    EXHIBIT
    WOMEN OF COLOR
PROFILES IN ACHIEVEMENT

In this exhibit you can learn about the changing experiences of women of color at Virginia Tech. By Anna Cheema.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

When you think about prominent human rights activists in the past century, which names come to mind?

You may think of Susan B. Anthony, a famous white suffragist who fought for women's rights. Or maybe you've heard of Helen Keller, a white woman who was deaf and blind, but still surpassed those odds and ended up being an educator, author, and activist for the blind and deaf, as well as a women's suffragist.

How about some Black activists? Martin Luther King Jr. was a central national figurehead of the Civil Rights Movement against white supremacy. Or you may recall Malcom X, another Black activist who was a proud Muslim. 

Notice a pattern? White women and Black men tend to come to mind most often, but we rarely hear about the difficulty of fighting for rights as a person of color and a woman. 

Black, Indigenous and Women of Color (BIWOC) are often left out of the narrative of history - whether the history of the United States or the history of specific instutions. Hidden stories in Virginia Tech's past give us a glimpse into what it was like to be a BIWOC on campus.  

Solitude in 1908

I believe it's important to talk about women of color because it's important to be able to see yourself in history. I am a Pakistani-American woman and I have always been confused as to where someone like myself would fit into the Civil Rights Movement. In the second grade, I asked my teacher whether I would be treated with respect if I was alive during the 1960s. I will never forget that she said she didn't know and she would look into it for me. She never did. 

LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY IN THIS EXHIBIT

While it is easy to pile all women of color into one minority, it is very important to talk about the differences within the community.

Women of color could include anyone who identifies as a woman and is not white. In this exhibit, the phrase "women of color" (not BIWOC) refers specifically to women who are not Black or Indigenous, to reflect the fact that levels of privilege and marginalization have varied.

This exhibit profiles individual examples of both Black women and women of color, who had very different experiences at Virginia Tech. Women of color arrived on campus as students far earlier than the Black women at Virginia Tech, due to the rules of segregation that excluded Black Americans from many primarily white institutions. Women of color were  marginalized in U.S. society, but they did have more privilege than Black women. It is important to combine the hidden stories of women of color with Black women so we can see them as a part of history together as well as apart. While they had separate struggles, together their stories expanded opportunity for Virginia Tech women who followed.