Kimberlé Crenshaw faces intensified backlash against critical race theory and intersectionality
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Apr 25
Kimberlé Crenshaw faces intensified backlash against critical race theory and intersectionality
12 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Apr 25
Following Donald Trump’s 2025 executive orders cutting federal funding for schools teaching critical race theory and terminating DEI initiatives, federal agencies began censoring terms like "intersectionality," directly targeting Crenshaw’s legacy.
Crenshaw, a 66-year-old legal scholar, describes the backlash as a deliberate erasure of decades of work and links it to broader efforts to control national narratives and exclude marginalized groups.
She continues to advocate through the African American Policy Forum, emphasizing the necessity of her frameworks amid rising political violence and the ongoing culture wars over race, gender, and democracy in the US.
As the originator of the theory, how does Kimberlé Crenshaw's personal history inform her response to the backlash?
Can laws targeting individual prejudice effectively combat discrimination that is embedded within entire systems?
With federal funding for DEI cut, what innovative strategies are schools developing to support vulnerable students?
When governments attempt to control language by flagging certain words, what is the ultimate societal impact?
Beyond politics, how is intersectionality applied in fields like healthcare to address real-world inequities?
When executive orders clash with free speech, what historical precedents might guide the courts in their decisions?