Many women of color are in America’s government. There are 49 women of color in Congress. The vice president is a woman of color. But it wasn’t always this way.
Women of color have had to work hard for . Patsy Mink led the way. In 1964, she became the first woman of color elected to Congress. She served for 24 years as a U.S. representative for Hawaii. Mink was also the first Asian American woman to run for president.
Mink fought for change. She pushed hard for women’s rights. She spoke out against war. Mink was also a leader in education and the environment. Mink may be most famous for Title IX (9). This law helped women be treated fairly.
Early Life
Patsy Mink was born in Maui, Hawaii, in 1927. Her grandparents had come from Japan. They often felt
in Hawaii.
Mink also felt mistreated often. In high school, she ran for student president. She became the first female president at her school. That was just one of her many “firsts.”
Facing Challenges
Mink wanted to be a doctor. But she did not get into medical school. “She was rejected by all of them,” said Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, “even though she was a good student.” Wu is writing a book about Mink. She said Mink became a lawyer instead.
Sadly, Mink struggled to find work because of the color of her skin. So, Mink started her own law firm. Then, she began working as a lawyer for the Hawaii House of Representatives.
Breaking Barriers
Hawaii was not yet a state at this time. So it had no members of Congress. That changed in 1959 when Hawaii became a state.
In 1965, Mink joined Congress. “She tried to uplift the people who tend to be most excluded,” said Wu. Mink served from 1965 to 1977. Then she was a congresswoman again from 1990 to 2002.
Creating Change
Mink co-wrote the Title IX law. It passed in 1972. This law made it illegal to treat men and women differently in education. It also gave women more chances to play sports. Before Title IX, many schools had more sports programs for men than for women. Now they cannot.
But Mink didn’t stop there. In 1974, she introduced the Women’s Educational Equity Act. This protected women from discrimination in the classroom.
For Mink, education could improve the world. “She thought of her role as a as being an educator,” Wu said. Mink even answered students’ questions about the government.
Legacy
Mink protected others. And she changed how women are treated. Mink once said: “We have to build things that we want to see ... to make sure that others do not have to suffer the same discrimination.”
Mink died in 2002. Then Title IX got a new name. It is now the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act.
Updated March 26, 2021, 5:01 P.M. (ET)
By Victoria DeCoster
