Education is considered to be one of the pillars of a successful life. Without a college degree, many believe these students will earn lower wages and be offered fewer opportunities.
The bitter struggle to break down racial distinctions in education lasted for decades. Several court decisions resulted in the SCOTUS finally accepting and ruling on a separate but equal case. It ruled the law was constitutional and segregated schools continued. With crowded classrooms and less funding, the Civil Rights movement continue to fight to force white schools to integrate black students.
From Forbes
In 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively outlawed racial segregation in our schools. Angry whites, especially in the South, fought the attempt to integrate schools, often leading to violent protests, such as when James Meredith became the first black to enter the University of Mississippi in 1962. Civil rights leaders put their lives on the line working for a color-blind, non-race determined society, most memorably King when he articulated his dream where people “will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Yet now universities are reintroducing segregation, making race the primary determinant of student participation in some activities, such as black student unions or race-based housing facilities.
How wide is this move to re-segregate the students; Dion Pierre, a research associate at the National Association of Scholars wrote: “At the National Association of Scholars, we surveyed 173 colleges and universities across the country, and found that 71%—125 of them—have some version of ethnically separate graduation.
In addition to the 125 universities that hold segregated graduations, here just a few of the colleges demanding segregated activities/ facilities requested by black students.
Rice University Students Demand Black-Only Space on Campus
UC Santa Cruz Rosa Parks African American Themed House for black students only plus force all new incoming students to go through a mandatory diversity competency training.
At UCLA Afrikan Student Union is insisting upon an “Afrikan Diaspora floor” as well as an “Afro-house.” The floor should be branded as a safe space for all Black students.”
NYU Entire floor of the mixed-use building be entirely dedicated to Students of Color
Oberlin University, students have demanded, “safe spaces” for black students.
Williams College endorsed “affinity housing” for black students and other minorities
California State University stirred up controversy when the college unveiled a special “Black Living-Learning Community,” not formally segregated, but thematically designated as a space for mostly black residents. The University of Connecticut boasts something similar, a “ScHOLA²RS House” where African American students will be prioritized in selection.
Oakland Tech to hold first Black Graduation joins a growing movement to celebrate one’s own culture
Harvard University will hold the first-ever black-only graduation ceremony
Happy celebrating w @Kennedy_School @Harvard black graduation! #hksalumni pic.twitter.com/pS9wIbieQe
— Amy Davies (@adavies108) May 22, 2018
I am all for people celebrating their heritage, which is becoming more difficult for people like me of Irish descent, as it called racist when we publically do. When I see students “of color” demanding no whites on-campus days, separate dorms, separate homes, separate classes, and/or sperate graduations, has not the next generation started the process of re-segregating the black community from the rest of the population?
I hope not, and pray that as they mature, they seek counsel from their parents, grandparents and look back into history, and hear the calls from those who sacrificed so much to advance civil rights. America is better when we are all pursuing our dreams, in spite of the obstacles in the way, and through hard work can see the fruits of our labor. Re-segregating the black community, any level, is a big step in the wrong direction.bel
