Newspaper Page Text
The Panther
September 19.19B0
Page 5
Integration and its cousin, desegregation, are
now causing more confusion in some areas than
good and in some instances are eradicating black
control and opportunity.
"Ingegration In Focus” is the title I gave to my
thoughts on the subject as it applies to Black
College Day, an attempt to save these 107 schools.
The well - respected scholar and president -
emeritus of Morehouse, Dr. Benjamin Mays,
warned that integration must not become a new
means of discrimination and the reason for the
death of black schools. Vernon Jordan, an
integrationist, agreed that the threat of
desegregation plans is real.
Why - in the first place - was the desegregation
question always paired with the question of the
continued existence of black institutions?
"This sudden ontological emphasis - or the
question of existence itself - is found convenien
tly paired only to the concept of black
institutions, even though they have the longest
history of being integrated in their respective
states. It would be ironical to use them to deprive
black people of their own institutional base,”
wrote Dr. Broadus N. Butler, board member of
the NAACP, in the organization's Crisis
magazine.
Protective vehicles
Black opinion leaders do not perceive black
colleges as temporary phenomena, given the
irreversible trends toward the assimilation of
blacks in America. Rather, “they are perceived as
The
One of America’s non - renewable resources is
threatened with extinction.
A lawsuit by Jack Greenberg’s Legal Defense
Fund and the implementation of an arbitrary
fixation on white quotas by H.E.W. - and most
recently by the Office of Civil Rights of the
Department of Education - has gone a long way
towards costing America a viable part of its future.
The 107 black colleges across the country enroll
in excess of 200,000 black students and have 800,-
000 living alumni. More than 80 percent of all
black college graduates finished one of these
institutions.
An analysis of cteta related to the determinants
of success in America by Daniel Yankelovich,
president of the social research firm of
Yankelovich. Skelly and White, showed that the
importance of the academic survival of students
in colleges cannot be overstated.
"The most important of those (factors other
than family background) is educational at
tainment: the number of years of schooling com
pleted. One of the most interesting findings
shows how important the last year of college is,
relative to other years. What counts is finishing
college and getting credentials, rather than what
one might learn in the last year, or any year.
Increasing enrollment
"If you don't translate promising academic
ability into college credentials, you gain precious
little economic advantage.”
I n the South, black colleges award 69 percent of
all college degrees earned by blacks even though
Tony Brown
protective vehicles promoting the civic
participation of blacks in a social order based on
cultural, political and economic pluralism in
America,” wrote Dr. William H. Turner of the
University of Kentucky and author of
“Traditionally Black Institutions: A Profile and an
Institutional Directory.”
A premise of Dr. Turner’s new book is that
“cultural diversity is a social good, and steps must
be taken to ensure the survival and progressive
development of the institutions and social life
patterns of blacks.”
A prominent black journalist, William
Raspberry, wrote in a column in The Washington
Post entitled “Black Colleges: Running Scared of
HEW”: "Califano and key staffers who have his
ear apparently are unfamiliar with the historical
role of these (traditionally black) colleges... and
indifferent to the vital service they perform."
Separatism never has been and is not now the
major driving force of black colleges. Clearly,
these schools werenot the evil the Brown
decision sought to eradicate. They were the
product, not the cause, of the evil identified in
Brown, that is, the exclusion of black students
from white institutions.
To pursue the desegregation process as if the
black colleges have perpetuated segregation is to
stand the mandate of Brown on its head and to
ignore the fact that the constitution is both color
blind and color conscious.
The history of black colleges proves that they
are still needed in a society in which racism and
discrimination affect income, life expectancy and
the chances of having cancer. Credible models
are provided on black campuses for aspiring
black youth who see “blacks manage and operate
News
black schools have only 43 percent of the black
college enrollment. While the college age
population of whites is decreasing, the college
age population among blacks is increasing -
especially in the Sun Belt where blacks are losing
control of some schools.
Experience also demonstrates that displacing
black students, faculty and administrators with
white ones will reduce the higher educational
opportunities for blacks for years to come. For
example, when Florida abolished its black junior
colleges, there was a drastic decline in black
student enrollment in the junior college system -
spite of special provisions for black students.
The Project ’80, the first celebration of the
beauty and achievements of the institutions
which have graduated 75 percent of ail black
Ph.D’s. 75 percent of all black army officers and 80
percent of all black doctors, will not just talk
about black culture and excellence, but will
demonstrate them also.
Carter’s statement
President Carter issued a strong statement of
support for the realistic retention of black
schools: "The continuing importance of his
torically black colleges and universities, not only
to students but also to this nation’s social,
economic and educational life, cannot be overes
timated. This administration is committed to
enhancing their strength and prosperity."
The legal system has joined the president in his
opinion. Even the federal court, when striking
down the dual systems in higher education
important affairs," wrote Dr. Kenneth Tollett, dis
tinguished Professor of Higher Education at
Howard University. Dr. Tollett identifies other
unique functions served by the black colleges.
Necessary enclaves
"Second, for cultural and psycho - social
reasons, they provide educational settings which
many blacks find congenial and prefer to attend.
Third, as special - group - oriented colleges they
serve as educational enclaves in which their
students can prepare for an make the necessary
transition from underprivileged isolation to
'mainstream.'”
A transitional enclave, as identified by Dr.
Tollett, does not require the exclusion of other
groups. "Black institutions ... to sacrifice this
avenue in the name of integrated locomotion is
to push the wayside thousands of blacks who
could benefit from the experience.
NAFEO, the association of black college
presidents, urged the federal government to
understand what federal Judge John Pratt had in
mind when he ruled in the Adams -
desegregation litigation that the desegregation
plans should “take into account the real danger
that desegregation will diminish higher
education opportunities for blacks.
A NAFEO letter said: "Since blacks in this
society have not yet reached the level of equality
with whites in economic or educational terms,
and since specific focus on the educational needs
of black Americans is permitted by the
constitution, and required by the Adams
litigation, we urge the Office for Civil Rights
(Department of Education) to take a more sen
sitive, and aggressive leadership position in help
ing both the Adams States and the non-Adams
States focus on the goal of producing more black
professionals, and abandon the current headlong
drive toward elimination of program duplication
and toward enhancement of black colleges for
the purpose of bringing in more white students,
faculty and administrators.
“To require (the black colleges) to import more
(whites) in the guise of desegregation will serve
only to weaken the ability of those institutions to
meet their primary special purpose and mission,
namely to enable more blacks to move into the
mainstream of higher education, the professions,
the leadership roles in American life, and thus
contribute to a more racially integrated society.
World
(Adams vs. Califano), noted that the process of
desegregation must not place a greater burden
on black institutions or black student's op
portunity to receive a quality public higher
education. Desegregation is a potential danger to
blacks, the court ruled.
"The spirit of the court in the Adams vs.
Califano decision was to expand opportunities
for blacks, but many feel that the ultimate effect
will seriously jeopardize the traditionally black
institutions,” explained a publication of the
National Center for Education Statistics.
Corporate America has also discovered black
colleges. “The availability of qualified minority
college graduates is one of the many problems
that industry faces today in its efforts to increase
equal employment and equal opportunity,” said
a National Alliance of Business publication.” It
said we need "to identify and try to solve the
problems and concerns of these schools - with
the ultimate aim of producing better prepared
graduates.”
A unique group
A unique group of business, labor, government
and education works as an NAB - sponsored
cluster of 1,000 companies and 24 mainstream
institutions involving some 3,000 business and
educational people actively securing jobs and
training for black college students.
Many sectors of America have "joined the
solution." The recognition of the threat of black
college is now a public issue. And the corporate
sector, the academic community, political
leaders, students and the total community are
responding.