Buying The Black Vote: Historic Black Colleges

[lgm270]

During the 2008 presidential election, I was stunned to hear Hillary Clinton promise to double the funding for "Historic Black Colleges?"  

What?  Schools that are designated by race receiving tax funds?  Wasn't that outlawed by Brown vs. Bd. of Education?  What about all the civil rights laws prohibiting racially segregated schools?  

So I researched the issue. It turns out all the laws against racial segregation only apply to white schools, not to black schools. Bottom line: Blacks can have their own tax payer supported schools, but whites can't.   

Now, Obama is promising more millions of subsidies for historically black colleges as a way to close the achievement gap, blah, blah, blah... No doubt the increased numbers  Black Studies majors will bolster and stimulate the economy and create new jobs.

Your tax dollars at work:  Buying the Black Vote for the Democratic Party.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=216239
http://theuptake.org/2010/09/13/obama-speaks-at-historically-black-colleges-and-universities-reception/

[yellowtail3]

If it makes you feel any better... Black Studies isn't the only degree offered at the schools you're unhappy with, and... they do let crackers in.

[gypsyman]

YT3, I think that LGM is making the point of how wide the double standard has become in this country. I don't care how many crackers are allowed into a ''black'' college. Or, what kind of course's they teach. Let David Duke stand up and make an announcement, that the KKK is giving grant money to ''white'' college's and ''white'' course's, and lets see if 'ol Jesse J or ''Big'' Al Sharpton can keep their mouth's shut for very long. This govt. has bent over backward for over 50 years to please the black population, it went from being a help you up, to here's your flat screen tv and free health care, that's owed to you, because your great-great-great-great-great grand parents were slaves. The double standard has become wider with the liberal's, because that's what they want. More control over the people, and less freedom. gypsyman

[subdjoe]

A few years ago on another group someone was trumpeting that she had graduated from a "historically black college."  Used the phrase at least twice in every post.  After being asked a few dozen times to tell us which college, and what a "historically black college" is,  she noticed what was being asked. 

Anyway, I had done some digging.  A few, maybe a half dozen or so, are colleges that were set up before the Civil War to educate escaped slaves and freedmen.  Some were set up during or shortly after the civil war to educate freedmen.  And most were set up after 1890 and the Second Morrill Act which forced states which excluded blacks from land grant colleges to set up land grant colleges for blacks.  They are not segregated per se, in fact two of them WV State and Bluefield, have non-black majorities, but the student body is usually heavily black.

[MGMorden]

Two colleges in my state are that way - Clafflin and SC State.  I don't have a problem with them existing, nor do I have a problem with them receiving government funding as plenty of other public schools in the state also receive funding (I went to Clemson myself which is public and government funded).  I do however believe that they should not be able to discriminate against any students that wish to attend - regardless of race (if they mantain their black majority through student choice than that's fine, but it shouldn't be policy that maintains it), and they also should not receive any special funding due the the historically black status.  They should receive the same levels of funding as any other public school.

The best way to end racism is to get rid of incentives and penalties for belonging to any particular race, be that race the majority or a minority.