By: D. Yobachi Boswell
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, heretofore refered to as the MEAC, held its annual conference basketball tournament in Raleigh, NC this past weekend. The MEAC is a confrence consisting of HBCUs or Historically Black Colleges and Universities; a distinction for which some apparently have a problem with.
Last week, writing for The News Journal, Kristian Pope did an article* highlighting concerns of some about the HBCU designation given to institutions created in the late 1800s and early 1900s to serve the underserved blacks that were either outright prohibited, or by and large functionally kept from attending white run schools.
In the Pope Article, Delaware State University’s (a MEAC school) white athletic director and black head football coach lament the very notion of having HBCUs. While feigning righteous indignation over supposed “segregation”, it can be seen that the couple’s real motivations are a desire for more sports recruits and more athletic revenue — of course self-serving motivations for the two.
Even though no one of any back ground is prohibited form attending HBCUs neither officially or in actuality, coach Lavan is quoted in the article as saying “There’s not even a need for a [historically black] or Hispanic or Asian college. That’s wrong. There is a need for access for all students, but not based on race. Why hang on to something that comes from segregation days?”
Later in the article, Athletic Director Bell shows his disdain for the black college tradition, and practically calls those of us from the tradition racist with these fine words “I come from the Midwest…even the very hint of segregation is not tolerated there {which any black person knows is blatantly not true}**. At the age of 60, to enter a conference which is still identified [like that] is appalling.”
While ridiculously pretending to don some mantel of the Black Civil Rights Movement in condemnation of institutions that only exist because of the racism perpetrated against the people these institutions primarily serve; Bell and Lavan let it be known that it’s really all about the Benjamins, baby.(money) - a desire for bigger and more palatable athletic programs that can be sold to white people. While hardly anyone would argue that growing your institution financially and broadening your athletic program are particularly bad things, the question has to be asked though, at what expense. You certainly don’t do anything no matter the consequences.
First of all, I, nor other black people of awoken conscious care what a paternalistic white man has to says about what black people need; and whether or not our cultural and community institutions should even exist. The utter racial arrogance of some never ceases.
Secondly, you can’t sale black to white people unless its blacks bucking their eyes, flipping over furniture, or scratching and shuffling; or unless it’s ganstas, pimps, hoes, and prostitutes. We see the kind of black movies that sale big across the board verses those that mostly only the black community go to see. We see what of our music they buy, and largely will purchase. We, black people, are not segregating ourselves by being ourselves, and we should not have to prostitute ourselves for the majority to accept us. Either they accept us, or they don’t; its not our job to white wash away our very being just for their love.
Of course white people also like to see blacks running and jumping; but when there are other black people running and jumping faster and higher, they’re not going to care too much about the lesser. That is to say Delaware State is a 3,000 student school. You’re not going to beg up enough white people to go there under any circumstance to compete with Notre Dame and Michigan.
My alma mater Tennessee State (an HBCU that plays sports in a conference of schools which otherwise are majority-white), which has over 9,000 students, was at the center of a more than 35 year court case that ordered the higher education systems of the state of Tennessee to desegregate. In all that time, while strides were made, the white enrollment topped at 22% over all at TSU, only 15% undergrad (and then a great many of those are local and older persons, not the traditional students that decided to “go away for school”). This is with an aggressive “minority” scholarship program targeting whites and all. The point being, removing the HBCU tag and attempting to hide that title would not erase away from the minds of whites that the school is historically black, nor make them blind to all those black faces on campus, nor make them decide that they want to be in an environment where they will be the minority; in which a great many whites have trouble coping with – if free money can’t do it, nothing else will.
If some white folks don’t want to be around us, don’t accept us as being as competent, don’t ever want to be in an environment where they’re the minority, and simply do not respect black people as being whom they are; then so be it. Either way, we should not shit can our heritage in order to kowtow and shuffle for their approval – nor should we have to. That’s not commentary on us and our institutions, that’s commentary on the greater culture’s continued failure to fully accept all people groups that it is made up of.
Further, HBCUs play a VERY important role in the black community; both in their local communities and from a national standpoint. Lavan speaks of everyone having opportunity for access. It’s HBCUs that provided a lot of black people the opportunity to attain an education, and the extra assistance they often need that they otherwise would not get. HBCUs also provide most of the social and political brain trust of black America and undertake much of the necessary study for public policy and legislation that otherwise wouldn’t be done. They also are the primary maintainers and cultivators of black cultural arts. Not to mention that many provide much needed medical and other community services in the black communities where they exist; they engage in communality development initiatives for the local black communities; they allow for speakers to be heard, that the mainstream has black balled such as a Louis Farrahkan, to have a platform to speak to there people; and so forth. I could keep going but I’ve made my point.
This is just another assault on black people. A society or a people group has to have institutions that prop them up and propel them forward. We talk about societal institutions being needed in Iraq all the time. Well the black community needs it’s societal institutions right here in the “good ol” US of A; to hell with selling basketball!
The Black college experience is a different experience unto itself separate from the cultural experience at a majority white college. Why should that experience be destroyed and erased from society? What makes it less worthy of existing? Why should that piece of culture be wiped out? And why is it always black America that is asked to compromise itself and to forget who we are in order to get along?
I’m sorry (actually I’m not) but the above noted factors are infinitely more important than broadening your sports program. And while financially growing your institution is generally a bright ideal, public institutions of higher education are not capitalistic enterprises. Maximizing profit is not their goal. Most HBCUs serve underserved communities, and hence they do not need to emulate those institutions that the underserved don’t have access to.
The article notes that Bell sees the MEAC’s efforts to create a championship game with the Southwest Athletic Conferences or the SWAC (another HBCU conference), and hence taking the MEAC out of division 1-AA playoff contentionas further proof of segregation by HBCUs.
Well oh my Mr. Bell, I guess we from the black college tradition should apologize for having this thing where we feel a desire to honor our forerunners and celebrate who we are. Blacks are freely willing to give attention to schools that are overwhelmingly white, but whites by far will do no such thing in return. So it’s up to us to celebrate us. We do not want to be assimilated into oblivion, thank you very much Mr. Bell.
This is the problem you have with letting interlopers into the bosom of our discussions, and worst giving them position with in our community institutions. And in this case, coach Lavan can wear the interloper tag as well, for while he is black, he is not from the black college tradition, and certainly comes with an outsiders view and disregard of it.
I believe Bell should be fired for attempting to erode and destroy the very heritage of the institution he works for; and for working against the common good of the alumni and student body in favor of his own narrow ideological slant - a slant that is contradictory and detrimental to the proud heritage and tradition that he was hired into.
And if Delaware State’s president supports his position as the article makes mention of, maybe the members of that institution might look to find someone new to lead it who respects the tradition.
Historically Black College and University is not just a “label” - it’s a proud heritage.
* The referenced article by Kristian Pope entitled ‘Historically black college’ label stirs emotions can be found here: http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/SPORTS08/703060342/1002
** text with in the { } brackets are my words.
