At the recent “Road to Justice” TIME Impact Dinner, renowned legal scholar and civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw spoke about the dangers of historical erasure and the censorship of racial justice language in government institutions.
The event, supported by the Center for Policing Equity, brought together thought leaders to address systemic inequality and democratic reform.
Speaking to a room filled with activists, academics, and policymakers, Crenshaw spoke about the urgency of remembering — and telling — the full truth of America’s racial history.
“The story of George Floyd could not be written today in the federal government,” Crenshaw said. “Because you can’t say words like racism, discrimination, Black, African American. I can go on and on.”
Her message was clear: erasing the language of race is a direct threat to democratic accountability and social progress.
Crenshaw, who coined the term intersectionality, linked the battle for accurate historical memory to the broader struggle for justice.
“If you can’t tell the story, you can’t demand reform,” she added.
She also highlighted how the fight for memory is often dismissed as abstract, compared to more tangible issues like employment or health care, but argued that the right to remember and narrate injustice is a foundational pillar of democracy.
“If we can’t tell the story about the inequality, we can’t demand that it be fixed. They get that more than we do,” she concluded.
The dinner was part of TIME’s ongoing “Road to Justice” initiative, a series designed to elevate voices pushing for systemic change. The Center for Policing Equity, a key sponsor, continues its mission to use data to promote public safety that is equitable and just.
Crenshaw’s remarks resonated in a political climate increasingly hostile to open discussions of race and history, including book bans, anti-CRT (critical race theory) legislation, and restrictions on diversity training across the U.S.
