As a result of the abolition of slavery and the consequential matriculation of Black people transforming from slaves and property to business-owners and blue-collar workers, education was as a necessary acquisition for the middle class revolution of a supposedly “inferior” group of people. With racism still being a dominant ideology in the United States of America during the 1800s, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were created out of a need to further educate Black youth when other colleges or universities would not. African Americans used the higher learning from HBCUs to enter the job market and attain professional credibility; and bearing in mind that over half of all African American business professionals are graduates of HBCUs, it is apparent that they continue to do this even today (uncf.com). Taking into consideration that there has been a drastic increase in both educated Black Americans and in the amount of Black professionals in the workforce since slavery, HBCUs have shaped America into what it is today industrially, scientifically, and professionally. HBCUs are therefore responsible for having created another step towards racial equality for all people in the country. HBCUs are relevant for the same reason that they were relevant in the past: to take responsibility for educating Black youth. When considering the oppression of African Americans, the only difference between society when the doors of Cheney University in Pennsylvania opened in 1837 and society now is that racism currently is much more covert. Instead of the powers of this nation outright saying that Black people are an inferior race, contemporary racism keeps itself institutional in many ways, including the following: through media, a very influential institution (and at times more influential than educational institutions) that has been proven to be prejudice when it comes to news reports and sitcoms that excessively concentrate on the negative characteristics of Black life; through the segregation of schools and neighborhoods, allowing governments to discriminately and covertly appropriate its money in ways that have not been beneficial for African American people; and through the education systems in public schools of predominantly all-Black neighborhoods which are normally horrendous from numerous scholastic aspects and at the same time neglect the truthful history of its own attendees. With such issues colliding within a particular group of people, it is easy for an African American child or teenager to sub-consciously conclude that neither his or her race nor his or her life is worth anything. This is what leaves many Black teenagers wandering the streets without purpose or direction. HBCUs show students their value and worth by teaching African American history and establishing a sense of ethnicity. It is not only refreshing but absolutely necessary for any educated Black teenager to know that there are more educated Black youth in the country, which is contrary to what an individual typically sees on television or even in his or her own neighborhood. Furthermore, it is pertinent for African American people to have something that is publicly owned and used by them. It would make most African American youth feel comfortable to be around his or her own culture, as it would for members of any other ethnic background. It is easy to lose a sense of belonging in a country such as the United States, the self-proclaimed “melting pot” of the world, but attendance at an HBCU will connect you to many purposeful African Americans in the country, which encourages networking and unity of the African American race by default.
