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65 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1467 (1991-1992)
Race, Gender, and Sexual Harassment

handle is hein.journals/scal65 and id is 1485 raw text is: RACE, GENDER, AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT* KiMBERLE CRENSHAW** I would like to thank Anita Hill and express my deep respect to her for having the courage to shatter the silence on sexual harassment. I am certain that I speak for millions of women in saying that I have been inspired and renewed by her strength and integrity. I have looked forward to addressing you tonight on a critical issue at this very important juncture in our political history. Sexual harassment has captured our attention over the last several weeks and has of course galvanized women in a way that scarcely could have been imagined only a few short months ago. The issue I want to address tonight, however, is at once narrower and broader than sexual harassment. Focusing on the intersections of race and gender, I want to highlight the racial dimen- sions of sexual harassment of African-American women. Over the last month women have consistently used the concept of silence to talk about why harassment has been buried for so long and why women are now beginning to shatter that silence. We have also talked about how women who have experienced sexual harassment are situated between a rock and a hard place. We understand now that our choices as women are limited to silently tolerating sexual harassment and other abuses or confronting the further degradation and psychic assault that we are sure to receive if we speak out and resist. I would like to build upon both those metaphors as a means to uncover the particular ways in which Black women are silenced between the rocks and the hard places of racism and sexism. One way of begin- ning to think about this space is suggested by the concept of intersection- ality. African-American women by virtue of our race and gender are * Based upon a speech at the Forum for Women State Legislators held in San Diego, California on November 15, 1991 and sponsored by the Rutgers University Center for the American Woman and Politics. ** Samuel Rubin Visiting Professor of Law at Columbia University. The ideas in this piece are further developed in Sexuality and Intersectional Politics: When Race and Gender Stop Making Sense, in RACE-ING JUSTICE, EN-GENDERING CHANGE (Toni Morrison 1992). 1467

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