Midterm Reflective Essay: Intersectionality and Institutional Racism
By Anonymous | Lehman College, CUNY · Spring 2025
About This Student Project
This work was completed at the midpoint of the Spring 2025 semester of SOC 250: Racial and Ethnic Communities in the United States at Lehman College, CUNY — the course on which The Making of Race is built. Responding to the Midterm Reflective Essay assignment, the author took stock of how their understanding of race and ethnicity had evolved over the first half of the term. The author has chosen to share this work anonymously, and it appears here as submitted. As described in License and Rights, student projects are published with their authors' consent and are not licensed under the project's Creative Commons license; their authors retain all rights.
The Reflection
My understanding of race has changed dramatically this semester in Racial and Ethnic Communities in the United States (SOC250). Initially, my knowledge of these concepts was very limited; I knew very few things about race. However, I now have a much clearer understanding. To understand race, one must first understand that “Race is not based on biology, but rather, an idea that we ascribe to biology” (The Power of an Illusion: Episode One—The Difference Between Us 2003: 5:12). Basically, there are no biological differences between us; our brain size, eye color, skin color, etc., are just labels that society assigns to us.
That being said, there are two concepts that this essay focuses upon: one is intersectionality, and the other is institutional racism. First, intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, which means that social class, gender, sexuality, ability, and so on are all interconnected with race (Crenshaw 1989).
In both race and social class contexts, children in historically impoverished neighborhoods—particularly Black and Brown students—attend public schools that often receive less funding. As noted in Race and Racism in the United States: A Sociological Guide for the Public, “Public schools with the largest percentage of Black, Indigenous, and Latina/o students received about $1,800 less in funding per student compared to schools with the smallest percentage of students of color” (American Sociological Association 2023:8). This illustrates how social class and race frequently overlap. The same situation can be observed for White students who live and go to public schools in these historically underserved Black and Brown neighborhoods, where resources may also be lacking.
The last factor I want to address is institutional racism—racism built into the core structure of our society and government. There are many social institutions like schools, banks, churches, healthcare, etc. This example focuses on banks, which are one type of institution in sociology. Historically, banks have not allowed Black individuals to obtain loans; a notable example is Wells Fargo’s refusal to lend to Black individuals. Other examples include redlining, which denied Black people access to credit based on where they lived. These instances show how race is built into societal policies that exclude Black people from credit and loans.
Finally, healthcare access remains an issue, as some argue that people of color, particularly Black and Brown individuals, have been historically denied proper care. In communities like the Bronx, there is a notable lack of care centers, or very few. This echoes the points highlighted in Selected sections from Race and Media: Critical Approaches, where it states, “Minority neighborhoods have fewer clinics” (Lopez 2020:16). Similarly, there may also be a shortage of healthy grocery stores in the Bronx. Compared to places like Manhattan, which often have healthy grocery stores (Whole Foods is one noticeable example) and more care centers, the Bronx has fewer, and they may not be conveniently located.
Moving forward, I really enjoyed SOC250. I had the opportunity to read, view media, and write essays that I truly enjoyed, especially on topics like race, gender, and social class. I really like the authors and scholars I read and write about, such as Race and Racism in the United States: A Sociological Guide for the Public, Crenshaw’s ideas about intersectionality, and Lopez’s ideas about race and media. Additionally, I am planning to stay engaged by completing all the assigned readings and interacting with relevant media and documentaries. Overall, I want to see which topics and concerns are most interesting to me. While every topic in the syllabus is intriguing, they all lead up to the final project.
The films, media, and readings the author cites are drawn from the SOC 250 course materials, listed below.
References
American Sociological Association. 2023. Race and Racism in the United States: A Sociological Guide for the Public. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum 1989(1):139–167.
Lopez, Lori K., ed. 2020. Race and Media: Critical Approaches. New York, NY: New York University Press.
The Power of an Illusion: Episode One—The Difference Between Us. 2003. Race: The Power of an Illusion. Kanopy.
Suggested Citation
To cite this work, you may use:
“Midterm Reflective Essay: Intersectionality and Institutional Racism.” In The Making of Race: Topics in Race and Racism in the United States, edited by Minglei (Hart) Zhang. New York: Manifold @CUNY, 2026. https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/read/midterm-reflective-essay-1/.