Rodel Querubin
Holstine with a group of students during a writer's workshop at Tokata Learning Center in Shakopee, Minnesota.
I am the director of educational equity at OutFront MN, one of the largest LGBTQ+ state equity groups in the nation. In my program’s LGBTQ+ 101 & Intersectional Equity training, we teach educators how the intersection of identities can create unique perspectives and experiences.
We cannot celebrate our victories until every marginalized and oppressed person is getting what they need.
The intersection of transphobia and racism is dangerous for transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming BIPOC people. And even though there is some reason to celebrate that the U.S. Supreme Court determined on Monday that LGBTQ+ humans are legally protected from being fired due to their identity, the fact remains that on the same day, the court rejected several cases challenging qualified immunity, which protects police from being prosecuted for crimes they commit. This decision causes direct harm to our BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ siblings because it is not putting laws in place that could protect them.
George Floyd was murdered on Memorial Day only two blocks from the OutFront MN office. And two weeks ago, Iyanna Dior, a Black transgender woman who lives in our city, was brutally beaten up. Multiple BIPOC transgender humans are killed in the United States every year. Two Black transgender women were killed in the last week alone.
We cannot celebrate our victories until every marginalized and oppressed person is getting what they need. And as educators, we can work to dismantle white supremacy and xenophobia by starting in our classrooms.
There are a lot of definitions floating around for “educational equity,” and here is mine: finding out what every human needs to be successful—academically, socio-emotionally, and everything in between—and then doing whatever it takes to help them meet those needs.
Pedagogy, trauma-informed teaching, restorative practices, and cultural competency are all branches on the tree of educational equity. And it is irresponsible to talk about equity without also talking about intersectionality. Intersectionality refers to the different ways people “show up” in spaces, the unique ways that these intersections can impact themselves and others, and how all of these dynamics inform power and privilege.
This is a theory that was developed by civil rights advocate Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in 1989. According to Crenshaw, “Because the intersectional experience is greater than the sum of racism and sexism, any analysis that does not take intersectionality into account cannot sufficiently address the particular manner in which Black women are subordinated.” The term quickly became applied to multiple identities, and Crenshaw has since said that she “acknowledges that the term ranges far beyond Black and female.”
For example, when I show up in a room, I am white-presentening, able-bodied, female, lesbian, and gender nonconforming. Being a descendant of Cherokee people impacts my experiences, but since I am white-presenting, I benefit from white privilege and have no idea what it feels like to be discriminated against based on the color of my skin. The intersection of these identities, among others, impacts how I respond to the world and how the world responds to me. It is also important to remember that both visible and invisible identities can have a significant impact on people’s experiences.
“Intersectional equity” is being aware of how the intersection of multiple identities can create unique experiences for people, how they are impacted by privilege and oppression, what their needs are, and how to help them meet those needs. I created this phrase because I was searching for a way to communicate to educators how impossible it is to achieve educational equity without also being mindful of the impact of intersectionality on our students and colleagues.
As advocates, we need to admit that we have learning to do, replace our fixed mindset with a growth model, roll up our sleeves, and work together in order to collectively stand up for every historically oppressed human.
As educators, we can’t support our students’ and colleagues’ needs unless we understand how their identities impact their experiences. And if we are not supporting their needs, then we are not achieving educational equity.
I have witnessed BIPOC students be seriously harmed by racism. I have seen immigrant and refugee students be told to “go back where they came from.” Many of my non-Christian students were disrespected, harassed, and isolated. And my students with learning differences and/or mental illnesses were often called names by their peers and consistently underestimated by their educators.
Many of our colleagues who are LGBTQ+, immigrants, refugees, BIPOC, and/or non-Christians are facing a lot of the same discrimination that our students are. And when our students and colleagues have multiple and intersecting identities, their lives can be even more complicated.
I believe that when we seek out multiple perspectives from people with a variety of identities, our work gets better. For example, as a white-presenting educator, I am incredibly grateful to all of the BIPOC educators who have chosen to pay the high cultural tax of teaching me.
Jason Bucklin, coordinator of Out4Good & LGBT Programs for Minneapolis Public Schools, helped me realize that, as advocates, we can sometimes feel like we need to hold all of the power of expertise in our areas of passion. I know it can be daunting and even scary sometimes to admit that we need help understanding how to support identities that do not match our own. But if we allow this fear to dominate our actions, then we are acting out a major component of white supremacy.
As advocates, we need to admit that we have learning to do, replace our fixed mindset with a growth model, roll up our sleeves, and work together in order to collectively stand up for every historically oppressed human.
When educators put the necessary time and energy into understanding the unique intersections of identities in all of our students and colleagues, then, and only then, can equity prevail. People are harmed when we ignore the intersections of equity, but everyone benefits when we utilize an intersectional equity lens.
As the 2019 Minnesota State Teacher of the Year, I am joining forces with Jess Davis, the 2020 Minnesota State Teacher of the Year, to give a keynote about intersectional equity on July 8. It costs $100 to attend The National Teacher Leadership Virtual Conference and is open to all educators.