PRINCE HALL
New Member
As we look at the situation today, one would ask the question, are we still relevant? Certain forces are saying that since Jim Crow is dead, why should HBCUs be accepted in the American society. (I still say that Jim Crow Jr. is alive and well.)
As an Alum of an HBCU, I am worried about the survival of some of our sister institutions in the 21st century. We must continue to educate and prepare future leaders. What shall we do in order to compete, survive, and prepare?
I believe in change, but we all know why the cage bird sings when it comes to forced desegregation, and diversity. I would like for you to read this article and assess between the lines. I found it to be quite interesting.
I would love to dedicate this lovely poem to all the HBCU's graduates, current students, and supporters. Please keep the faith and preserve the dream for all mankind.
Still Here
by Langston Hughes
I been scared and battered.
My hopes the wind done scattered.
Snow has friz me,
Sun has baked me,
Looks like between 'em they done Tried to make me
Stop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'--
But I don't care!
I'm still here!
===========================================================================================================================================
What does it mean to be a historically black college?
TENNESSEAN FILE PHOTO Jubilee Hall is a familiar landmark at Fisk University, home of the celebrated Jubilee Singers.
By MICHAEL CASS
Staff Writer
It seems obvious to Amiri Al-Hadid: Historically black Tennessee State University should require its students to study black history, literature and art.
''There's never been anything about TSU ? that gave it any kind of African-centered character,'' said Al-Hadid, who founded and still heads the university's Africana studies department. ''Because the curriculum is the same as at MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University) or the University of Tennessee. So students are educated to be Oreos ? black white folks.
''People came here to learn something about themselves, something about their history. And they didn't get that.''
Al-Hadid's ideas have the support of many students on campus. Students voted 999-85 last week to recommend that the state school replace some of its traditional graduation requirements, such as American history, with ''Afrocentric-based courses.''
At the same time, a mile or so up Jefferson Street from TSU, students at historically black Fisk University have been debating the ideas of Carolynn Reid-Wallace, the private school's first-year president. Reid-Wallace has said Fisk needs to actively recruit more non-black students, partly to reflect the nation's diversity, partly to ensure the university's survival.
The two issues are not explicitly related, and the two schools are very different ? though both take pains to stress they have never tried to keep non-blacks out. Fisk has about 850 students and is chewing over its leader's vision. TSU, with 10 times as many students, is examining the results of the non-binding student referendum.
Yet both issues point to questions of African-American identity ? and to what it means to be a historically black school. For years, many young black people, including some who went on to become famous leaders and acclaimed artists, have attended historically black colleges and universities for the chance to be around people with similar experiences and immerse themselves in black culture and heritage.
''We want to see what it feels like to be a majority,'' said Keith Gaddie, a junior who is president-elect of Fisk's student government, adding that the university's ''legacy of greatness'' was actually the bigger draw for him.
Gaddie and many other students at the schools say they want more whites, Asians, Hispanics and others to join them in their classrooms. Fisk had slightly more than 50 non-black students among 845 students last fall.
A new mission?
At Fisk, some students have complained about Reid-Wallace's plans, demanding a meeting with her. However, students interviewed at random on campus this week said they agree with the president.
''If you open the school up, I don't think it should be a problem because you always have your history,'' said Chandani Jones, a junior English major from the U.S. Virgin Islands. ''It would open us up to more cultures, more experiences, more money. This is a small, struggling college. We have to be open to other groups. If not, we'll become stagnant.''
While Reid-Wallace has said the university can pay its bills and offer good scholarships, she acknowledges it does not have the infrastructure to sustain the growth she envisions for Fisk, from which she graduated in 1964. Outsiders like Gerald Early, a prominent scholar who spent time at Fisk in the mid-1990s, believe there is little choice but to go after the money non-black students have to offer as long as Fisk suffers from ''under-enrollment.''
''A school like Fisk faces a very serious challenge in the current education market in being able to compete for students, particularly black students,'' said Early, professor of English and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis.
''How much of an issue this becomes depends to a great degree on market pressures. I don't know of anything dramatic that's going to cause a great upswing in the numbers so this will cease to be an issue for Fisk in a couple of years.''
Lucius Outlaw, director of African-American studies at Vanderbilt University and a Fisk graduate, said Fisk's mission needs to change with the times. Outlaw, a former candidate for the Fisk presidency, said he would have moved in the same direction as Reid-Wallace.
''Fisk was founded to provide an education for people who were literally almost just out of slavery. It's not there anymore. ? It's a substantially different group of black folk now. The population has changed, in part because of the success of Fisk.''
Reynaldo Glover Jr., a junior from Chicago, said he didn't come to Fisk for an immersion in black culture.
''I came here for the scholastics. Culture I can get on my own,'' said Glover, whose father is a Fisk trustee. ''That's stuff you learn over a lifelong process. ? I want to learn what will allow me to manipulate and maneuver once I'm out in the business world.''
Crystal DeGregory, a junior history major, said a sense of black identity is not a given for everyone who spends four years on a historically black campus.
''It's not like it's floating in the air and by walking around you pick it up by osmosis. Your environment can help cultivate that, but the seed has to be planted in the self.''
Still, some believe Fisk should keep doing what it has done for 135 years. Ray Winbush, outgoing director of the university's Race Relations Institute, doesn't think Fisk should be in any hurry to diversify to the point where it would lose its historic mission.
''I think of Fisk as sacred ground. The students there are the generation that our slave ancestors prayed for when they were picking that cotton. They dreamed of a time when they could have institutions like Fisk. ? I think this has to be a school whose foundation is the education of African-Americans.''
Black cultural perspective
The issue isn't simple at TSU, either. Some black students are not sure about inserting six to nine credit hours of Afrocentric courses into the curriculum. Some white students say they understand the need to know African-American history.
Kenetra Hix, a sophomore from Memphis, said the university should require a single, three-credit-hour course.
''I know more about French history and American history than I do about my own African heritage,'' Hix said.
Her friend Ebonee Lyle, a sophomore from Clarksville, said students should have a choice. Lyle voted for the new requirements but has since changed her mind.
Yolanda Robinson has known where she stands for quite some time. Having attended a predominantly white high school, the freshman from Albany, Ga., feels she missed out on black history. Now she is making up for lost time.
''People have been knocking this knowledge into me, and I want to further my knowledge,'' she said.
Still, if there is a chance some white students would avoid a school where they would have to study Afrocentric ideas, freshman Josef Robinson of Atlanta wonders if TSU's administration would go for the curriculum changes. Under the settlement of a long-standing lawsuit, TSU is trying to become more attractive to a broad array of students.
Dennis Gendron, TSU's assistant vice president for academic affairs, said the potential turnoff for white students hasn't come up, but that a well-rounded curriculum has.
''We don't want to go from Eurocentric to Afrocentric. We don't want to replace one set of dogma with another set. We're trying to give students a broad set of teachings, which the curriculum does already.''
Gendron also said students generally do not have ''the mistaken understanding that the way they were taught in seventh-grade history is exactly the way it happened.''
Michael Hillsamer, a white senior at TSU, doesn't think white students would turn away. He took an African-American history course at another historically black school before moving to Nashville recently.
''I learned a lot of different things,'' he said. ''It was totally different than just American history. I think it gives you a perspective on their culture ? and respect.''
Early, the Washington University professor, said giving students a choice of American or African-American history would keep African-American history courses from filling up with students who would prefer to be somewhere else. Al-Hadid feels it's time for TSU to make up for the mostly white perspective he sees dominating the curricula of elementary and high schools.
''Our students, after going through 12 years of that brainwashing, they need to have some knowledge of who they are. If white students want to come here, that's fine. But they're going to have to study some Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, just like we have to study George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.''
Michael Cass covers education for The Tennessean
As an Alum of an HBCU, I am worried about the survival of some of our sister institutions in the 21st century. We must continue to educate and prepare future leaders. What shall we do in order to compete, survive, and prepare?
I believe in change, but we all know why the cage bird sings when it comes to forced desegregation, and diversity. I would like for you to read this article and assess between the lines. I found it to be quite interesting.
I would love to dedicate this lovely poem to all the HBCU's graduates, current students, and supporters. Please keep the faith and preserve the dream for all mankind.
Still Here
by Langston Hughes
I been scared and battered.
My hopes the wind done scattered.
Snow has friz me,
Sun has baked me,
Looks like between 'em they done Tried to make me
Stop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'--
But I don't care!
I'm still here!
===========================================================================================================================================
What does it mean to be a historically black college?
TENNESSEAN FILE PHOTO Jubilee Hall is a familiar landmark at Fisk University, home of the celebrated Jubilee Singers.
By MICHAEL CASS
Staff Writer
It seems obvious to Amiri Al-Hadid: Historically black Tennessee State University should require its students to study black history, literature and art.
''There's never been anything about TSU ? that gave it any kind of African-centered character,'' said Al-Hadid, who founded and still heads the university's Africana studies department. ''Because the curriculum is the same as at MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University) or the University of Tennessee. So students are educated to be Oreos ? black white folks.
''People came here to learn something about themselves, something about their history. And they didn't get that.''
Al-Hadid's ideas have the support of many students on campus. Students voted 999-85 last week to recommend that the state school replace some of its traditional graduation requirements, such as American history, with ''Afrocentric-based courses.''
At the same time, a mile or so up Jefferson Street from TSU, students at historically black Fisk University have been debating the ideas of Carolynn Reid-Wallace, the private school's first-year president. Reid-Wallace has said Fisk needs to actively recruit more non-black students, partly to reflect the nation's diversity, partly to ensure the university's survival.
The two issues are not explicitly related, and the two schools are very different ? though both take pains to stress they have never tried to keep non-blacks out. Fisk has about 850 students and is chewing over its leader's vision. TSU, with 10 times as many students, is examining the results of the non-binding student referendum.
Yet both issues point to questions of African-American identity ? and to what it means to be a historically black school. For years, many young black people, including some who went on to become famous leaders and acclaimed artists, have attended historically black colleges and universities for the chance to be around people with similar experiences and immerse themselves in black culture and heritage.
''We want to see what it feels like to be a majority,'' said Keith Gaddie, a junior who is president-elect of Fisk's student government, adding that the university's ''legacy of greatness'' was actually the bigger draw for him.
Gaddie and many other students at the schools say they want more whites, Asians, Hispanics and others to join them in their classrooms. Fisk had slightly more than 50 non-black students among 845 students last fall.
A new mission?
At Fisk, some students have complained about Reid-Wallace's plans, demanding a meeting with her. However, students interviewed at random on campus this week said they agree with the president.
''If you open the school up, I don't think it should be a problem because you always have your history,'' said Chandani Jones, a junior English major from the U.S. Virgin Islands. ''It would open us up to more cultures, more experiences, more money. This is a small, struggling college. We have to be open to other groups. If not, we'll become stagnant.''
While Reid-Wallace has said the university can pay its bills and offer good scholarships, she acknowledges it does not have the infrastructure to sustain the growth she envisions for Fisk, from which she graduated in 1964. Outsiders like Gerald Early, a prominent scholar who spent time at Fisk in the mid-1990s, believe there is little choice but to go after the money non-black students have to offer as long as Fisk suffers from ''under-enrollment.''
''A school like Fisk faces a very serious challenge in the current education market in being able to compete for students, particularly black students,'' said Early, professor of English and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis.
''How much of an issue this becomes depends to a great degree on market pressures. I don't know of anything dramatic that's going to cause a great upswing in the numbers so this will cease to be an issue for Fisk in a couple of years.''
Lucius Outlaw, director of African-American studies at Vanderbilt University and a Fisk graduate, said Fisk's mission needs to change with the times. Outlaw, a former candidate for the Fisk presidency, said he would have moved in the same direction as Reid-Wallace.
''Fisk was founded to provide an education for people who were literally almost just out of slavery. It's not there anymore. ? It's a substantially different group of black folk now. The population has changed, in part because of the success of Fisk.''
Reynaldo Glover Jr., a junior from Chicago, said he didn't come to Fisk for an immersion in black culture.
''I came here for the scholastics. Culture I can get on my own,'' said Glover, whose father is a Fisk trustee. ''That's stuff you learn over a lifelong process. ? I want to learn what will allow me to manipulate and maneuver once I'm out in the business world.''
Crystal DeGregory, a junior history major, said a sense of black identity is not a given for everyone who spends four years on a historically black campus.
''It's not like it's floating in the air and by walking around you pick it up by osmosis. Your environment can help cultivate that, but the seed has to be planted in the self.''
Still, some believe Fisk should keep doing what it has done for 135 years. Ray Winbush, outgoing director of the university's Race Relations Institute, doesn't think Fisk should be in any hurry to diversify to the point where it would lose its historic mission.
''I think of Fisk as sacred ground. The students there are the generation that our slave ancestors prayed for when they were picking that cotton. They dreamed of a time when they could have institutions like Fisk. ? I think this has to be a school whose foundation is the education of African-Americans.''
Black cultural perspective
The issue isn't simple at TSU, either. Some black students are not sure about inserting six to nine credit hours of Afrocentric courses into the curriculum. Some white students say they understand the need to know African-American history.
Kenetra Hix, a sophomore from Memphis, said the university should require a single, three-credit-hour course.
''I know more about French history and American history than I do about my own African heritage,'' Hix said.
Her friend Ebonee Lyle, a sophomore from Clarksville, said students should have a choice. Lyle voted for the new requirements but has since changed her mind.
Yolanda Robinson has known where she stands for quite some time. Having attended a predominantly white high school, the freshman from Albany, Ga., feels she missed out on black history. Now she is making up for lost time.
''People have been knocking this knowledge into me, and I want to further my knowledge,'' she said.
Still, if there is a chance some white students would avoid a school where they would have to study Afrocentric ideas, freshman Josef Robinson of Atlanta wonders if TSU's administration would go for the curriculum changes. Under the settlement of a long-standing lawsuit, TSU is trying to become more attractive to a broad array of students.
Dennis Gendron, TSU's assistant vice president for academic affairs, said the potential turnoff for white students hasn't come up, but that a well-rounded curriculum has.
''We don't want to go from Eurocentric to Afrocentric. We don't want to replace one set of dogma with another set. We're trying to give students a broad set of teachings, which the curriculum does already.''
Gendron also said students generally do not have ''the mistaken understanding that the way they were taught in seventh-grade history is exactly the way it happened.''
Michael Hillsamer, a white senior at TSU, doesn't think white students would turn away. He took an African-American history course at another historically black school before moving to Nashville recently.
''I learned a lot of different things,'' he said. ''It was totally different than just American history. I think it gives you a perspective on their culture ? and respect.''
Early, the Washington University professor, said giving students a choice of American or African-American history would keep African-American history courses from filling up with students who would prefer to be somewhere else. Al-Hadid feels it's time for TSU to make up for the mostly white perspective he sees dominating the curricula of elementary and high schools.
''Our students, after going through 12 years of that brainwashing, they need to have some knowledge of who they are. If white students want to come here, that's fine. But they're going to have to study some Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, just like we have to study George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.''
Michael Cass covers education for The Tennessean
