, for example, that they were discriminated against not just as women and not just as black people, but as black women. Changed is the extent to which the idea has been used by multiple other communities and constituencies and in places and spaces outside of courtrooms. So that part has grown. It sort of skipped out of law into other disciplines and then into the popular culture and frankly, internationally in human rights spaces and other contexts. But what has happened that is somewhat new is the use of the term to advance myths, to advance defamatory way of framing social justice as woke. It's basically become kind of the poster child of identity politics on steroids. So it's been misinterpreted. I use the word sometimes gentrified. It's space that we created it for ourselves to be able to express and communicate about some of the conditions of our lives. Now it's been utilized by people who are not supportive of the overall agenda to create greater forms of equity and inclusion.

[A]

Right. And I want to talk about that backlash in just a little bit. But we first spoke in 2019, and it was in the midst of this giant burst of conversation around the word intersectionality where it did skip out of the courtroom. What was your reaction when you first started seeing intersectionality be at the center of political debate?

[B]

Well, you know, at first I wasn't shocked by it. There were ways that I was gratified by it, because some of the issues that have happened since intersectionality was framed did not have the benefit of that kind of framing. And that has caused disasters. Like you think about Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill, when the whole world, it seemed, was watching a story unfold that was about sexual harassment between two African Americans. I call that an intersectional failure. So when intersectionality started to be more readily utilized to talk about issues, I thought, okay, that's a good thing, because intersectionality is not just a legal concept. It's the way that people's lives are actually being structured. But what became a moment of deep distress is when intersectionality was framed as one of those ideas that didn't have a meaning, that could be firmly identified and agreed upon, and instead it was being used to generate resentment. Resentment, confusion, expressions of replacement, anxieties. A lot of people talk about intersectionality is basically trying to create a new pariah class out of straight white men. That's a quote. So it is. The misappropriation and the intentional distortion around intersectionality is problematic. I just got a report two weeks ago from some obscure foundation saying that intersectionality was a dangerous ideology that needed to be, you know, contained and destroyed. That's kind of distressing.

[A]

Yeah, that is distressing. And. But I am actually, I'm really glad that you brought up the Clarence Thomas case, because in the. You talk about it in your memoir, which is excellent, by the way.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

In the book, you write about another incident a little earlier is you endured serious domestic violence, and a friend told you to drop the charges against this person to avoid, quote, letting the system lock our brothers up. And that struck me as an intersectional failure.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You mention that in the context of wanting to backtalk to the people you love most. Was that a part of why you decided to write this memoir and share these stories? To backtalk even to the people who agreed with you in the midst of an intersectional failure?

[B]

Well, that's clearly why I use the term back talking. Right. It's not just speaking truth to power, which is real, but back talking also implies that you are having contested conversations within spaces in which respect and quietude are often expected. So back talking against external parties that have always oppressed you, that's not that hard of a concept. But back talking at home, back talking to fellow members of your community, of your political party, or in your church, in spaces that are meant to be home to you, but in other ways are not treating you like you fully belong. That's the kind of back talking that is often the most difficult, the most consequential to your connection to those places and spaces.

[A]

You mention the ways in which you've seen intersectionality be used as a cudgel. Someone talking about how it's a dangerous ideology. We're in this moment where we're seeing the erasure, the purposeful erasure, in my view, of a lot of progress that has been made for women, for people of color, for queer people, for people who are even queer women of color. It can be done. They'll let you do it now. And the Trump administration has even removed terms like intersectionality from school curriculums, from government websites. What do we lose when these Concepts, these words disappear from public conversation.

[B]

Yeah. You know, this has been the bane of my existence for the last several years. It's not just that we have to contend with the Trump administration that has identified these ideas, the histories associated with these ideas, the artifacts in museums that prove the realities that these ideas represent. This has been officially called improper ideology, which, of course, begs the question, what's improper about it? And what is proper ideology? And I would just submit that we know all we need to know about that. When we look at which books have been purged, for example, from the Navy Military Academy, they've taken out Maya Angelou, I Know why the Caged Bird Sings or how Racism Takes Place. What do they leave on the shelf? Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Charles Murray, the Bell Curve. So we know that what's improper is things that challenge the existing status quo, things that give us the history for why we have to pay attention to equity and inclusion. We know what they consider to be proper are the things that say everything is the way it needs to be. So we know the end game. I think what was most frustrating for me is how difficult it's been to persuade some of our allies, some of our social justice groups, some of the civil rights groups, that this was in the process of happening way back when. The first thing they came after was intersectionality or critical race theory or the 1619 project. There was too much of a sense that give them that we can still do what we're going to do. We know what justice is, we know what's required. And my sense was that this is just the opening salvo. They're not just going after some words or some letters. They're going after the entire civil rights infrastructure, all the concepts, framing that is necessary to establish it. And now we're in a period of time where we can see that, in fact, that was always what they were going after.

[A]

Yeah. And I think that that goes with how we've seen some voices in the Democratic Party saying that concepts like intersectionality are the problem, because that means Democrats can't get elected because they're too focused on wokeness. And I want it to be very clear, I am using air quotes.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So even as the Trump administration is trying to erase your work, do you think that the Democratic Party is trying to, like, distract away from your work, or do you think that Democrats are doing a good job of defending its importance?

[B]

It's hard to say with some kind of totality, but I would say that there is, let's say, asymmetry in modern politics. And here's how I would explain it. What's left of the Republican Party is completely aligned with the idea that their fortunes turn on being able to suppress and repress as much as possible the constituencies, the language, the history that has contributed to greater levels of representation around people of color, women, queer people. I would say on the Democrat side, there is not alignment, there is not consistency. There's not even the effort to continue to protect the contributions of the constituencies that allow the Democratic Party to actually compete for political power. So for this to be such an important part of the Democratic Party and for the messaging around the importance to be so muddled, so skewed for them not to turn up at every point along this pathway that they should have turned up in order to say, no, we're not going to permit the erasure of these ideas, the disempowerment of these communities, the irrelevance of this history. For them not to have done that until this moment, one has to look at that failure as a condition of this moment's possibility. So, you know, pivoting away from a fight when people are trying to destroy you, that's not the best way to go about actually, you know, engaging in serious conflict about the future of the party and the future of the democracy.

[A]

Kimberly, thank you so much for joining me.

[B]

It is such a pleasure to be in conversation with you again. Thanks.

[A]

That was my conversation with Kimberle Crenshaw. She's a pioneering legal scholar, executive director of the African American Policy Forum, and the author of An American Memoir. We'll link to it in the show notes here at What a day. There are no forbidden terms except for moist because that word is just gross. If you're on the same page, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads why today is brought to you by Upwork Hiring help shouldn't be a headache or a drain on your budget. Upwork makes it easy to hire specialized freelancers quickly so you can get the expertise you need now without weeks of recruiting or a full time hire. Upwork is a one stop platform to find, hire and pay expert freelancers across web and software development, data and analytics, marketing, business operations, and more. You can browse profiles, review past work and get help scoping the role so you can hire with confidence and get started quickly with business. Plus, you can access the top 1% of talent on Upwork. And with AI powered shortlisting, you'll get matched to the right freelancer in under six hours. No endless searching required. Thousands of growing businesses already trust upwork to hire flexible, high quality freelance talent for everything from one off projects to ongoing support. It's free to sign up and posting a job is easy. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. That is Upwork.com to connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's U P W O-R-K.com Upwork.com thanks to HomeServe for sponsoring this episode. Owning a home is great until a pipe bursts or your water heater stops heating. Water repairs don't care about timing and they definitely don't care about your budget. Regular homeowners insurance usually doesn't cover a lot of the day to day wear and tear, plumbing failures, H Vac breakdowns, electrical issues. You're often on your own for those. That's where HomeServe comes in. It's like a subscription for your home. For as little as $499 a month, they've got your back. Repairs hit fast and hard. You could be searching for a contractor in a panic, or you could already be on the phone with HomeServe's 247 hotline scheduling a repair. It's super simple. Choose a plan for your needs and budget and when something on your plan goes wrong, just call their 24.7hotline to start the repair process. If I owned a HomeServe would be an absolute game changer for me. I know how expensive home repairs can be, from broken light switches to a septic line disaster. HomeServe is there to help help protect your home systems and your wallet. With HomeServe against covered repairs, plans start at just $4.99 a month. Go to HomeServe.com to find the plan that's right for you. That's HomeServe.com not available everywhere. Most plans range between $4.99 to $11.99 a month. Your first year terms apply on covered repairs. Premier hosts on VRBO deliver quality vacation

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[A]

Here's what else we're following today. Head of Lines

[B]

Would the United States

[A]

ever agree to a deal with Iran

[C]

that does not address its nuclear program,

[A]

even if it's a short term deal?

[D]

Oh, I mean, I don't know about interim deals or whatever, but we know where the endpoint is going to be. The endpoint is going to be free flow of traffic through the international waters that are the Straits of Hormuz and an end to the Iranian nuclear program. That's where we're going to end.

[A]

I seem to remember the Strait of Hormuz was open before you closed it. Energy Secretary Chris Wright repeated Trump administration talking points about the Iran war during an interview with host Kristen Welker on NBC's Media the Press Sunday. Meanwhile, Iran sent its response to the latest US Ceasefire proposal via Pakistani mediators. President Trump quickly rejected it, writing in a post Sunday afternoon, quote, totally unacceptable. This is just another setback to efforts to resolve the standoff that has throttled shipping and sent energy prices soaring. Later on Meet the Press, Wright and Welker discussed a plan to lighten the burden on Americans as gas prices have risen as much as 50% since the Iran war began.

[D]

We are working every day to offset this rise in prices because of a critical conflict in Iran to drive prices down. And we're open to all such ideas.

[A]

This is significant, what you're saying.

[B]

You're saying that you that President Trump

[C]

would be open to suspending the federal gas tax.

[D]

We're open to all ideas. Everything has trade offs all ideas to lower prices for American consumers and American businesses.

[A]

I hope he cleared that ringing endorsement with Trump. First. Virginia Democrats are reportedly discussing lowering the state Supreme Court's mandatory retirement age to 54, removing all sitting justices from the court. Why? Well, the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a voter approved congressional map that could have handed them four more seats in the midterms. Friday's 43 ruling upended the state's election plans and left some candidates without districts to run. In Virginia, Democratic Representative Jennifer McClellan joined the Hill Sunday to discuss the fallout. At the end of the day, that means we need to fight to pick up these seats and we can definitely pick up two, probably three, maybe even four, because Virginia voters are furious and particularly when we see what's happening across the Jim Crow South. Our black voters here are particularly furious and they're ready to come out and vote and turn that fury into action on Election Day. Virginia Democrats are also planning to appeal the case to the U.S. supreme Court, according to a court filing. As Virginia Democrats try to figure out what's next, other states are barreling forward with their own plans to redistrict. Republicans in South Carolina, Alabama and Louisiana are laying the groundwork for new maps that could hand them extra seats in the House. Of course, there's no guarantee as to how new districts would vote. South Carolina Democratic Representative Jim Clyburn told CNN State of the Union Sunday that he thinks efforts to redraw his own state's map could end up backfiring on Republicans. All I'm going to say to that is be very careful what you pray for, because what I do believe is that when they finish with the redistrictant, there will be the possibilities of at least three Democrats getting elected here in South Carolina to the United States Congress. One can only hope. Representative Clyburn, by now you've probably heard about the cruise ship that was hit by hantavirus. On Sunday, the ship anchored in the Canary Islands and passengers started flying home aboard military and government planes. Three people have died since the outbreak began and five passengers who left the ship earlier are also infected with the rodent borne illness. At a press conference, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanam Ghebreyesis tried to calm fears. This is not another Covid and the

[B]

risk to the public is low.

[A]

So they shouldn't be scared and they shouldn't panic. The WHO's top epidemiologist said it's recommending that passengers home countries quote, have active monitoring and follow up, which means daily health checks either at home or in a specialized facility. And that's the news. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, contemplate how all the babies are named Olivia or Liam and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just about how, for the seventh year in a row, Olivia and Liam have topped the list of the most popular baby names in America. Like me, what a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and [e-mail] subscribe hello, I'm Jane Coston and here's my question. When I was a kid, everyone was named Jessica or Ashley, but where are all the adult Jessicas and Ashley's? Please comment. If you're an adult named Jessica or Ashley, What A Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Foer, Erica Morrison and Adrienne Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Kanter. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.

[C]

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[C]

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