HBCU graduate: Trump assists with $85 million for HBCUs and I still despise him
By: Shamontiel L. Vaughn
Tags: Black History, Election 2020, Donald Trump, BlackLivesMatter, Hbcu

Clearly you don’t have to be a math whiz to understand that Trump provided more funds to HBCUs in his first four years — after months of complications while the $85 million was tied up with the FUTURES Act, which Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, initially blocked. Spilled milk. It’s done now.

However, Trump, who always goes too far, would’ve been able to pat himself on the back if he just knew when to leave well enough alone. Instead, he followed his comments up with, “Nobody has done more for the black community than Donald Trump. And if you look, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln, possible exception, but the exception of Abraham Lincoln, nobody has done what I’ve done.”

HBCU origins — and 1619 Project — go over president’s head

One of many problems with the 45th president of the United States is he always wants to be thanked for doing something right, only to screw something else up. Trump’s idea of helping the black community is equivalent to someone changing your flat tire only to drive your car until the gas tank is on empty. Sure, you’re happy that you have a repaired tire, but his entire presidency has made it so that minorities cannot safely drive that same car.

There have been loads of think pieces on his “stand back and stand by” comment regarding the Proud Boys during the first debate. This is no surprise nor do I even need to share my views on that rodeo feces. What (somehow) still blows my mind is his persistence to rewrite and/or denounce black history while claiming to be all for HBCU education. One of the more recent examples is the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project. How does one claim to have “done more for the black community” while trying to erase African-American history in the process?

Trump has already threatened to cut federal funding to schools that teach the 1619 Project, or that fail to instill their curriculum with his idea of “patriotism.” And anyone who has ever attended or graduated from an HBCU (read: me) already knows that accurate African-American history and literature are the pinnacles of these universities. Not only are HBCUs adamant about giving minority students a more well-rounded education — and not just that syllabus reminder in February to read the paragraph about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks in textbooks — but the entire reason HBCUs came to be was because of the kind of discrimination and lack of educational opportunities that young, black students dealt with.

Prior to the Civil War, there was no structured higher education system for black students. The Institute for Colored Youth, the first higher education institution for blacks, was founded in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, in 1837. It was followed by two other black institutions — Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) in 1854 and Wilberforce University (Ohio) in 1856. I can’t imagine Trump understands the history of HBCUs or (forced) inspiration to create them, but I would imagine if someone told him, he’d find that to be as unpatriotic as NYT.

I do not blame HBCUs for taking federal funding. I want all 103 (of 107 listed) to remain open as long as they possibly can afford to stay open. The danger with Trump is in the ties to them being open. If anybody only wants an educational facility to be open as long as it teaches exactly what you want it to teach, you may as well pull out the puppet strings along with that gas can.