"Intersection Allies" and the Making Room Deception

The Books of Mahmoud v. Taylor

My biggest problem is that once I have an idea, I have to go with it. No matter how ridiculous, how big, or how it might damage the world, it must be done. Reading all nine books (I missed four in my intro post) from the Mahmoud v. Taylor case and writing a post for each book doesn’t seem like a big task, but with my busy schedule and an upcoming vacation, I knew I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. I underestimated how much pressure.

While writing my intro post, I placed holds on all nine books at my local library. This included a copy of Little Women, which I’ve never read, and a book called “I Wish You The Best,” hoping to read it before the film comes out this fall. I thought I could finish the books and write a post in 30 minutes, but it’s been three days since I finished the first one, and I’m struggling to turn my thoughts into complete sentences. I expected this to be a fun mental exercise, but this is important work. Some of you are parents and have children in public schools. Many of you have or will face challenges with teachers and administration, but you have every right to know what your children are exposed to. Schools will tell you this is about representation—that they want children to learn about different kinds of people. They’re lying.

“When we think of childhood and early education, we tend to remember learning things like numbers and letters, colors and shapes. What’s less often considered is that youth is also an opportunity for planting the seeds of social conscience.”

This is how Intersection Allies: We Make Room For All begins, with a foreword by Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw, the woman who coined the term “intersectionality.” I’ve heard this term before, but I’ve mostly ignored it because of who's saying it. It’s often from people who claim that the most superficial parts of who we are define our identity. While I am Black and a woman, I don’t live in a mindset where I’m constantly thinking about how these two traits influence my life. I’m also from the South, I’m not particularly wealthy, and I’m Christian. Many things shape my daily life, but outside of a college sociology class, I’m not sure why I should be aware of it or why we need to teach it to first graders.

The book defines intersectionality as a “word that explains how all of the different parts of a person combine to affect their life experiences and personal identity.” Honestly, I don’t think the book effectively demonstrates this. We meet nine “girls” with different life experiences, but it’s very limited. We see what they have in common (they’re kids and they’re “girls”), and then they each have one thing that makes them different. We see how the girls support one another and stand together “in solidarity,” but I don’t think the story explains what intersectionality means on a personal level or why it should matter in the larger context.

In “A Letter to Grown-Ups,” the first sentence states, “It is a classic parenting dilemma: How do we teach children how to treat each other in a world that promotes all the wrong lessons?” You might wonder what they mean by “wrong lessons,” but don’t waste your time. Focus instead on the lessons this book aims to teach. Your child’s teacher will say this book is about diversity, showcasing different people with various lived experiences, but that’s not entirely accurate. The authors’ real goal is to push their political views and ideology onto children. It’s in the foreword—you probably won’t read it—that they reveal: these women want to plant seeds.

For a children’s book, it feels a bit crowded. It opens with the “Forward” and the “Letter to Grown-Ups,” followed by the story told in poems in the middle. The book concludes with a definition of “intersectionality” and a discussion guide. Ideology is defined as “a system of ideas and ideals.” We often discuss Gender Ideology as having its own belief system and language, and this book promotes many of those same ideas. For example, instead of saying “stay-at-home mom” and “working mom,” the discussion guide introduces the terms “care work” and “work-for-hire outside the home.” This inclusive language comfortably next to “chestfeeding” and “pregnant person.” A discussion guide helps facilitate conversations. In this case, teachers can lead discussions about #BlackLivesMatter, the Dakota Access Pipeline, Illegal Immigration, refugees, solidarity, and the 1.5 generation.

Left out of every book description I could find, my biggest issue with Intersection Allies is the intended audience: little girls. According to Amazon, the target age range is 6-12, but this product is specifically aimed at girls within that age range. We’re talking about hijabs, ballet, and moms who work and moms who don’t. Even the phrase “making room” is aimed at girls.

The authors describe the theme, “Making Room,” as being “stronger than ideas like ‘respect’ and ‘tolerance’ because it asks for a positive action from us rather than a minimal response” and “goes beyond physical space.”

Where there’s room for some
We make room for all
Friends call be ALLIES
No matter how small

If this book were a song, this would be the chorus. They try to turn “making room” into another way of saying “look out for one another,” but that’s just common sense, something children learn on their own. There are only two examples of making room in this book. The second one features a girl named Yuri, who comes to America as a refugee and is welcomed by Heejung, a young Korean immigrant, “with love and with grace.” The first example is a “girl” named Kate.

I’ve put quotations around the word girl because it’s not clearly stated what Kate is. In the discussion guide, we’re told Kate “feels” both masculine and feminine, which makes Kate non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. One can only assume Kate is a boy because they talk about bathrooms.

My friends defend my choices and place.
A bathroom, like all rooms, should be a safe space.

In a book made by women for little girls about little girls, why would the authors mention the bathroom, accompanied by a picture of two girls plus Kate (in the cape), in a gender-neutral bathroom if Kate wasn’t a boy? The ambiguity is intentional, meant to create confusion and stop children from asking questions. To question Kate (in the cape) is to cast doubt on the validity of Kate’s identity, and as the theme suggests, the burden of that identity is placed on little girls. I find the theme of “making room” ironic because I often use that phrase.

Sitting in the middle of this “celebrate diversity” poem is the truth: they want girls to abandon their instincts that help in their survival along with the boundaries their parents helped them build. If women don’t make room, then this insidious ideology won’t have a safe space to breathe. It sounds ominous and paranoid, but yes, they are coming after your daughters. There are plenty of ways to make Kate feel included, so why the bathroom?

Whenever I discuss this topic, at least one person asks how I can be a Black woman and not support trans rights. Until now, I never understood the question because what does my being Black have to do with men in women’s bathrooms? But I get it now. It’s about intersectionality. Because Black women have historically been oppressed and viewed as masculine, I should empathize with the “oppression” of trans people. This book calls my American blackness a privilege, but they want to use it as a shield. Take Adilah, a hijabi ballerina whose role in this story is to validate Kate’s outfit choices. That’s how they’re coming for your kids with this book. They’ll find that one thing that makes them a victim and connect it to something that defies common sense, and if they can’t, they’ll make them feel guilty for being white.

If you’re a parent, you should be reading these books. You need to familiarize yourself with the weapons they’re using to disrupt your child’s development and destroy their innocence.