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HBCUs better than you think
A friend and I were recently talking about an HBCU (Historically Black College or University) in our shared hometown. Its reputation, as that of other HBCUs (aside from the handful of “HBCU Ivies” like Morehouse and Howard), was as a place of low academic quality that emphasized its marching band over anything resembling the better academic traditions of Western Civilization (of course, one really can say that about just about any large university these days). But this reputation for HBCUs, in most cases, is undeserved.
George Leef says that things are sometimes far better at black colleges than most of us know. Two good things he discovered: Graduates of HBCUs do well in the sciences, and HBCUs tend to have stronger general education programs than larger flagship institutions. Read it here.
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Both parents of an African-American friend of mine were educated at HBCUs in Mississippi. Both had excellent educations and did well. Her mom was known as such a fine high school math teacher in her area’s all-black schools, that the white schools actually wished they could hire her. When they later moved to Chicago, her mom taught in the Chicago schools. (My friend, by the way, got an excellent education through high school in a black school in Mississippi. When she applied to colleges, she tested better in most subjects than the majority of white applicants.)
She says that even though black schools in the south had less money than most other schools anywhere in the country, she said that what they did have were really, really good and determined teachers who knew how to set limits and make high demands on their students. Those teachers came out of HBCUs.
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HBCUs better than you think
No, not really. Not if your read the article.
George Leef says that things are sometimes far better at black colleges than most of us know.
Harrison, this article is one of the most amazing distortions I’ve ever seen. Leef says that the reason HBCUs turn out more black science grads is that black students at mostly white colleges find themselves in over their heads, and are incapable of meeting the demanding intellectual challenges at white colleges. But because HBCUs are academically inferior, black students are “better matched” there, and prosper.
Yes, things are sometimes far better at HBCU than most of us know, if by “far better” you mean academically inferior to white colleges.
Everyone should read the article Harrison links to, and verify for themselves that this is exactly what Leef is saying.
And people called Nick Peters a racist!
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Ohhh Night Train, you are so right.
Being quite eager to hear embrace any good news from the African American Community I almost didn’t see through that. Do you think they reported that way intentionally (not saying their information is wrong). Affirmative action is just a way of easing white American guilt; its implementation now doesn’t really strengthen the black community. Hardship not a free pass makes you stronger than your competition.
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Well, I’ve never thought of black colleges as being bad places to go to school, so “better than you thought” isn’t a relevant category.
Right now, inner city black high schools are horrid places to go to school. Those who graduate at the tops of their classes go to college and are in for a rude awakening. Much like many early home-schoolers were. It doesn’t mean they aren’t smart or are bad students; it’s just that the expectations are so low that everyone thought they were doing well when in fact they were not. Black kids in integrated schools have a better chance simply because the expectations are higher.
I think many black students (and I suppose their teachers) don’t realize that for much of this country’s history, it was illegal to teach a black person to read. What was once a privilege not open to them is now, for many, a privilege they simply do not want. But that will continue to bring devastating consequences to inner-city neighborhoods. Until black men in the inner cities are educated, responsible, moral, and ready and willing to marry and support a family, the cycle will continue, that illegal activity will look like the surest ticket out of poverty and jobs that require a good education won’t even be an option for most.
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Black men in our inner cities are irresponsible and immoral?
And people called Nick Peters a racist!
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Night Train – There is a lot to the idea of a student getting a better education in a school where he/she is well matched to the other students (instead of way behind them). In that setting, the ciriculum can be better tailered to the student’s level and they can get a very good and rigorous education – not an inferior one.
Such grads do better on standard tests (or licensing exams) than those who might get AA’d into Ivy League or other elite schools (assuming that they graduate at all from the elite school).
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The phenomenon of students doing better in a setting that is more limited should certainly be familiar to those in the Evangelical church. In our individualistic set of mind we can forget that education has a significant social component.
One of the terrifying aspects of the large, research-oriented university is its anonymity and the sense that the individual student is dispensable. When one comes from the outside (a minority, or even as an evangelical Christian), the university can be a very alienating place. So the fact that minorities thrive in HBUCs in ways they don’t in larger institutions does not surprise me.
(It probably is also worth noting that many of the HBUCs had a faith component. The Northern Presbyterians committed significant resources into the education of the freed slave community in the Reconstruction period. The Southern Presby’s had a somewhat different view of the matter.)
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Wow.
This article is pretty much saying that blacks can’t compete in white schools and so they should be going to black schools instead.
I have seen African American students who excelled in predominately white colleges and universities. I have also seen those who were accepted because of race. “Affirmitive Action” is not always a good thing although I am sure there are stories of people who benefited from it. I had 4 minority classmates in my graduate program. Two of them dropped out after the first year. Another struggled academically but graduated and is very successful now. He struggled in the classroom but excelled in real life. I had other classmates (asian and caucasian) who did very well in the classroom but have struggled to succeed after graduation.
Every student needs to realize their academic capabilities before selecting a school. If their GPA, SAT test scores, and/or high school curriculum were less stellar than their classmates, they can expect that they will struggle in that environment. “Affirmative Action” doesn’t give a student the training to thrive in a difficult environment. It just gives the student an opportunity to try.
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