Honestly, that's what happened - the one woman in each department, (both White) were the saving grace, for they reached out to me outside of the professional roles and were kind enough to write apologetically and give some words of comfort. In particular, it was thanks to the steadfast support both emotional and writing references attesting to my intellectual abilites/character that I was able to survive all manner of attacks - a White landlord, dong a Masters degree, started a PHD. You could say all these kinds of encounters are 'intersectionality in action'.