interseCtionALity: Bridging the inCLusion gAp
Diversity & Inclusion Committee
Continued from page 32
leaders should “bravely and visibly
create a culture in which people
at the intersections of unique
identities have equal access to
opportunities and advancement.” 12
Creating an inclusive work
environment through inter sectionality
is challenging; it takes commitment
and a willingness to have courageous
conversations to break down barriers
and build bridges. 13 Barriers are
broken and bridges are built when
employees are not asked to erase a
portion of their identity to gain equal
access to opportunities and advance -
ment. And in 2020, it is time. n
Although the focus of this article
is women lawyers of color, the issue
is applicable to all lawyers of color.
1
National Association for Law
Placement, 2018 Report on Diversity
in U.S. Law Firms, January 2019;
NAPL recently published its 2019
report, National Association for Law
Placement, 2019 Report on Diversity
in U.S. Law Firms, December 2019,
http://www.nalp.org/reportondiversity;
Minority Corporate Counsel Association
and Vault, 2018 Vault/MCCA Law
Firm Diversity Survey, 2018,
http://www.mcca.com/wp-content/
uploads/2018/11/2018-Vault-MCC.
3
Crenshaw, Kimberlé,
“Demarginalizing the Intersection
of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist
Critique of Antidiscrimination
Doctrine, Feminist Theory and
Antiracist Politics,” University of
Chicago Legal Forum: Vol. 1989: Iss. 1,
Article 8, http://chicagounbound.
uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8.
2
Id.
DeGraffenreid v. General Motors,
413 F. Supp. 142 (E.D. Mo. 1976).
6
Id. at 143.
7
Id. at 145.
8
Id. at 140.
9
Bentley University Gloria Cordes
Larson Center for Women and
Business, Intersectionality in the
Workplace: Broadening the Lens of
Inclusion, Winter 2019.
10
Id.
11
Id.
12
Id.
13
Id. at 23.
4
5
Author:
Monica
Williams Harris
– Jackson
Lewis, P.C.
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