Black Colleges Are Heavily Underfunded, and It’s Been Going On For Too Long...

Historically Black colleges and universities have been affected by federal, state, and local funding for far too long. They do not receive the same monetary resources that other institutions receive. Why? There are a number of reasons, one being the continued fight for equality in education that is rooted to days of slavery. Another reason is HBCUs are not a national priority. To top it all off, when there are federal educational cuts, it affects historically black colleges the most. The solution seems simple, so what is the hold up?

women of Sigma Gamma Rho at Howard University via Watch The Yard

There have been multiple lawsuits formulated against  the states for decades from HBCUs. Historically black colleges rely heavily on state funding and are not able to excel with the means given to them. This type of treatment has been called a “systematic disenfranchisement of minorities in education.” Now, I'm usually not the one to promote conspiracy theories or throw around fancy terms around  like “systematic disenfranchisement” but the solution is simple to this problem, give more money by starting a budget that has a bell curve towards these colleges. There has to be reasons (red tape) why this has been going on since Black colleges have been established. 

Students participating at the BE SMART HBCU Academy Tech Prep via Black Enterprise

As previously stated, one of the reasons is HBCUs are not a national priority. There is no law or regulation protecting black colleges from this type of inequality. Another, is that this fight towards equality in education has seen many battles. African Americans  have faced a plethora of educational opposition, since slavery. This ongoing problem is just the new form of resistance to equality that black people  are facing in the lines of education. As the political climate changes and embarks on new hope, I look forward to seeing how the legislation will bring this evident  financial gap to a close. 

cover image via The Times and Democrat