Historically Black University Research Articles

The salience of racial identity among African-American and white students

This study examines the salience of racial identity among white and black students at four American universities. Utilizing the Twenty Statements Test [Kuhn, M. H., & McPartland, T. S. (1954). An empirical investigation of self-attitudes. American Sociological Review, 19, 68–76], we measure racial identity salience among students at three predominantly white northeastern universities and one historically black southern university. As predicted, we found that racial identity salience for white students at the predominantly white universities (PWUs) was significantly lower than racial identity salience among black students in these university settings. Contrary to our expectations, racial identity salience among white students at the historically black university (HBCU) was lower than racial identity salience exhibited among black students at this university, and white students at the HBCU were not more likely to exhibit racial identity saliency than white students at the PWUs. These findings indicate that the “transparency phenomenon,” transcends context in that whites are generally far less likely to think of themselves in racial terms than are people of color. Thus, racial transparency among whites appears to supercede context. Racial salience is much higher among African-American students at the PWUs than at the HBCU; this finding suggests the importance of context for African-Americans. However, fully one-third of African-American students at the HBCU listed race on the TST, suggesting the transcendent power of a racialized identity in a dominantly white society.

Effects of Type of Coping Response, Setting, and Social Context on Reactions to Sexual Harassment

Male and female undergraduates from a multicultural university (MU) and an historically Black University (HBU) read a scenario in which a student was sexually harassed either by a professor or a workplace supervisor. The student victim's coping response was also varied. Participants rated the victim's behavior as most effective and appropriate when she confronted the harasser directly or reported the harasser's behavior. HBU students judged the harasser as not guilty significantly more often than MU students, but believed that the harasser was less trustworthy than multicultural students did. Women responded significantly more negatively to the blatant sexual harassment scenario than men did. Implications for prevention and interventions are discussed.

PERFORMANCE ENHANCING SUPPLEMENT USE AND SIDE EFFECTS IN DIVISION II ATHLETES AT A HISTORICALLY BLACK UNIVERSITY

The objective of this investigation was to assess the use of performance enhancing supplements and side effects in Division II athletes at a Historically Black University (HBCU). Assessments of side effects of performance enhancing supplements are limited due to the inability to assess responses to the actual quantities consumed. Furthermore, little has been done to assess utilization of performance enhancing supplements at HBCUs. A two-part survey was developed to assess recreational drug use and performance enhancing supplement consumption and associated side effects. The survey was administered to 71 male and 41 female (age 20.3 ± 1.5 years) varsity athletes. Ninety-five percent of the athletes that completed the survey identified their race/ethnicity as African American. Athletes participated in football (39.3 percent), football and one additional sport (7.2 percent), basketball (n = 23.2 percent), track (1.8 percent), softball (9.8 percent), tennis (2.7 percent), cheerleading (6.3 percent), and volleyball (8.0 percent). No female athletes responded to the use of any type of performance enhancing supplement. Fifteen athletes that participated in football, two in basketball and one in track responded positively to creatine supplementation. The athletes responded they consumed recommended amounts or were unsure of the amount consumed. Three athletes complained of dehydration, two of diarrhea, one of anxiety/mood changes, one of increased heart rate at rest, one of cramping, and two of other side effects that were not identified in response to creatine supplementation. Two athletes that participated in football responded to supplementing androstendione. Neither reported dose or frequency of supplementation. One identified headaches as a side effect of androstendione supplementation. No athletes responded to the use of anabolic steroids. Creatine was the most popular performance-enhancing supplement in the present investigation. The amount of creatine consumed was inconsistent among the athletes. The reported side effects suggest an association between creatine supplementation and multiple systems side effects. More data needs to be collected to assess complications of creatine supplementation.

Racist Experiences and Health Outcomes: An Examination of Spirituality as a Buffer

The purpose of this study was to extend the research body, which implicates the insidious effects of racism on health outcomes. Specifically, this study tested the assumption that perception of racist experiences would predict differently for self-report symptoms (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised) compared to an objective measure of health (cardiovascular [CV] reactivity to standard laboratory stress- ors). It was also hypothesized that the cultural variable spirituality would moderate this relation. A total of 155 undergraduate students of African descent from a historical Black university in the mid-Atlantic region were recruited to participate in the current study. Perceived racist experiences and racial stress were commonly associated with negative health symptoms and showed an inverse relation to the CV responses. In addition, spirituality served as a significant moderator between racial stress and negative psychological health symptoms. Several implications are discussed in light of these findings.

Urban planning and the African American community: in the shadows

Introduction - June Manning Thomas and Marsha Ritzdorf PART ONE: ZONING AND REAL ESTATE The Racial Origins of Zoning in American Cities - Christopher Silver Locked Out of Paradise - Marsha Ritzdorf Contemporary Exclusionary Zoning, the Supreme Court, and African-Americans, 1970-Present The Second Ghetto and the 'Infiltration Theory' in Urban Real Estate, 1940-60 - Raymond A Mohl Family Values, Municipal Zoning, and African-American Family Life - Marsha Ritzdorf PART TWO: PLANNING AND PUBLIC POLICY The Persistence of Racial Isolation - Yale Rabin The Role of Government Action and Inaction Urban Planning, Equity Planning, and Racial Justice - Norman Krumholz Gary, Indiana - Robert Catlin Planning, Race, and Ethnicity Model Cities Revisited - June Manning Thomas Issues of Race and Empowerment PART THREE: AFRICAN-AMERICAN INITIATIVES AND RESPONSES Charlotta A Bass, The California Eagle, and Black Settlement in Los Angeles - Jacqueline Leavitt Winning Some Battles but Losing the War? Blacks and Urban Renewal in Greensboro, NC, 1953-1965 - Sigmund C Shipp The Roots and Origins of African-American Planning in Birmingham, Alabama - Charles E Connerly and Bobby Wilson Urban Environmentalism and Race - Robert W Collin and Robin Morris Collin PART FOUR: PLANNING EDUCATION The Status of Planning Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Siddhartha Sen The Case of Morgan State University Coming Together - June Manning Thomas Unified Diversity for Social Action PART FIVE: EXCERPTS FROM SELECTED PLANNING-RELATED DOCUMENTS

Redefining Equity: Challenges and Opportunities Facing South Africa's Historically Black Universities Relative to Global and National Changes

This article examines equity relative to South Africa's historically Black universities (HBUs) in changing global and local circumstances. It argues that equity should not be interpreted as strict equality, but rather in terms of improved fitness to purpose and relevance in terms of global and basic development, with the goal of enhancing HB Us ' status. Small but significant innovations HBUs have made in community-oriented teaching, research, and outreach provide the basis for conceptualizing an alternative to the market university model. The multiple disadvantages suffered by HBUs under apartheid are described, and cross-national comparisons with U.S. universities are made. INTRODUCTION National development in the contemporary South African context involves a set of dual but competing challenges. On the one hand, it entails enhancing the country's participation in the high-technology, information-led global competitive arena. It also involves facilitating socioeconomic reconstruction and development to meet the basic needs of the majority of the nation's population. Higher education institutions in South Africa currently face formidable challenges as well as some promising opportunities amidst the context of transformation and reconstruction. As part of the broad changes preceding and following the first democratic elections in 1994, a legislative and policy framework for the restructuring of higher education was developed and outlined in the new government's White Paper policy document the transformation of higher education (Republic of South Africa Department of Education [RSADE], 1997) and the Higher Education Act of 1997. This new framework provides for a single, coordinated, programs-based system geared toward reversing the disparities, disadvantages, and dysfunctionality that characterize the present system. To this end, two main policy goals have been identified: first, the reduction within the system of apartheid-generated inequalities based on race, gender, and location; and second, the maximization of the contribution of higher education toward national and regional development. South Africa's 11 historically Black universities (HBUs)l have a crucial role to play in relation to these recent developments and policy goals. Established under apartheid as separate institutions for Black students, the intended purpose of the HBUs was to perpetuate the racially defined divided social order. Their primary function was to provide personnel for the separate homelands civil service structures and for the small, emerging Black middle class. Accordingly, they assumed particular institutional characteristics and academic cultures in which the overwhelming emphasis was (and has largely remained) on undergraduate teaching, concentrated in a narrow range of fields associated with the racial division of labor under apartheid-namely, health, education, social work, law, and public administration. The vast majority of HBU student enrollments comprised underprepared Black students. Faculty were generally junior and underqualified, and student success rates were comparatively low. Under the discriminatory and repressive conditions of apartheid, the HBUs were subject to severe financial and other disadvantages, with the result being that their institutional infrastructures are generally poor. Relative to the proposed national and institutional planning framework, a number of interrelated challenges face South Africa's HBUs. Among these are: redefining their institutional missions and functions; strategically identifying specialized and niche teaching and research programs; academically supporting underprepared students; developing appropriate curricula; promoting quality, effectiveness, and efficiency in all aspects of institutional life; and building academic, planning, and managerial capacity. Additionally, they face difficult financial planning choices under conditions of severe fiscal constraint. …

Theoretical underpinnings of a Student Mentoring Programme at an historically Black university in South Africa

This paper outlines the theoretical underpinnings of a pilot peer-based student mentoring programme at an historically black university (HBU) in South Africa. Firstly, we describe the social and political context which shaped the conceptualisation of this kind of student development programme. We also provide an exposition of mentoring as a backdrop to our description of the structure and functioning of the programme. Finally, the merits of the programme are evaluated and discussed from the perspective of student participants and their mentors.

Comparing Libraries of Public Historically Black Colleges and Universities with Their White Counterparts

As one element in the effort to desegregate public institutions of higher education, federal courts have mandated the upgrading of libraries at public historically Black colleges and universities. This preliminary study compares the libraries of public HBCUs with those of traditionally White public colleges across eighteen states, mostly in the Southeast. By analyzing number of volumes, staff, and salary totals, the study identifies states that have made efforts to upgrade their HBCU libraries and those that have not.

Teaching economic geography in South Africa's higher education institutions: the case of black universities

Abstract Industrial geography courses at the Historically Black Universities (HBUs) and the Historically White Universities (HWUs) in South Africa are a true reflection of apartheid education designed by the government in the 1950s. The education system offers whites good and quality education, while blacks receive poor education. The nature and history of the HBUs have affected the content and the teaching of industrial geography. Unlike the HWUs industrial geography courses at the HBUs do not contain much of the recent changes in the subject.

The Impact of Newsletters on Community Attitudes:

The impact of a newsletter on community attitudes toward an historical black college was tested through use of the Solomon Four-Group design. A pretest was sent to a sampling of area businesses and community leaders; a college newsletter was mailed once a month for six months; and a posttest was then administered. The pretest and the posttest gave the recipients the opportunity to express their attitudes as well as their sources of information about the institution. The researches concluded that, over a short period of time, a newsletter does not have a significant impact on community attitudes but that newsletters are read and are cited as an important source of information about the college.

Womanist Consciousness: Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of Saint Luke

We take our stand on the solidarity of humanity, the oneness of life, and the unnaturalness and injustice of all special favoritisms, whether of sex, race, country, or condition. If one link of the chain be broken, the chain is broken. ... We want, then, as toilers for the universal triumph of justice and human rights, to go to our homes from this Congress, demanding an entrance not through a gateway for ourselves, our race, our sex, or our sect, but a grand highway for humanity. The colored woman feels that woman's cause is one and universal; and that not till ... race, color, sex, and condition are seen as the accidents, and not the substance of life; . . . not till then is woman's lesson taught and woman's cause won-not the white woman's, nor the black woman's, nor the red woman's, but the cause of every man and of every woman who has writhed silently under a mighty wrong. Woman's wrongs are thus indissolubly linked with all undefended woe, and the acquirement of her "rights" will mean the final triumph of all right over might, the supremacy of the moral forces of reason, and justice, and love in the government of the nations of earth.8 7 Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi, "Womanism: The Dynamics of the Contemporary Black Female Novel in English," Signs 11, no. 1 (Autumn 1985): 63-80. 8 May Wright Sewall, ed., World's Congress of Representative Women (Chicago, 1893), 715, quoted in Bert James Loewenberg and Ruth Bogin, eds., Black Women in Nineteenth-Century American Life: Their Words, Their Thoughts, Their Feelings