Pursuing an education in an institution where not many people look like you makes your accomplishments feel small, or at least that’s how it has made me feel.
There’s a disconnect when you’re the only Black person sitting in the classroom— especially the looks you get when you’re in a history class and the professor begins to talk about the history of Black folks.
I have had to work much harder to not only pass my classes, but to exceed my professors expectations of me as a minority student. This is not only frustrating, but diminishing.
We are viewed as the problem before even getting the opportunity to make our case, while other students get to be seen as the solution and the ones who are always right. Therefore, our hard work lessens in front of us.
When you grow up enclosed by people who don’t understand what baggage your skin carries with it, it’s hard to fully understand who you are as a Black member in a white society.
I imagine attending a Historically Black College or University will feel like being around extended family, and Homecoming will be the family reunion where everyone shows up to the BBQ.
Being surrounded with Black excellence during one of the most trying times in your life, when you’re trying to figure out who you are as a person and what you want to do with your life, is inspiring.
Black students had no structured higher education system prior to the civil war, so HBCUs were their only means of getting an education. Now, HBCUs are helping narrow the racial wealth gap in America by increasing the number of minorities in STEM fields.
Counselors should always offer HBCUs to their Black students so we can be around our culture and feel better represented in our student body.
HBCUs are not predominantly Black. There is representation of all races, there just happens to be more Black students on campus versus other universities.
I believe our counselors not only recommending HBCUs but also helping its Black student body to apply and prepare to attend HBCUs is a huge step in the right direction.
Race shouldn’t even be a factor in any conversation about education, but unfortunately it is. Higher education institutions shouldn’t discriminate prospective students based on race, but they continue to today.
We are nevertheless a box that must be checked off, a transcript that must exceed the expectations in order to be considered.
HBCUs put the humanity back into the educational process for Black students; this is not only something that we need, but something we deeply desire.
