Importance of Diversity in State Legislatures
Legislatures with higher proportions of women and minorities tend to sponsor and pass legislation that caters to the interests of underrepresented groups. However, the marginalization of women and minority legislators by their white male colleagues can limit their influence in policymaking. Intersectionality is key in understanding how multiple forms of oppression intersect and operate simultaneously.
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BLACK WOMEN STATE LEGISLATORS WHAT DIVERSITY ADDS TO STATE LEGISLATURES
IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY Legislatures with higher proportions of women have responded by sponsoring and passing more legislation that is important to women Minority legislators are more likely than White legislators to advocate for the interests of minority constituents by sponsoring and voting for civil rights and social welfare legislation When women or minorities have token status in legislatures, marginalization by their White male colleagues limits the influence of women and minority legislators in public policymaking
KEY TERMS Shifting the Center Putting at the center of our thinking the experiences of groups that have been formally excluded otherwise, many groups simply remain invisible Centering Difference Uplifting, trusting, and valuing the lived experiences of the people most impacted by the issue(s) and inequality(ies) you seek to address Either/or Thinking- a tendency to simplify things; choices that come from a scarcity mindset, a belief that we can t or shouldn t look beyond. Hegemonic Femininity celebrated cultural ideas of womanhood (in a given time/place) that serve to upload & legitimate all axes of oppression in the matrix of domination simultaneously
INTERSECTIONALITY At its heart, intersectionality is a study of relative power. Crenshaw (1989) 5
INTERSECTIONALITY There is no pure oppression Oppressions are multiplicative & operate in tandem Black women occupy a unique space Can pivot from this standpoint to see that of others
PROBLEM WITH SINGLE-AXIS APPROACH Minority Business Enterprise Women s Business Enterprise 8
NEW JERSEY STATE LEGISLATURE Andrew Johnson 12/2018
CONTEXT MATTER CASE OF LEGISLATIVE CAUCUSES Disagreements w/ Women s Caucus Disagreements w/ Black Caucus "I have a bill that I had a hearing on yesterday that was about home healthcare workers. In the public housing communities in my district, it's the top profession for people who live in public housing. Over 70% of the people who perform these jobs are black women in the state of Maryland .90% of them throughout the profession are women." - MD state delegate "The equal pay bills have come through [and] the brothers have brought them...They [Black male lawmakers] will follow the lead of the female members of the caucus. We will work together on that. They will listen to our voice. [They] have women at home and girls at home that they love. And they just have to go home to a sister and she s finding out your votes line up with her rights I think that the level of respect between our [Black] caucus is the leadership is heavily female. I think that helps." - LA state legislator
CONCLUSIONS 1. Because of their lived experiences, Black women bring a different lens to the policy-making process 2. Black women state legislators face challenges unique to their raced/gendered identity 3. Deliberative democracies must be more inclusive to produce better policies 4. Research demonstrates that diversity enhances government responses to political issues and problems 11
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS NADIA E. BROWN, PHD NADIA.BROWN@GEORGETOWN.EDU WWW.NADIAEBROWNPHD.COM
