HBCUs are still very important, NFL Hall of Fame cornerback Aeneas Williams (Southern University) told me Thursday. We have to expose current students and high school students to the many successful people that have come from these schools. Potential students have to hear and see these stories in order to know the truth about HBCUs and not be misled by the perception or opinions of others. A wise man once told me, Williams continued, that Its not what people dont know that hurts them. Its what they do know thats not true. That wise man was my dad, a Southern U 1968 grad. As black people, too many of us believe improving white people advances us. Thats why rapper/music producer Dr. Dre could make hundreds of millions of dollars exploiting the image of young black men for two decades and donate $35 million to USC in 2013. Do you think Dre believes black boys from Compton are filling up USC? More than a decade ago, the state of California wiped out affirmative-action policies that gave more minority men and women access to mainstream universities. Things have gotten so bad at UCLA in terms of black male enrollment that its just assumed that every black male on campus is there on an athletic scholarship. Black males constitute 3.3 percent of the male population at Lew Alcindors alma mater. Its easy to criticize Dr. Dre for his decision. But his decision-making reflects a mindset that is pervasive throughout black culture. We fled black institutions. We think its the federal governments or ultrarich celebrities responsibility to support them. Rather than use our athletic gifts to benefit other black students, we volunteered to enrich the pockets and the cultural environment of white folks. Sacrificing for and investing in the institutions with the best track record of and interest in developing our own perfection remains on the back burner.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Feb 2014 14:38:44 +0000
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