theories & suspicions
disconnecting hbcu’s life support
America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities have always offered nurturing and competitive educational environments for minority students. However, numerous critics have proclaimed that HBCUs are outdated and irrelevant institutions. Apparently, the Bush administration and several state funding systems are also skeptical of the relevancy of HBCUs.
President George Bush recently proposed cutting funding for HBCUs by $85 million for the 2009 fiscal year. Bush’s recommended cut undermines the 2007 College Cost Reduction Act, which allocated capital to enhance academic programs and campus facilities at HBCUs.
Moreover, several state funding systems have disproportionately allocated less money to HBCUs. In a recent study done by Michigan State University, figures show that the state of Mississippi appropriated $162 million of funding to Mississippi State University and only $49 million to Jackson State University. This blatant form of inequality is prevalent across America.
If federal and state funding systems continue to disregard HBCUs, the higher education crisis for blacks in America will reach calamitous levels. The disparity of degree attainment between white and black students is increasing, and blacks are still highly underrepresented on college campuses. As HBCUs fight for survival, President Bush and those who allocate finances for higher education are willful participants in the impending demise of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
–amir shaw
| standing pat
“Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white America’s fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?” –Pat Buchanan, in an excerpt from his blog entry, “PJB: A Brief for Whitey” That’s just a snippet of a controversial piece of commentary on Pat Buchanan’s Web site. Buchanan, a political commentator and former politician, proceeds to refer to Jena 6 as a ‘hoax,’ and blasts black Americans’ lack of ‘gratitude’ for all that America has done for the race. No one, he asserts, has done more to lift up black people than white Americans. Buchanan’s controversial views have been well-documented; and it would be foolish to assume that his position isn’t shared by a significant number of white Americans. But his arrogance, faulty logic, and alarmingly skewed perspective aren’t the issue. As the words of Jeremiah Wright — and Barack Obama — have been picked apart and scrutinized by the people and the public, no one can afford to dismiss this as ‘just another crazy quote’ from Buchanan. We can’t just brush it off, because that undervalues the reality of his opinion — and de-emphasizes the fact that a lot of folks share his view.
I do agree with one point that Buchanan made in his rant, “White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to …,” we can’t say that we want to talk openly and honestly about race relations in this country and only listen to one point of view. We have to be prepared to hear some prickly views that don’t jibe with our own — that’s the only way to bring about change. That’s assuming, of course, that that is the primary objective. Otherwise, things will continue to be stagnant, with only mundane, superficial shifts in focus without any type of real progress. And after the events of the past few years, no one can afford to stand Pat.
–todd williams |
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illustration by craig singleton
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