The Brian Lehrer Show Kimberlé Crenshaw's Life and Work
May 11, 2026
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, civil rights scholar and law professor who developed intersectionality and critical race theory. She reflects on moments that shaped her life and the personal roots behind her memoir. Conversation covers how critical race theory and intersectionality explain institutional inequality, recent voting-rights examples, classroom controversies, and strategies for advancing equality.
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How Critical Race Theory Analyzes Structural Inequality
- Critical race theory examines how laws and institutions can produce racial inequality without explicit racist intent.
- Crenshaw cites post-Voting Rights Act mapping tactics that disenfranchise Black voters as an example of structural, law-driven exclusion.
Memoir Photo Grounds Scholarly Ideas In Childhood
- Crenshaw ties her memoir photo of her and her brother to grounding theories in lived experience.
- She says Backtalker shows ideas like intersectionality emerged from her life amid the civil rights and women's movements.
Intersectionality Shows Compounded Forms Of Marginalization
- Intersectionality maps how multiple axes of power combine to create unique, compounded burdens.
- Crenshaw explains it addresses people simultaneously subject to racism and sexism, not abstract identity politics.
