Race Consciousness in Higher Education: Does 'Sound Educational Policy' Support the Continued Existence of Historically Black Colleges?

Abstract

The author proposes that to achieve the constitutional mandate of equal educational opportunity for African-Americans seeking higher education, southern states with formerly de jure systems of higher education must reconceive the missions of their higher education systems to include the preservation of historically Black institutions (HBIs) for two reasons. First, preserving HBIs, coupled with aggressive affirmative action admission and hiring policies at predominantly white state colleges and universities, provides the maximum opportunity for African-Americans to obtain higher education. Second, historically Black educational institutions serve a vital role in preserving the positive aspects of African-American culture, which facilitates the delivery of quality education. [FN15] Reliance on indigenous cultural values helps sustain racial minorities against the adverse consequences of and double-mindedness created by racial domination. Such reliance, in the context of education, also serves to remediate the inequality resulting from race-based dominance by affirming the ability of African-American students to learn, grow, and develop both inside and outside the dominate culture's social, economic, and political systems.