From Oppression to Grace: Women of Color and Their Dilemmas within the Academy (review)

There have been significant accomplishments in the education of African Americans since the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision more than 50 years ago, that ended legal segregation of schools. However, disturbing trends point to the continuing underrepresentation, marginalization, and in some cases reversal of accomplishments in the education of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States.

Demographic trends indicate that the racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. population will continue to have increasingly higher representation of individuals we currently consider "minorities." In 1980, racial/ethnic minorities comprised 20% of the high-school-age population; it is projected that this figure will double by 2020. Given this reality, colleges and universities need to actively pursue opportunities to recruit and retain faculty members who can meet the needs of this diverse student population.

Williams (2001) notes that the continued underrepresentation of women of color across many U.S. campuses may lead to the misleading perception that these women are not qualified to be faculty, administrators, or graduate students. That is, their presence at many universities is often reduced to being "affirmative action cases," rather than qualified, intelligent individuals who can contribute constructively to intellectual exchanges in the academy. It is critical for students of color to see successful faculty and administrators of color as evidence that they can also succeed.

Some scholars contend that universities have what might be characterized as a "chilly climate" (Turner & Myers, 2000) for women scholars, that is, an environment that is not always supportive of the intellectual pursuits of women of color. Therefore, within these contexts, women of color faculty play a vital role not only for students of color, but also for White students who often have limited exposure to and constructive interaction with racial/ethnic minorities.

Editors Theodora Regina Berry and Nathalie D. Mizelle in From Oppression to Grace: Women of Color and Their Dilemmas within the Academy present compelling narratives that illuminate experiences of women of color in the academy. Grounded in critical race feminism, this volume presents experiences of women of color from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds (African American, East African Indian, Japanese, Korean, and Latina), through various stages of the academic pipeline (from their pursuit of graduate education, to the early stages of the academic profession and the challenge to find voice and place within the academic landscape), to reflections offered by successful senior scholars of color.

While "women of color" are often lumped into a single category, From Oppression to Grace successfully demonstrates the multi-dimensionality of these academics. The essays presented in this volume highlight the diversity that exists among "women of color," not only in terms of their racial and ethnic identity, but also in multiple facets that are integral to their identities, including family, relationships with and commitments to their community, and religion and faith. The volume successfully demonstrates the complex intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender and its profound impact on the professional lives of women.

The volume begins with a provocatively titled introduction "What the Fuck, Now What?" that conveys the complex social, cultural, political, and intellectual dynamics of being a woman of color in the academy. Organized in three parts, the narratives presented in this edited volume present an eloquent, albeit disturbing picture of experiences of women scholars of color in the academy.

Part 1, "Move On up a Little Higher: Completing the Terminal Degree" presents nine chapters (1–9) that explore the process of becoming an academic. By reflecting on their respective journeys through graduate studies, the authors highlight the following themes: mentoring or the lack thereof, the constant need to prove their worth and intellectual ability, loneliness and professional isolation, negotiating the institutional and social cultures, forging an identity, and negotiating marginality within their academic programs and sometimes within their communities. These themes present a disturbing portrait of the academy as...