I NEVER Saw HBCUs as Intellectually “Less Than.”
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In the midst of a national cheating scandal, it is time for HBCUs to shine. As a child, I saw Alcorn State University (a Historically Black College & University in Lorman, Mississippi) band, The Sounds of Dynamite, marching somewhere. And I knew that I had to attend college. I was in elementary school.
Let me set forth a waiver here: I did not attend an HBCU. But DON’T come for me. My decision to skip attending an HBCU HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SUPPOSED INFERIORITY OF HBCUs. As a matter of fact, I never thought of HBCUs as “less than” white institutions. Geographically, my home is in the heart of the public SWAC (SouthWestern Athletic Conference) institutions and the domain of several prestigious private Historically Black Colleges & Universities. To the immediate South was Southern University in Baton Rouge. Further south in New Orleans were Dillard and Xavier University. To the northwest was Alcorn State University. To the west, right across the border in Louisiana, was Grambling. Two hours to the north were Jackson State University and Tougaloo College.
On top of that, my great-aunt taught at Jackson State University at the Ph.D. level for almost 40 years. And I KNOW she was one tough lady. I wouldn’t want to take her class. Jackson State was also home to the acclaimed writer, Margaret Walker Alexander with an established center in her name. The photo above showed their band, who was slated to perform at the state capital, performing in spite white domestic terrorists.
I never heard that HBCUs were supposed to be “less than” until I moved out of my home area. Who, in their right minds, in the Pine Belt would declare that Xavier is less than Tulane, simply because Tulane is a Predominantly White Institution? Not one soul EVER said that in front of me. Who would pass up Alcorn’s nursing school in order to attend the University of Southern Mississippi just because Southern Mississippi is predominantly white? Alcorn is the one in the area with the ranked nursing school. People, regardless if race, go there for the best training. And I am sure that there is a waiting list as I type this blog post.
Looking back over my life, I was inspired to go to college first by a big, hulking public HBCU band. As a matter of fact, it was Alcorn. The beauty of the young ladies in their gold boots, the passion of the drum majors, and the precision marching of over a hundred boots in spats swelled my little chest. My heart was beating with the drum and I remember that I almost cried. I remember telling somebody, “I’m glad to be Black!” I was a small child then and did not understand that what I was feeling was pride. In my little girl zeal, I formulated a plan for my life: I would first join the high school band and play the clarinet or the saxophone. Next, I would go to college and join the band. After playing in college, I would graduate and join Earth, Wind, & Fire. I sat on my mother’s steps and cried for two days when I discovered that Earth, Wind, & Fire had no girls in the band.
I chose to go to a Predominantly White Institution for my own, personal reason, and none of them had to do with me thinking that HBCUs were less than or at worst, trying to run from my blackness and blend in with white folk. In my childhood, school was school. And the HBCUs ALWAYS had the best band and choirs to boot. College, regardless of where one attended, was hard and a student had to buckle down in order to obtain a degree. This is what I was taught.
Imagine my confusion when I chose a college and Black folk called me a “sell-out.” They accused me of not knowing how to be Black simply because I spent four years at a Predominantly White Institution. I chose to work at an HBCU for its emphasis on teaching, bringing the best pedagogical theories to the students, and for the first generation/working/nontraditional students that they traditionally serve. Imagine how I felt when fellow faculty members and the administration harassed me to the point of going into premature labor, because I was a “sell-out” who “did not understand the needs of HBCU students.” Looking back with clarity now, I can say that NOT ONE student complained against me. In fact, they would meet me at the car, follow me to my office, drink my coffee (which they always over-sugared), then go to class. I used to hide from them in order to actually get papers graded in the office!
During my time at this HBCU, I learned that white America often called, with no knowledge of the culture of HBCUs, Black schools “less than.” A very outspoken Supreme Court judge said this, and it circulated in the media for weeks. My colleagues straight HATED ME, because they just “knew” that I shared this attitude, too. They knew nothing about me, however, and never had one conversation with me to learn. Part of the problem at this school was that in addition to not knowing me personally, it is located in an area with absolutely NO PUBLIC HBCUs, and students are not exposed to public HBCU culture at all. I wake up in the middle of the night sweating because my son could live his whole life, and aside from Drum Line, he’d never see an HBCU band! That’s scary. The white institutions which surround this school are publicly-funded, have more to offer in their curricula, are governed, and just look shiny with all of their bells and whistles. These people have been taught that their private HBCUs are “less than.” Well, I didn’t share that sentiment. I am not from here and Black people are not inferior in any way, shape, form or fashion to me, including intellectually. Though these private schools have been around for ages, it has not dawned on any of the administrators and senior faculty members to offer more than a Bachelor’s degree, even with qualified faculty. When I suggested it, I was treated like I were doing the work of Satan. Because my health began to fail, I left this HBCU, and more than likely, I will not be back on the HBCU scene here. The lack of governance leaves too many openings for harassment that is not sexual.
Even though I was thoroughly harassed and ostracized at that one particular HBCU, I do not feel that all HBCUs are terrible. In fact, it was hard working there, because I had seen and experienced better as a child. I feel that HBCUs need to grab the bull by the horns now, and change public opinion. HBCUs have more to offer students than blackness and bands (though I love the bands). I feel like HBCUs have nothing to prove to anyone, but this is their time to say, “Naaan-naa-nanny-boo-boo!” Historically, HBCUs have taken students who had nothing, and turned out most of America’s Black doctors, lawyers, dentists, nurses, teachers, ministers, and leaders. They have taken these students, who often times come from poor school districts and are missing chunks of knowledge, and gotten them intellectually up to par with white counterparts. HBCU faculty members have done this with less pay, less resources, and less community support than their white counterparts. Part of my decision to work at an HBCU was based on this excellent teaching tradition! HBCU faculty and staff pioneered Individualized Educational Plans and “wrap-around” care for students LONG BEFORE any school of education gave these things a name, studied them with data, and dubbed them a positive for students. HBCUs had “watch care.” It was a program in which students had to attend church while at school, and the local pastor had to send a letter home to the student’s family and home church about church attendance and conduct. This involved the faith and academic communities, and with good results!
Further, historically, HBCU students have gone to obtain their graduate degrees from white institutions, and they were just as competent and sometimes, even more so, as their white counterparts.
The thought of Black intellectual inferiority, even in the academy, is an unfortunate relic of scientific racism. One would think that academics, with as much knowledge as they hold, would drop these old, played-out beliefs. Though I did not attend an HBCU, I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN THE MISSION OF HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES! Now is the time for HBCU administrations to come out in force. HBCUs, in the face of a cheating scandal that has rocked the nation, should be blowing their own horns and reclaiming their legacies. I hope to see it soon, and when they do, I am sure my chest will beat with as much pride as I felt when I was a little girl looking up at the Golden Girls and the Sounds of Dynamite marching down the street in precision and pageantry.
