Perspectives
‘The Great Debaters’ and the survival of Black Colleges
By James Clingman
—Guest Columnist—
Updated Jan 13, 2008, 12:50 pm



Message in a movie

Dr. Thomas Freeman: 58 years of grooming young leaders (FCN, 01-05-2008)
Having enjoyed one of the best movies I have ever seen, namely, “The Great Debaters,” and having read a piece in the Wall Street Journal by Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom, titled ‘Separation Anxiety,’ I thought of the ironies of so-called historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU’s) and the issues they face today. I thought about the students these schools have graduated and the professionals they have produced. I thought about the 13th 14th and 15th Amendments to the constitution and how they were expressly written for Black people but have, over the years, evolved into laws that some believe, and others profess, to have been written for “minorities.”

I also thought about the ‘trick-bag’ we have found ourselves in because many of us have all but given up on the very educational institutions that did more than any other elevate Black people in this country.

The irony of a Black college like Wiley, home of the Great Debaters, not being one of the top schools in this country is interesting to say the least. The school where James Farmer studied and Melvin Tolson taught should be on a very firm foundation by now. Morris Brown, Central State, Prairie View, Grambling, Barber Scotia, and now even the iconoclastic Fisk University, as noted in the article by the Thernstroms, along with several other HBCU’s, have either closed their doors or are fighting for their lives.

The irony of thousands of graduates, diplomas in hand, many of whom would not have had the opportunity to attend college were those schools not available, now having turned their backs on their alma maters by refusing to help them financially, is a sad commentary.

And now, the greatest of ironies is the fact that many HBCU’s are portrayed as segregated institutions because they want to carry on their traditional approach to educating Black students. My, how the tables have turned and how they keep turning, not to the benefit of Black people, but to the benefit of minorities and others.

“The Great Debaters” movie illustrated part of the proud history of Black people in this land; it also displayed part of the seedy side of American history. In full context, the movie illuminated the value of Black colleges and universities, not only in their ability to educate and graduate outstanding young people, but also in their dedication and determination to see that Black students attain the kinds of values and insights that will carry them to and through their chosen fields of endeavor.

The movie is not mere history, brothers and sisters; the same thing is occurring right now—to this day—at Black colleges and universities. So the logical questions that follow are these: Why are our Black colleges falling by the wayside? Why are so many of them financially strapped? Why are so few of their alumni giving back to their alma maters? Where are the billion dollar endowments for Black schools of higher learning?

Something to ponder, especially during this time of uncertainty, is the attack on HBCU’s from without. Painting them as bastions of segregation and discrimination, and insisting they be brought down from their previous lofty position among Black folks, are part of the latest strategy to turn us into a non-people. Is there anything Black people can and will have in this country that will not carry the connotation of separatist and discriminatory “in reverse?”

I am not suggesting that others cannot or should not attend HBCU’s. I think they should, but not to the degree that the tradition and culture are lost in bureaucratic red tape and governmental intervention. Black schools are our beacons of encouragement, bastions of pride and havens of concern by teachers who sincerely want each student to be successful and will do what needs to be done to make that a reality.

So, don’t be lulled to sleep with yet another ploy to reduce Black folks to an even lower point of identity in this country.

Support HBCU’s with your money and your intellect, much of which was obtained on an HBCU campus; and even if it wasn’t, you should support HBCU’s anyway. Heaven knows, we need something we can call our own and we need to continue the line of Samantha Booke, Henry Lowe, James Farmer, and Melvin Tolson, all characters in “The Great Debaters.”

Why are we so scared of being proud of who we are? Why are we so reluctant to fight for what our forebears worked so hard for us to have? How are we so easily swayed to believe the nonsense of reverse discrimination, especially when Blacks have been the most tolerant, patient, accommodating, open, and accepting of all ethnic groups in this country?

It seems we can be intimidated by just about anything that is promulgated by outsiders as “divisive” or “separate,” as in the case of Africa Town in Detroit. HBCU’s are among the few traditions Blacks have left in this country; we’d better hold on to them and stop settling for statues and street names.

The Thernstrom article aptly and rightly pointed to the fact that, “In a free society, many private and public institutions will have a distinctive profile. Group clustering is not necessarily unhealthy; indeed, it’s an inescapable feature of a multiethnic nation. No one worries that there are ‘too many’ Jews at Yeshiva and Brandeis, ‘too many’ Catholics at Notre Dame and Holy Cross, or ‘too many’ Mormons at Brigham Young. And so it should be with Howard, Fisk and Mississippi Valley State. That’s what democratic pluralism means.”

Long live HBCU’s. Thanks to the many who contribute their time and money to HBCU’s. And, kudos to Oprah and Denzel for making “The Great Debaters.” It was a pleasure. When you see it, please don’t miss the message.

(This column was distributed by NNPA.)