ABSTRACT
Inequality and oppression are deeply woven into the tapestry of American life. As a result large disparities exist on measures of income, wealth, education, housing, occupation, and social benefits. These disparities are neither new nor randomly distributed throughout the population, but occur in patterns along such major social divisions as race, gender, class, sexuality, nationality, and physical ability. Social scientists have traditionally analyzed inequalities by isolating these factors and treating them as if they are independent of one another. Even when their interactions are discussed they are still conceptualized as if they are largely independent forces that happen to overlap under specific conditions. For example, studies of race often focus upon contrasting Whites with Blacks and other racially identifiable groups without taking into account historical modes of incorporation of each group. Historical linkages and systemic interrelationships that reveal the underlying ways any one dimension of inequality is shaped by another are rarely fully examined. A problematic result is that the experiences of whole groups are ignored, misunderstood, or erased, particularly those of women of color.
