The Intersectionality of Oppression and Reparations

Sor Juana was oppressed as a woman, as a person of African and Indigenous descent in a racialized colonial hierarchy, as a person of ambiguous social status, as an intellectual threatening to male authority. These oppressions were not separate—they intersected and intensified each other. A reparations framework that addressed only gender oppression or only racism would fail her. Intersectionality in reparations philosophy means recognizing that oppression operates through multiple systems simultaneously, and that different communities experience these systems differently. Indigenous women face different injustices than Indigenous men; Black disabled people face different injustices than Black able-bodied people. Effective reparations must therefore be multidimensional: addressing racism and colonialism and patriarchy and class exploitation and heteronormativity and ableism simultaneously, recognizing how they reinforce each other. This requires listening to those most affected by interlocking oppressions and centering their knowledge in designing reparative practices. Sor Juana's complex identity demonstrates why intersectional reparations are not optional but essential.