HBCUs

Since it's Black History month most of my post this month will probably focus on African Americans or African American issues.

I was watching School Daze this past weekend and I guess you could say it was the inspiration for today's post, HBCUs. In the movie an argument is made that HBCUs have become obsolete because Black people were integrated into society and had come a long way. I'm going to focus on this topic.

HBCU is an acronym that stands for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. "HBCUs were founded in the late 1800's to address the educational needs of Freed Slaves and Native Americans." (http://www.hbcuconnect.com/). "There are 103 historically black colleges (HBCU) in the United States today, including public and private, two-year and four-year institutions, medical schools and community colleges" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_black_colleges_and_universities).

School Daze came out in 1988 and they were debating whether or not HBCUs were obsolete. In 88 they definitely were not. In 2009 are they obsolete? I understand both sides of the argument but I would say they definitely are not. HBCUs are sacred academic environments for blacks. You can be an Africana studies major without people asking "why would you major in that", there are books in those school's libraries that are no longer in print, the school itself is a museum, you can wear dreads and natural hair without being deemed ethnocentric or having people ask to touch your hair, you're not the one black guy in your dorm, you know there's a barbershop or hair stylist near campus that can do your hair, and even though you won't like everyone it's nice to know the people around you understand your struggle (financial, probs at home,driving while black, being the subject of subtle sexual innuendos at work as you are the erotic exotic "other" that your co-workers dream about but probably wouldn't go there with).

HBCUs offer more than the pros that I've listed above. "Today's HBCUs are the top producers of professional African American talent " (http://www.hbcuconnect.com/) I don't know how true this claim is but they certainly do produce a great deal of black professionals.

Yes we are integrated into society and have certainly come a mighty long way, but we still have a way to go. There's still ample injustice happening to blacks throughout the country. Just watch your local news or talk to the chocolate men in your life. A few years ago the New York Times published an article that said a white man with a criminal record has a better chance of being hired than a black man with a clean slate. We're integrated but our men still can't get into some of the "all boys clubs". Our kids can be charged with white kids for the same offense but ours are charged as adults. The lackadaisical way the government handled/ is still handling Hurricane Katrina victims all show there's till work to be done. HBCUs produce some of the people that will try and fix the injustices that are being done to us, as well as those who are great orators and will motivate us to try and stop blaming "the man".

All in all HBCUs are havens for the black youth in America and you can learn the truth about the stock from which you come (unlike the B-S they teach in K-12 grade). Do you all agree, are HBCUs still needed?