The Combahee River Collective was a politically active group of Black lesbians who believed that a carefully considered Black lesbian-informed feminism was the best tool for helping all people of color. Dissatisfied with the patriarchy they perceived in the civil rights movement and the dismissal of race issues by much of white feminism, the Combahee River Collective emphasized true egalitarianism, placing no one person, experience, or response to oppression on a pedestal, and calling for constant self-reflection and evaluation.

Intersectionality is idea that marginalized groups often share members: that is, one person can belong to many groups experiencing oppression. Furthermore, systems that disadvantage one group (for example, Black people) may also disadvantage others (for example, same-sex couples). In the social sciences, intersectionality is the method of looking at one form of oppression in the light of others—for example, studying how an institution or policy may discriminate against both women and poor people, and doubly against poor women.

Meritocracy means “rule by the meritorious.” In the context of McIntosh’s essay, it refers to the idea commonly held by white Americans that outcomes are earned and are therefore just. McIntosh argues that meritocracy is a delusion in that no contest exists in a vacuum.