Black Colleges: Continuing Challenges

Abstract

IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, as has been true in the past, the progress of black Americans will continue to be deterministically related to the viability of black institutions, especially colleges. Whatever may be the racial composition of these colleges in the future or the particular programs they might institute, it will be essential that a significant number of private black colleges remain in the control of black people for the promotion and enrichment of black identity and welfare. At the outset, it needs to be clearly understood that in actuality there is no such entity as the Black College. There is, rather, a group of individual colleges, about 123, which were founded and exist primarily for the education of black youth. These colleges are distinct because they have maintained very close identity with blacks' struggle for survival, advancement, and equality in American society. Black colleges, like all other colleges, differ widely from one another in many important ways. It would be misleading and fruitless to regard them as some sort of academic monolith, as is so often done. There are, however, some basic characteristics they do have in common so that for certain heuristic purposes they may be regarded as a comprehensive entity. One common characteristic is poverty. Throughout their histories private black colleges have been poor and public black colleges have been grossly under-supported by their respective state governments. In a relative sense, they have never received anywhere near the level of support extended to comparable white colleges in the states or communities where they are located. In an absolute sense black colleges, whose burden of education is considerably heavier than white colleges because their students have, on the whole, greater academic deficiencies, simply have not had the money to build complete, up-to-date physical plants and secure badly needed equipment and supplies. Figuratively, black colleges have received only the crumbs from the tables of this nation's educational funds. This has been true whether these funds have been provided by corporations, church bodies, foundations, or government on all levels.' These colleges have had to operate, even during times of prosperity, on the proverbial shoestring. There has been no time in their histories when they did not need to be imperatively concerned about their survival. This is so because as a rule the private colleges have had little or no endowment, and the public colleges have existed at the will of characteristically hostile, or at best adamant, white legislators.