Our view: Maryland's historically black colleges and universities were underfunded during the era of segregation; now the state must find a way to empower them to compete effectively with their traditionally white peers
Has Maryland reneged on its promise to desegregate the state's public institutions of higher learning? Has the state, in defiance of the law, continued to operate a dual system of separate and unequal schools based on race?
The answer to such questions will decide the outcome of a potentially historic case that opened last week pitting the state's four historically black colleges and universities against the Maryland Higher Education Commission. At issue is whether the state has truly succeeded in overcoming the shameful legacy of its segregated past, or whether it has simply extended the policies and practices of that era into the present under a different guise.
