Essay #4

HBC-Who: Are Historically Black Colleges Still Relevant?

“They (HBCU’s) are the campuses where a people were educated, where a middle class was built, where a dream took hold. They're places where generations of African-Americans have gained a sense of their heritage, their history and their place in the American story.” (President Barack Obama, “You’ve Got a Partner in Me” 2010)

Never have the relevance of those words rang truer than today and the birth of black colleges forever cemented in the success of a people. Now is a time when young black women and men are faced with a struggling socio and economic future in an ever increasing divide between law enforcement, underfunded urban high schools, and a persistent racial graduation gap between whites and blacks. Many in our community once again look to our historical black colleges as a beacon of hope.

While these challenges seem insurmountable, the historical black college has been a constant conduit for the students that would and could not have been considered at a traditional white institution. This was due to race relations and in many cases due to a lack of preparedness for many black students.  We shouldn’t forget that it was only 52 years ago that James Meredith was the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi and on the day he entered the university, he was escorted by U.S. marshals for his own protection. The HBCU has also been a place that prepared many of our most notable and influential leaders/professionals of African descent.  In Karin Chenoweth’s article in Black Issues in Higher Education Vol. 14 Issue 16, published 10/02/97, she discusses the study made by the ETS showing how HBCUs prepare black students better for careers in science and math.

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) is about to issue a study that says that HBCUs do a better job than traditionally White institutions in several areas -- most notably in steering African American students into the fields of engineering and the hard sciences, and in shepherding them into and preparing them for post-baccalaureate study.

Through a plethora of studies conducted by the Educational Testing Service, results prove that HBCUs continue to foster growth of African American students in a modern and developing world; HBCUs do a better job of preparing black students than predominantly white institutions. HBCUs are institutions which best provide the resources and learning environment for black students from any background to flourish. This is exemplified through HBCUs success in developing students in the fields of math and sciences.  

The pressures and prejudice are quite palpable for black students on white campuses. It can not be denied that going to a white college for most black men and women will be extremely difficult day to day. I attended a mostly white Prep High School and although my experience was an overall positive one, my black classmates and I could not escape the basic prejudices and scrutiny of our peers as well as, unfortunate as it may be, sometimes our teachers.  

I was accepted to several private and state predominately white colleges.  The significance of attending an HBCU was something that was important to me and my family because of all the paramount milestones in African American history made through HBCUs. This history will lead you back to our first educational institutions established for black students. It is unfortunate that the HBCU’s are not regarded, by more African Americans, as a beacon towards unified success.  We as college students should not turn our backs on the HBCUs that have traditionally given us opportunity when predominantly white colleges would not.     

Although there is an apparent decline in interest for HBCUs in the black community and the dismal 42% graduation rate for African Americans overall, it can’t be denied that the 107 HBCUs have given many students opportunities to graduate. HBCUs must also deal with the ongoing issues that plague our communities which have been handed down since the legacy of slavery. Despite these obstacles HBCUs can lay claim to the many accomplishments they hold.

More than 80 percent of all black Americans who received degrees in medicine and dentistry were trained at the two traditionally black institutions of medicine and dentistry--Howard University and Meharry Medical College. HBCUs have provided undergraduate training for three fourths of all black persons holding a doctorate degree; three fourths of all black officers in the armed forces; and four fifths of all black federal judges. HBCUs are leading institutions in awarding baccalaureate degrees to black students in the life sciences, physical sciences mathematics, and engineering. HBCUs continue to rank high in terms of the proportion of graduates who pursue and complete graduate and professional training. (US Department of Education, March 1991)

The accomplishments made by these African American students would not have been possible without the support and education they received from their respectable HBCUs.

Historically Black Colleges represent a strong and allied yet evolving community. The historical black college has provided a chance for those who need unyielding support yet it is also an environment where we are surrounded by students and professors who strive for higher learning excellence.  It is indeed a mecca of sorts, ever evolving, struggling and persevering as its students are.  To support and protect the very existence of our HBCUs is critical to our continued success as a people. This why we must give what we can, and educate our youth on these pillars of black education in the United States.

Works Cited

Chenoweth, Karin. "Black Issues in Higher Education." 14.16 (1997): n. pag. Print . 17 Nov. 2014.

US Department OF Education, comp. Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Higher   Education Desegregation. Washington, DC: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, 1991. Print.

President Obama to Historically Black Colleges and Universities: “You’ve Got a Partner in Me”. Perf. Barack Obama. 2010. Youtube.