By Stacey Patton:
Now that we have elected our first black president, some folks fervently believe that America has solved its long-ailing “Negro Problem.” We are now a post-racial society. This means we can finally get rid of affirmative action and even historically black colleges and universities, which some suggest are reminders of the segregation era. Doing so will allow this nation to throw into the dust pin of American history evidence that blacks were denied civil rights.

This month a state senator from Georgia created a stir when he proposed that two historically black universities in Albany and Savannah merge with nearby mostly white institutions. With Georgia facing a $2 billion budget deficit, Sen. Seth Harp, a Republican who is the chairman of the State Senate Higher Education Committee, believes the plan will save millions and decrease racial segregation in state-run universities.

Cynthia Tucker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote, “Institutions supported by taxpayers should be diverse, educating men and women of all colors and creeds. There is no longer good reason for public colleges that are all-white or all-black.”

The New York Times reported that Harp’s proposal to merge the schools was not economically driven. “When you look at Savannah and Albany, those communities really need only one school each,” Harp said. “The fact that two of these schools are historically black has less to do with my proposal than the economics.” He added, “We really need to close the chapter of segregated schools and create a unified system.”

But opponents of the merger say that economics has everything to do with the proposal. If there was no budget deficit, some contend that there would be no such plan to integrate the schools. And others cringe at the suggestion that historically black colleges need to be desegregated in the same way as white schools.

“Historically black colleges and universities were founded during a period when African Americans were excluded from other institutions,” says Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund. “They were founded primarily to educate black students. This is their history, not their present. Today these institutions are fully integrated. They have integrated student bodies, integrated faculties, and integrated administrations. Historically black does not mean exclusively black.”

Lomax noted that all-white schools, including Armstrong Atlantic State in Savannah and Darton College in Albany, were founded exclusively for whites until they were compelled to reluctantly integrate. Unlike their white counterparts, historically black colleges have never practiced race based admissions policies. They were devised and implemented by white segregationists as a means to secure the separation by race in higher education. In the aftermath of Jim Crow, continuing court battles focused attention of policy makers on desegregation issues affecting these colleges.

Black colleges are the only institutions in the United States that were built for black students and with their needs in mind. Part of the mission of these institutions is to affirm identity, cultivate leadership and build community. A merger, alumni and other opponents argue, would destroy that identity and historical legacy.

Lomax asks why black colleges are being asked to bear the burden of this plan, especially since the current debates over affirmative action call into question the ability or resolve of white colleges to achieve their goals of racial balance. In addition, the state continues to open new higher education institutions and some schools are expanding. Others, like Ruby Sales, the founder of Spirit House Project, a social justice organization, see the proposal as part of a long history of white officials implementing economic plans that disintegrate institutions in black communities.

“Black educational history has been decimated under these types of desegregation plans,” Sales complained. “The community is responding with skepticism, alarm and concern over this proposal and its potential impact,” said Lomax. “This was a shoot from the hip recommendation which has drawn intense reaction because it was done in such a cavalier way.”

Lomax maintains that Sen. Harp and his supporters have not considered the history and contemporary roles of black institutions in a thoughtful or disciplined way. “Without any analysis, study, or review he (Sen. Harp) has offered a solution to a financial problem. He is treating these institutions in a way that suggests they are not relevant.”

The current controversy reflects ongoing issues of race and equal access to quality education in Georgia. Lomax says that the state continues to treat black institutions unequally, not just at the collegiate level. He recommends that there be more discourse on how to increase high school graduation and college retention and completion as well as decrease incarceration rates in the state.

“They never talk about shutting down jails or spending less money on jails. It’s always about spending less on schools and they start with schools that serve minorities,” Lomax said. “The good senator should think about how to spend less to keep people behind bars than behind desks.”