Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Learning Them - Part II

Historically Black Colleges - Learning Them - Part II

    As noted in the previous post, there is a list of (more than) 41 some HBCUs in fewer states. To be precise, the 112 HBCUs are located in 23 states, one district, and one U.S. territory. D.C. and the Virgin Islands.

    There are four states that dominate in number of Historically Black Colleges, which are Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, and Alabama. These four states have high percentages of African-Americans, or in the case of Texas, great overall numbers. This makes some sense as to why they would be so high in number. South Carolina and Mississippi also have higher numbers of them, at 8 apiece. My home neighboring states have a small number: Illinois has one, Michigan has one, Ohio two, and Kentucky two.

    But my home state of Indiana has none, so my awareness and knowledge of these institutions has been less than other schools of other types. This is not the only reason for my lack of awareness. My folks are from a state, and whole region, New England, with no HBCUs. Admittedly, much of my knowledge of most academic programs are due to their sports programs, but there are exceptions. Like the Ivy League universities, or M.I.T., Tufts, R.I.T. Case-Western, George Washington- St. Louis, Rose Hulman, and a few others. Cal Tech, certainly.

    The bordering states of Utah have none, either. Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arizona. Of those, Colorado and Arizona have the highest number of African-Americans in the 21st century, but most of these territories and states started up in the 1800s, long before these places had many non-natives or non-Hispanics. Whites or Blacks were not present in most of these areas when most of the HBCUs have their roots around the rest of the country.

    There are more states that do not have HBCUs than have them. Including most of the Northeast Atlantic, the Plains, and most of the Western United States.

    I was explaining in the first post that the impression of a person of color friend of mine would see NBA games from Salt Lake City; his comment was that it appeared that the crowds were mostly white, which made an impression on him. This seemed to him less appealing or even threatening, since he feels more comfortable where there are more diverse populations. He has roots from the Caribbean, and also has lived in New York and Toronto. Diverse places of many cultures, where the mix of races is normal to him.

    The knowledge of such institutions for me has been like this, as far as I know:

        

    Grambling (1984)

    Howard (1988)

    Hampton (2002)

    Norfolk St. (2011)

    Texas Southern (2015)

    Jackson State (2020)

    Virginia State (2020s)

    These became visible to me over time, sometimes I knew about them without knowing that they were designated Black colleges.

    

    So, some might question: 

    1. When Black colleges (HBCUs) were started, was it largely because of discrimination between the races? I think so. More than likely. People like W.E.B. DuBois would have advocated for them, I am sure.

   

     2. Do HBCUs still do a good job of educating and making their students more successful or having more opportunities than otherwise? I would think that this is true. If they did not exist, would as many African-Americans have as many chances to study and teach? Probably not.

    3. Are there non-Black students or faculty who take part in HBCUs? As far as students, yes. A white friend of mine received his graduate degree from Norfolk State in Virginia. It would be interesting to check the faculty and staff diversity. Or see the overall percentage of non-Black students who attend.

    4. Should HBCUs integrate more into more diverse schools? Or have many taken these steps already? I think it would better for them to diversity ethnically. I need to see the data and stats. Interesting topic.

    5. Has recent additions like Deion Sanders as football coach at Jackson State, and some highly rated athletes, added more swagger and reputation to HBCUs? I think it has raised consciousness, awareness, and money. The post George Floyd summer of 2020 has changed how a lot of Americans think and act. I see more positives in these issues and causes than negatives.

    Having said and explained all this, I hope that the HBCUs progress and grow academically and financially, but also become more diversified. There are more mixed race people than ever, there are more Latinos (many of whom are Afro-Latino) all the time, there are more Asians in the United States than ever before. It would be sweet, for example, if Native Americans could find more purchase in academia, although HBCUs may not be the best answer. 

    I think that we should all celebrate diversity, and we (I) hope that HBCUs continue to be part of the solutions and positive development of our society.

    Way to go, Neon Deion. The NIL and the future is yours. It is ours, all together.