Hey Biko,
I showed your video in my Race, Class, Gender and Sexualities class this semester. Here is what one student wrote on her final exam essay:
"The lecture that most struck me over the course of this semester was, in all honesty, the lecture given on the history of racism and intersectionality on Virginia Tech's campus. Upon entering Virginia Tech in 2017, and up until mid-October of 2021, I had never found any cause to question the written history that is so often presented as hallmarks of the University's foundation and tradition. Figures like Addison Caldwell were staples in my mind, but I had never taken pause to question the reality or historical accuracy of this type of narrative, until our lecture. Watching a video during class about the sordid history of minorities at Virginia Tech was extremely eye opening to the nature of Virginia Tech to "white-wash" history in a sense, allowing for the savory parts of history to shine through, while the unsavory bits are lost to time and historical speculation. I believe this lesson had inherent value, not only to me, but to others who I spoke to after class. Many discussed how the video and lecture had opened their eyes to a historical framework they had never considered to be possible on such a campus as Virginia Tech, but seeing it placed out in front of us, it almost seemed obvious in a way. How could we have not noticed the hidden frameworks and doctrines hidden right before our eyes? If you are to teach this class again, I would make intersectionality at Virginia Tech several lectures (or maybe its own unit), in order to ensure that the issue is being properly discussed and called attention to."
Here's another comment from another student on their final exam essay: "what I recall the most vividly was what I discovered about Virginia Tech's troubling history. Watching the video that listed the racial and gender discrimination and the slavery that was talked about being casually listed as a minor detail when it was a extreme basis of Virginia Tech's origins was rattling to say the least."
Thanks to the colleague and to the students for sharing. Readers can play the video by clicking on the hyperlinked word, video.
Biko
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