This article was downloaded by: (Florida Atlantic University] On: 12 August 2010 Access details: Access Details: [Subscription number 784176984] Publisher Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37- 41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Souls Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: tp// www informaworld. com/smppytitle~content 1718728579 WE. Du Bois: Intellectual Forefather of Intersectionality? Ange-Marie Hancock ‘To cite this Article Hancock, Ange-Marie(2005) ‘W.E.B. Du Bois: Intellectual Forefather of Intersectionality”, Souls, 7:3, 74 ary ‘To link to this Article: DOL 10.1080/10999940500265508 URL: https //d.do 10.1080, 16999940500265508 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE,Du Bois and the “Scientific” Study of Race W.E.B. Du Bois Intellectual Forefather of Intersectionality? ‘Ange-Marie Hancock g ofa certain inferiority complex was possibly present: I was desperately ‘afraid of not being wanted; of itruding without invitation; of appearing to desire the company of those who had no deste for me, should have been pleased if most of my fellow students had desired to associate with me; iF had been popular and en- ‘ved, But the absence ofthis made me neither unhappy nor morose. Fhad my’“island wishin and it was a fair county. Somethi WEB, Du Bois, Dusk of Dawn W222, 2a siluaderseconizans pital ors ofthe 20 entry, stood simultaneously within and outside both his respective national community as well ashis racial community, largely because of his controversial writing about the pursuit of ‘equality by displaced minority groups. As he himself notes above, Du Bois experienced a feeling of being someone not fully embraced by his environs as be pursued higher education at Harvard and pursued his quest to remedy the follies of scientific racism, imperialism, and ongoing persistent inequality in world democracies lke the United States, In this article, Du Bois’s recognition of the roles of race conjoined with class, and race conjoined with gender are examined. Beyond debates of Du Bois’s reluctant or Victorian feminism (Griffin, 2000; Carby, 1998), or his longstanding battles with socialist and communist parties about the relevance of race, I want to examine evidence that Du Bois provoked his audience with the argument that race and class (or race and gender) mat- tered simultaneously in most, ifnot all political contexts. The examination presented herein is part ofa larger project that examines the direction in which Du Bois pushed this line of| thinking—toward a theory of multiple yet mutually exclusive identities and oppressions, or toward a theory of intersecting and mutually constitutive identities and oppressions? The autor dake al ofthe parispants nthe Du is and the Scientific Study of Race Conference, bed March 4 2005 at Yale University fo their suggestions and questions regarding this artic, especialy discus nis Shatma Theaderaft and Email Raymando Souls 7 (3-4): 74-84, 2005 / Copyright © 2005 The Trustees of Columbit University in the City of New York 1099.9949102 / DOTI0,1080/1099940500265508,W.EB.DuBols * 75 The Logic of Intersectionality ‘The term “intersectionality” refers to both a normative theoretical argument and an ap- proach to conducting empirical research (Carteret al. 2002; Cohen, 1999; Collins, 1998; Hancock, 2003, 2005). While the idea of analyzing race, gender, and class identities, together has existed as one answer to this question for over a century (Guy-Sheftall, 1995), intersectionality has only emerged in the past 20 years as an explicitly interisci- plinary approach that considers the interaction of race, gender, class and other organizing structures of society a key component influencing political access, equality and the po- tential for any form of justice. Calls have emerged for its consolidation into @ paradigm (McCall, 2005; Cole and Stewart, 2001; sce also Hawkesworth, 1997, 2003) that ani- ‘mates work in anthropology, critical race theory, critical legal studies, economics, ethnic studies, feminist philosophy, literary criticism, history, political science, sociology, ‘women's studies, and many other disciplines. Within political science, while the embrace of intersectionality has received its widest acceptance in feminist theory, intersectional research has pushed the boundaries in critical legal studies, social movements, public policy, international human rights, and racial/ethnic politics. In response to the pluralist logic that presumes a guarantee of democratic outcomes based on cross-cutting political cleavages, both activists and scholars have long noted that different citizens fare differently based on certain aspects of their presumably inal- terable identities (Dawson, 1994; Guinier, 1994; Tate, 1994; Gay and Tate, 1998; Smith, 1993, 2003; Williams, 1998). Due to the common experiences of discrimination, marginalization, and/or violence, political actors who shared the same racial, gender, or class identity logically envisioned these shared experiences as a bonding aspect of a collective politics. One of the foundational arguments for this collective potitieal action based on a shared identity (identity polities) was articulated by the late Kwame Ture and, Charles Hamilton in Biack Power, .. before a group can enter the open society it must close ranks” (1992: 44), Later scholars have noted that identity polities does not always, precede racial or ethnic group incorporation into the United States political system; itis often the process by which such incorporation occurs (Cruz, 1998: 10). These analyses depend on a logic of group solidarity” that has traditionally been interpreted to equate group unity with group wniformity. While several refinements to this logic (e.z., Cruz, 1998; Scott, 1984; West and Fenstermaker, 1995) have emerged and different political movements have quite logically varied in their levels of sucess in leveraging this logic for tangible political change, race, gender, and class groups are still considered able 10 advocate a specific set of policy proposals based on a pre-existing presumption of shared I goals (see Cohen, 1999). From the normative theoretical point of view, “intersectionalty” has emenged as a com- pelling critique of tis logic. Many scholars argue that one cannot privilege a single aspect of one’s identity (eg, one’s race or one’s gender) to the detriment of other aspects (2. one’s class or sexuality). Most frequently, intersectionality theorists have focused on the effect of in-group essentialism, which occurs when a sub-set ofa group's population seeks to fix the characterisies of a specific identity such as race oF gender (Calhoun, 1995), ‘manginalizing those group members who differ in other aspects of their identity (eg. their lass or sexual orientation (Cohen, 1996, 1999), Fundamentally, most scholars working on {ntersectional identity argue that individuals who share multiple marginalized identities face challenges that are qualitatively—but not necessarily quamtitatively—different from those ‘who have a combination of privileged and marginalized identities (hooks, 1989; Collins, 2004); Crenshaw, 1991; Crenshaw eta, 1995; Wing, 1997; Wing, 200, 2001, 2006; Alarcon, 1990; Anzaldua, 1990), In this way, the challenge of itersectional identity is theorized to create an obstacle much larger than the sum ofits parts,76 * Souls Summer/Fall 2005 What Do We Mean by Multiple vs. Intersecting Identities? ‘The arguments of intersectionality theorists can be divided into two different approaches. ‘The multiple approach recognizes the role of categories such as race and gender or race ‘and class as equally important considerations when examining political phenomena. WE.B, Du Bois was long disappointed with both the socialist and communist partes due to their refusal to acknowledge the equal constitutive power of race and economic class in the United States as well as around the world. His Souls of Black Folk, Black Reconstruc~ tion, and Philadelphia Negro studies sought to give equal power to the roles of race ‘and class structures in society in order to explain the sociopolitical status of African ‘Americans, ‘The carly arguments of the multiple approach have been refined by the intersectional approach, It recognizes the significance of one or another category and sees more than ‘one category's explanatory power in examining political institutions or politcal actors but it does not stop with the recognition of equal explanatory power. Instead of simply ‘adding two discrete, mutually exclusive categories to the analysis, the intersectional ap- proach further posits an interactive, mutually constitutive relationship among these cat- cegories and the way in which race (andor ethnicity) and gender (or other relevant iden- tity categories) play a role in the shaping of political institutions, political actors, and the relationships between institutions and actors. Intersectional work goes deeper to ask central questions that potentially explain the limits of polities designed to assist people who should theoretically benefit from either racially targeted or gender-targeted public policy and social movements but seem to in reality benefit from neither. For example, who has the authority to define publie policy ‘goals that are in the interests of race or gender groups? How might we account for the ‘wide variations in either political resources or political outcomes within race or gender ‘groups, in onder to ensure that all members of a marginalized group can gain poli related or legal remedies for their unequal political outcomes?” Du Bois helps us to ex- ‘amine some of the answers to these questions. Intersectionality theory makes three general claims that are presaged by Du Bois’s ‘arguments regarding the relationship between race and class or between race and gender. Beginning from the original premise that multiple categories of difference matter simul- taneously, intersectionality research argues both theoretically and empirically forthe reso- lution of intracategory injustice by recognizing the political and economic ramifications, of within-group diversity. A wide varity of Black feminist legal, literary and political ‘theorists, and Black women fiction writers have made this claim for nearly a century ‘outside ofthe African diasporic community, and for nearly two centuries within diasporic ‘communities. As well, intesectionalty theory emphasizes the dynamic relationship be- ‘ween individual citizens or political actors and structures of political institutions and ternational networks, Protean evidence ofall three claims emerges from three key works. ‘that span 40 years of Du Bois’s long life: Souls of Black Folk (1903), Darkwater (1920), and Dusk of Dawn (1940), Du Bois and the Outsider Within ‘The epigraph that started this paper illuminates Du Bois's experience at Harvard, where ‘he was the frst African American to receive a doctorate degree. By defining his predica- ‘ment as.an “istand within,” Du Bois first foreshadows Black feminist theory, which emenged prior to more general forms of interscctionality theory, through his expression of a par- ticular standpoint: she outsider within, Patricia Hill Collins identifies the origins of the ‘outsider within perspective in Black Women’s status ¢s both workers and Black womenW.E.B.DuBols * 77 (2000, 10-11). In Darkwater, Dusk of Dawn, and The Auiobiography of WEB. Du Bois (1968), Du Bois gives several autobiographical examples of this “outsider within per- spective” in a mode similar to Collins—the perspective of a Black worker who despite his intimate relationship with the white world is rendered invisible due to his race, Two examples from Darkwater illuminate these similarities. First, Du Bois shares this view of invisibility in white publics asa useful vantage point with his metaphor of the vei: “I have been in the world, but ot of it. Ihave seen the human drama from a veiled corner, where all the outer tragedy and comedy have reproduced themselves in microcosm within” (DW 29) Later, Bu Bois speaks in Darkwater about his experienves a a server to white restaurant customers ‘Our work was easy, but insipid. We stood about and watched overdressed people ‘gorge, For the most part we were treated lke furniture and were supposed to act the ‘wooden part, [ watched the waiters even more than the guess, [saw that it paid £9 amuse and to cringe... did ot mind the actual work or the kind of work, but it was the dishonesty and deception, the Mattery and cajolery, the unnatural assumption that ‘worker and diner had no common humanity, It was uncanny. It was inherently and fundamentally wrong. (DW 127-128) In this passage Du Bois emphasizes the economic incentives for waiters to debase them selves in order to gain in a very circumscribed way financially as well as the invisibility discussed 50 years later by Hill Collins, alluding to the behavioral norm of being “treated like furniture” and acting “the wooden part.” But the final crtigue of the relationship between waiter and restaurant customer isthe underlying assumption that these two groups, are inherently unequal: “the unnatural assumption that worker and diner had no common humanity” tha is “fundamentally wrong.” In this sense, Du Bois challenges the conven- tional wisdom, asking readers to recognize the inherent humanity of Black people in a ‘way that contests earlier thinking about African Americans, In this sense, Du Bois pur- sues one ofthe normative goals Collins claims forthe outsider within perspective, “Com ing to recognize that one need not believe everything one is told and taught” (184). ‘That Du Bois prefers to use himself'as an exemplar rather than to examine the outsider within phenomenon using Black female population is significant but it does not prevent us from making the link o intersectionality, The recovery of Du Bois's thoughts regard- ing an “island within” perspective, which is similar to but not identical with his metaphor of “the veil of race,” in no way suggests that Du Bois is an intersectionality theorist— such a claim would be anachronistic and incomplete. However, the intellectual line of thought from Du Bois to Hill Collins may provide fruitful avenues to investigate not simply how to frame intersectional marginalization or oppression, but how to remedy it Simultaneity of Significance: Race and Class or Race and Gender Du Bois specifically argues for the simulianeity of significance of race and gender in Darkwater, when he states: ‘What is today the message of these black women to America and to the world? The upliftof women is, next tothe problem of the color Tine and the peace movement, our ‘eeatest modem cause, When, now, 10 ofthese movements—womaa and color — ‘combine in one, he combination has deep meaning, (DW 187) This statement from “Of the Damnation of Women” precisely locates the problems of “the color line” and “uplift of women” nex? to one other rather than one after the other. In other words, chronologically, one movement forjustice ned not wait until another move-78 * Souls Summer/Fall 2005 ‘Du Bols in 1907. Special Colisctions and Archives, WER. Du Bos Libre, University of Messachie serts Amherst ‘ment for justice has achieved its goals; rather the two movements are simultancously Important It seems logical to conclude following this statement that color liberation need not be pursued before gender liberation, Du Bois concludes, then, that the categories of race and gender matter simultancously—a central claim made by intersectionality thco- rists ofall stripes inthe 21st century, Though Du Bois writes about gender far less frequently than he does about class (and always about race) this logic is not limited to discussions of women’s rights.‘ In fact, Du Bois often talks about the significance of both race and class. He explains his intellectual development and movement toward this kind of analysis in Dusk of Dawn: Althis [the historical spread of imperialism] might have been interpreted as history nd polities, Mainly [did so interpret it; but continually Las forced to consider theW.E.B.DuBols * 79 ‘economic aspects of world movements as they were developing atthe time, Chiefly ‘this was because the group in which Iwas interested in were [sie] workers, earners of ‘wages, owners of small bits of land, servants, The labor strikes intersted and puzzled ‘me, They were for the most part strikes of workers led by organizations to which Negroes were not admitted. (DD, $3) This tendency to analyze race and class together becomes a significant part of Du Bois’ ongoing critique ofboth labor movements and the socialist party regarding is failure to resist racism with equal tenacity as classism, as this passage from Darkwater indicates: Even te broken reed on which we ld rested high hopes of elem peace—the guild ‘of the laborers—the front of that very important movement for human justice on ‘which we had builded most, even this flew like a straw before the breath of king and Kaiser Indeed, the flying had been foreshadowed when in Germany and America “international! socialists hd all but read yellow and black men out ofthe kingdom of industrial justice. Subily had they been bribed, but effectively! Were they not londly ‘whites and should they not share in the spoils of rape? High wages in the United ‘States and Fngland might be the skilfilly manipulated rsultofslavery in Affiew and ‘of peonage in Asia. (DW, 70) Here again, a claim of invisibility is made: “yellow” and “black” men were “all but read out” of the “kingdom of industrial justice.” Du Bois makes a particular charge of the failure to fuse race and class strugeles repeatedly in many of his works—in Black Recon- struction (1935), Dusk of Dawn (1940), and The Autobiography of W.E.B. Du Bois 1968), among others. This claim is closest in content to the general claim of intersectionality theorists that multiple categories matter simultaneously. Bat the similarities do not end there. Within this claim is an argument for the equal acknowledgement of race and class as mutually effective, reinforcing structures of soci- ety—a more intersectional rather than multiple category claim, I put forth this interpreta- tion despite the work of Eve Weinbaum and others who analyze one specific instance— Du Bois’s chapter “Of the Damnation of Women” where Du Bois does not address gen- der in the same mode as rave and class. Weinbaum and others claim that though he is radical for his time regarding gender in most cases, he does not tacitly take on gender in this chapter of Darkwarer in the way that he takes on race or class elsewhere in the book. Yet while intersectionality research has its widest acceptance in feminist theory and usu- ally recognizes gender as a category of equal constitutive foree as race andl class, his, omission of gender in this chapter does not destroy the argument that he presages intersectionality with a claim that more than one category of difference should be at- tacked simultaneously, and, more importantly, tha the structures of society operate such that these categories mutually reinforce social stratification for its least empowered in- habitants, Du Bois and Structure Intersectionalty theorists now argue that categories like race, gender, and class are conceptualized through a dynamic process of interaction between individuals and politi- cal or economic institutions. Due to this premise, theoretical and empirical work now suggest that analyses that integrate individual and structural factors are the most precise approach to examining political phenomena. Structural critique is vital to his argument in Darkowater and Dusk of Dawn.’ tn Darkwater, Du Bois explicitly rejects individual be- havior-driven explanations as the sole cause of the gap between rich and poor:80 * Souls Summer/Fall 2005 Incarliereconomie stages we defended this a the reward of Thrift and Sacrifice, and as the punishment of Ignorance and Crime, To this the answer is sharp: Sacrifice calls for no such reward and Ignorance deserves no such punishment. The chief ‘meaning of our preseot thinking is thatthe disproportion between wealth and pov= erty today cannot he adequately accounted for by the thrift and jgnarance of the rich and the poor: (DW, 116) ‘This statement further separates Du Bois from his American compatriots who tradition ally focus on individual sel improvement or collective sedetermination such as Booker TT, Washington and even earlier theorists such as Frederick Douglass or David Walker. ‘Yet unlike Washington or a pure structuralist, Du Bois acknowledges the interaction be- ‘ween individual agent and structure in political outcomes, which again predates claims ‘made by intersectionality theorists. In Dusk of Dawn, Du Bois makes the precise argument that individual liberty cannot ‘oceur without structural change: FForlong years it seemed to me that this imprisonment ofa human group with chains inhands of nenvioning group, was singularly unusual characteristic of the Negro {nthe United States in the ninetcenth century. Bu since then it has been easy for me to realize thatthe majority of mankind has struggled through this inner spiritual slavery and that while a dream which we have easily and jauntily called democracy ‘envisages a day when the environing gronp looses the chains and compulsion, snd is willing and even eager to grant families, nations, sub-races and races equality of| ‘opportunity among larger groups, that even this grand equality has not come; and it does, individual equality and the free soul is impossible. All our presen Fuse ‘wation in trying to realize individual equality through communism, fascism, and de- smocracy arises from our continual unwillingness 1 break the intellectual bonds of group and racial exclusiveness. (DD, 137) This passage seems to indicate that radical structural change is necessary for the libers- tion of entire groups of people, with no emphasis on the role of individuals. However, by the time he wrote Dusk of Dawn, Du Bois bad already emphasized individual responses. ‘with the implicit notion of varied responses with varied results to structural inequality in Souls of Black Folk, which I detail in the next section. As well, Du Bois consistently ‘throughout his nonfiction works used both the tools ofa sociologist atthe structural level (collecting data and conducting intergroup analyses) and his own life as an exemplar of ‘one consistently attempting to become fiee. In this way Du Bois personally and profes- sionally embodied the much later intersectional claim of category-based dynamic inter- action between individuals and structure. An Outsider Within the Black Community Earlier inthis article I discussed Du Bois’s self-description of being on an“island within” and its relationship to contemporary constructions ofthe “outsider within.” As Tacknowl- edged before, while Du Bois uses himself and does not discuss Black women in this regan, Du Bois does point to secondary marginalization by recognizing an outsider within status for himself in relationship to the Black community. This personal reflection should be linked to Du Bois’s thinking regarding within-group diversity, because it reflects Du Bois’s commitment to group unity without group uniformity, confounding what I called above the logic of group solidarity underginding identity politics movements, Du Bois further sought to codify some of these beliefs in within-group diversity inthe principlesW.E.B.DuBols * 81 of the Niagara Movement, which includes “the recognition of the highest and best human training as the monopoly of no class or race” and “freedom of speech and criticism” (DD 8). It becomes clear from the passages interpreted below that this logic had an impact on Du Bois personally, extending further the argument that Du Bois may provide important intellectual history and resources for intersectionality theor Du Bois was the first to publicly ponder the class complexity within the Black com- munity from a scholarly perspective (Levering Lewis, 1993: 209; Home and Young, 2001). His training at Harvard and in Germany exposed him to thinkers and ideas that ‘were well beyond the financial and legal reach of most of his fellow Blacks atthe time, Yet he remained firmly committed to the liberation of Black people, and perhaps naively, expected his fellow members of the Talented Tenth to do the same: ‘What with all my dreaming, studying, and teaching was I going to doin tis fieree fight? . But contrary tomy dream of racial solidarity and notwithstanding my deep dlsire 10 serve and follow and think, rather than to lead and inspire and decid, I found myself suddenly the leader ofa great wing of peopl fighting against another and greater wing, (DW 49) Ils perhaps this sense of the outsider within, and the recognition that there is within- group criticism that leads Du Bois to his claims of within-group diversity that are so valuable to intersectionality theory. For example, in Dusk of Dawn Du Bois seems re- signed to the idea that he is @ controversial figure within the Black community: ‘The reaction ofthe educated, ambitious, and financially beter off of any group to the ‘condition of the masses is the same: “None has mote pitlessly castigated Jews than ‘the Jewish prophets, ancient and modern. It isthe Irish themselves who ral at dirty Irish tricks” Nothing could exceed te sel-abasement ofthe Germans during Sturm ‘und Drang” Sell-eritieism by Blacks is no different (DD, xix) What is most interesting about this passage, however, is that Du Bois does not provide this illustration just for the purpose of navel-gazing toward his own outsider within status among his fellow Blacks, for he continues: ‘The culture of the upper-class White is often considered typical of all Whites while Blacks are usually considered “as one undifferentiated low-elass mass" and the cul- ture ofthe lowest-clss Black is considered typical ofall Blacks, Neither Blacks nor ‘Whites area homogenous group. (Ibid) Du Bois elaborates here on a theme he started examining in Souls of Black Fotk. In Souls, Da Bois docs not hide his personally preferred resistance methods of education and work, but is quite content to acknowledge some support for other strategies, He articulates this ‘most hicidly in his description ofthe community be taught outside of Alexandria, Tennes- have called my tiny community @ world, and so is isolation made it, and yet there ‘was among us but & halfawakened common consciousness, sprung from common joy and grief, t burial, birth, o wedding, from a common hardship in poverty, poor Tand, and low wages; and above all, ftom the sight ofthe Vel that hung between us and Opportunity. ll dhs caused us 0 think some thoughts e, when ripe for speeck, were spoken in various languages. (SBF 27, en While the experionces of the Veil and structural lack of opportunity bound this world together, the diverse reactions of losie, Fat Reuben, Doc Burke, and Unele Bird to such injustice, most eloquently conveyed withthe rhetorical device ofa return visit 10 years82 © Souls Summer/Fall 2005 hence, challenges the notion of'a monolithic Black community. In addition to class diversity within the Black community, Du Bois acknowledges itlerences in Black public opinion, While Du Bois disagreed vehemently with the siral- egies of Booker T. Washington in Souls, and did not disavow such disagreement decades fe, he did not question Washington's very membership in the Black community, nor id he vensor his critique for the purpose of providing a united front to mainstream America, In fact he specifically disagreed with the logic of group solidarity equaling group unifor- ‘ity or silencing of dissenting voices. ‘But side from this, there is among educated and thought colored men in all parts of the land feeling of deep regret, sorrow, and apprehension at the wide currency and aescendancy which some of Mr. Washington’s ideas have guined. . . . Honest and ‘eamesteriticism from those whose interests are most nearly touched—eriicism of ‘writers from readers, of government by those govemed, of leaders by those led—this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modem society. (SBF 243) ‘Now consider these words outlining the differences of Black public opinion from Dusk of Dawn: Despite everything, rae lines were not fixed and fast. Within the Negro group expe- cially there were people ofall colors. Then too, there were plenty of my colored ‘ends who resented my ultra ‘race’ loyalty and ridiculed it. They pointed out that I ‘was nota ‘Negro, but a mulato; that I was not a Southemer but a Northerner, and ‘my object was to be an American and not a Negro; that race distinctions must go. I agreed with ths in part and as an idea, but [sav it Leading to inner racial distinction in the colored group. (DD 101-102) In this way, from Sous of Black Folk (1903) 1o Dusk of Dawn (1940), we see continuity in Du Bois’s thought; most significantly, a continuity that links his political theory with that of today’s intersectionality theorists. Conclusion ‘The eitical evaluations opened up by this intepretation of Du Bois can provide insight into the intellectual history of intersectionalty researc, While it is not always appropri- ‘ate to reclaim theorists using terms from the present, this recovery effort does no tempt toposit Du Bois as an intersectionality theorist, but to examine the similarities and difer- ences between his work and that of current intersectionality theory in order to identity possible paths for politcal action. Ideally, such paths remedy what Cathy Cohen defines as secondary marginalization within racial, gender, and class groups by exploding essen- tialist notions of identity and rejecting oversimplified, unitary explanations for persistent inequality ‘We continue 10 witness the liberation of oppressed peoples and resultant attempis to exterminate other peoples around the world, creating vicious eycle in locations such as Rwanda (Mamdani, 2001), the West Bank, Serbia, and Guatemala (Jacobs eta, 2000), tozname just afew. The mythologies of the “vietin” and “oppressor”—specifially, the idea that such groups are monolithie—ianores the actual diversity within such groups, ‘and allows elite manipulation and grassroots violence between groups based on not sim- ply human desire and structural incentives for revenge, but lack of an accurate cultural ‘memory that can be provided by the outsider within perspective. Du Bois notes this problem arose following the Civil War in the U.S. “Ina distracted land where slavery hadW.E.B.DuBols * 83 hardly fallen, to keep the strong from wanton abuse of the weak, and the weak from sloating insolently over the balf-shorn strength of the strong, was a thankless, hopeless task" (SBF 235). ‘Yet this task is vital to rebuilding multiracial and multiethnic societies with long histo- ries of ethnic conflict. We have seen that mere political institutions are not enough— otherwise one single war could end the conflict for good, Analyzing Du Bois's reflections regarding the “outsider within” perspective, its relationship to individual and structural- level explanations for persistent inequality, and his recognition of the intersecting rela- tionships between race, gender, and class (among other categories) can provide us with insight into new aspects of political identity that could be cultivated for coalition-build- ing and reconciliation of nations into the democratic, multiethnic communities they must become in order to finally affirm, “Never again.” Notes 1. See Crenshaw (1991) and Hass, A (1991) for possible answers to this question ina Legal context 2. This loge is also evident inthe large body of intersectionalrscarch that as bee produced i he lst 30 years '3, While these two books are part ofthe foundation of my analysis, Du Boi’ focus on stu itigue corny extands to othar works not examined inthis atl, including Dhe Philadelphia Negro and Back Reconstruction Works Cited Alarcon, Nosma. 1990. Nods that ilonca In, This Bridge Called My Back, od. Gloria Anzaldua, Aunt Le Books ‘Anzaldu, Glia. 1990, This Bridge Called My Back. Aunt Lute Books Calhoun, Craig. 1995, Critical Socal Dhery: Culture, History andthe Challenge of Diference, Cam- bridge, MA: Blackwell CCiby, Hazal. 1998, Race Men. Cambeidgs, MA: Harvard University Press Cater, Prudence, Shor Sellers, and Catherine Squires, 2002. Refloctions on acetic, class and ender inclusive research. Apiean American Research Perspectives, U-124 Cohen, Cathy J. 1996. “Contested Membership: Black Gay Ides andthe Polis of AIDS." in: Seidman, 16. Quer TreorSociolog. 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