Intersectionality and Concepts of Power

Introduction:
As an agent of social change it would be beneficial to determine how I am categorized in the social arena. There are some basic classifications or labels placed upon me according to societal norms that collectively describe my intersectionality. These labels are as follows: I am an African American and Nigerian female, heterosexual, Christian, presumably middle-class, I speak English as a primary language, I am nineteen years old, American by birth, Temporarily able-bodied and I currently live in Columbia, Maryland.
The Matrix of Domination:
According to the matrix of domination through marked and unmarked categories privilege can be measured according to these classifications that I described earlier. Personally, I find it hard to determine where I fit in this matrix of domination. I possess some marked categorizations and some unmarked categorizations but even after looking at where I fit into the chart based on my identity I tend to disagree with what I assume is society’s classification of privilege and domination.
Power:
Power is such an ambiguous term it means so many different things to so many different people. Power could refer to something as basic as the ability to do something. Power could also refer to the ability to control others, a sense of dominion. It could refer to something inherent such as a sense of self-agency or authority over your own actions. The definitions are seemingly infinite.
There may not be one clear definition of what power means but one thing does seem to be clear and that is that power is valuable. There are few people that would not like to be powerful no matter how they may define the term. Personally I feel that power has its benefits and its consequences depending on how it is defined and used.
What Power Means To Me:
To me power is something inherent; a sense of agency. I believe that power is something that everyone can possess. I also believe that it is wrong for us to define power as something that only socially proclaimed elites could possess. By defining power as something inherent it gives everyone the ability to choose to classify him or her self as powerful by way of agency. This definition of power also allows for social change and in a society so wrought by capitalism this is necessary to maintain a balance. People need to feel like they have the opportunity to rise above their situations so that ultimately they do rise and prevent a monopolization of free enterprise.
How Do I Fit in to This Matrix (Family):
So, where do I fit into this definition of power and where do I fit in to society’s definition of power? According to the matrix of domination, which I equate with societal views of power and domination, I am not what you would consider entirely powerful in some ways I could also be considered as oppressed. I am an African American and as a culture in America we have been considered an oppressed group. What makes my situation a little different is the fact that along with ethnically being African American I am also part African. My mother is an African American born and raised in Indianapolis and my father is Nigerian born in Lagos, Nigeria. Often part of my ethnicity is ignored by society and that part is my Nigerian identity. Either I accept being African American or I accept being purely African is what society forces me to decide. People do not react well when I tell them that I am both, it is not a category represented in the matrix of domination therefore, it is ignored. Most Nigerians do not accept me as being so just as most African Americans do not accept me as a Nigerian either. I am often told, “ you were born in America so you are African American” or “You do not sound/ look Nigerian?” I am forced to deny a culture that belongs to my family and me in order to fit into a society’s category of what someone like me should be otherwise it challenges societal divisions, which I believe it should. My situation is a perfect example of where this matrix of domination through marked and unmarked categories fails.
How Do I fit Into This Matrix (Individual):
Along with being in the marked category of an African American I am also a female. As a female my gender has also been oppressed and considered powerless. Currently I have suffered few prejudices being a women depending on what you consider a prejudice. As a woman I am sometimes portrayed as a sexualized, inferior gender in the media. Once again I do not share any of these traits. I never feel inferior to the opposite gender based on my own nor do I feel the need to maintain some overly sexualized persona to succeed in society. I could easily feel burdened by these stereotypes of inferiority based on my identity but I feel powerful because of the way that I define power and in a way it has made me more powerful in a larger societal scope along with my own perception of power.
Power As An Underdog:
I almost feel a duty to do well and become all that I can be, which I consider powerful, because of my mother and my father. My father was an immigrant into the United States he came from very humble (to say the least) beginnings in America and it was his internal strengths that allowed him to rise to the place that he has risen to in society. I believe that if he had ever doubted his power or his ability to make something of himself he may not have done as well as he has done today. Today my father has owned more than five businesses, he has received his CPA (a license that only 5% of people who apply for it achieve), raised two daughters who went to good schools and do well, a feat that most Americans would say a man in his “marked” position could not make. My mother was a poor girl from Indianapolis, Indiana raised in a house with sixteen children by two high-school graduates, not only did my mother graduate from college and receive her master’s degree but each and everyone of her siblings received a college degree or higher also a feat society would say a person in her/ her parent’s “marked” position could not accomplish. I feel a need to do well after witnessing how little resources/ privileges they had and seeing how far they made it in their lives. I feel powerful because of them and countless others deemed powerless by society.
An Unfair Advantage:
Though, I feel empowered despite my “marked” position in society I have also struggled with it at times and it did take me a while to grow the kind of security and empowerment that I feel now. Truly, it is unfair that some people obtain certain privileges based on no other factors than their identity. I am not white, nor am I a man and sometimes I have felt at a disadvantage because of these things. For one thing if I ever want to go to the best schools, or the nicest restaurants, or live in the nicest neighborhoods white people usually dominate them.
For example, I grew up in a small town in Houston, Texas and when my family started to make money we moved to a nicer neighborhood with huge houses in a gated community and my parents put me in a better school that ranked highly. Immediately I realized that not only did the socio-economic group change but so did the cultural group. I was the only black girl in my grade and one of three black kids in the entire grade, probably the school (besides my younger sister). We stood out and I cannot emphasize how much that meant to me back then. Middle school is hard enough if you where the wrong style of dress for the season let alone if you according to society’s standards culturally do not belong. I was an outcast and my best friends were social outcast as well but not for the same reasons as me. Either they were homosexual, gothic, or just socially awkward, identities that I felt that they could choose to mask if they wanted to fit in but they never did and I guess I admired them for it as I admire most people who choose to be who they are despite social standards. I would like to think that this was a learning experience and I could feel empowered by what I learned about people rather than inferior by social injustices.
Unmarked Classification:
Some unmarked categorizations that I possess that deem me privileged according to societal views are that I: am heterosexual, am of the middle-class, am temporarily able-bodied, speak English, am Christian, am a citizen and I am a young adult. Unfortunately, these traits do provide me with some privileges in this society that others who do not possess these traits may not have. People should not be unfairly or unjustly treated because they do not fit some societal systematic structure constructed to oppress some while benefiting others.
I do have some security in knowing that as I function within society most structures are made so that I may use them this is sometimes not so for the physically or mentally disabled. I know that if I ever want to apply for a job I have no physical or mental barriers that will prevent me from obtaining said job (unless I am discriminated against as a woman). I also have the comfort of knowing that when people say the pledge of allegiance the reciting of the word God does not offend me as a Christian though I know it offends many others. As a native English speaker I do not have to endure situations of ignorance and intolerance when it comes to my accent or language in America. As a heterosexual I do not have to worry about issues of violence or discrimination based on my sexual orientation or sexual identity. Transgender people sometime suffer a crisis when it comes to having a structural restroom provided for them because of my gender and sexuality I do not have this issue. Being of a young age I am not continuously targeted by the media for anti-aging products nor do I have to worry about ageism in the corporate world. Being of middle class I do not have to worry about how I will fit into a society overly concerned with consumerism and affluence nor do I have to worry about I how I will eat, survive, clothe myself, take care of my family, or be safe (at least not to the extreme).
I understand that I fit many of society’s marked categories and because of this I receive many un-fair advantages in society based on some superficial, unsubstantial, classifications that do not make me worthy of any more privilege than others that do not share these traits. People should not be oppressed because of their identity just as no one should receive more privilege than another based solely on their identity and whether its marked or unmarked.
Knowledge is Power Knowledge is Privilege:
There are several instances in which I find distinctions of power in my everyday life especially, in college. There are so many programs aimed to divide students based on there academics and what is so unfair is that several students will never be given the chance to even hear about these programs based on certain privileges such as; connections, cronyism, nepotism, wealth and just the means in which to obtain said information (i.e. transportation, computers, cell phones, housing). People who participate in more extracurricular activities and programs are given the opportunity to strengthen their resumes while students who have to work to stay in college do not have the same amount of time to participate in these activities. This is keeping the powerful more powerful and the oppressed more oppressed. Oppressed people have to work twice as hard to get half as far in society and on this campus because of certain privileges denied to them.
On campus you also notice that most of the older people who maintain some of the working class jobs on campus are minorities. This is one of the more apparent divisions of power in our society and on our campus because people are denied power based solely on the color of their skin. Things are changing to become more equal but the injustices and inequities of the past are still very much apparent and present today.
Images of power and privilege can also be found when it comes to On-Campus organizations such as Fraternities and Sororities and Sports Teams. The culturally “Black”/“Latino” Fraternities and Sororities do not have Houses or satellite houses like many of the panhellenic or “white” Fraternities and Sororities have. Basketball players and Football players are treated with more respect and offered more privilege than many of the other students and sports teams on campus. Even when it comes to student parties and socials we are divided black parties are required to have increased security (i.e. metal detectors, increased police presence, bag checks, pat downs) while other campus party’s are not required to have increased security policies.
Conclusion:
These inequities are not foreign to our campus just as societal issues in general are not foreign to our campus. I believe that the worst thing that we can do is show an indifference to these issues of social inequity and social problems in general of our society. Once given the information of the problems our society faces it is our duty to correct them because historically someone has always done the same for us. If any of us is not justly treated then we run the risk that we each may one day be unjustly/ unfairly treated. Though I am privileged in many ways and in some ways I am not neither fact lets me off the hook I still have duty, a responsibility to question and fight the unfair social constructs that offer unfair privileges to some while denying them to others.