2D, I agree with you all the way. As an alum of the UL system, I know that there are a lot of deals that go on behind the scenes. At my UG, the alumni and members of the community came together to support the efforts of the school when money was needed, etc. There were PLENTY of incidents that went on, but because it was a PWI and members of the media "forgot" to report these things.
Oh, but let the smallest thing happen at an HBCU and it's all over the news at 5, 6, and 10. We have to support our schools. If we don't, who will?
As for affirmative action, I don't feel that we NEED it, but I will not downplay it. Affirmative action may be the reason that some of us are where we are today, whether we know it or not. I am not saying do away with it and I am not it's biggest supporter, either. Of course, we all need to do things for ourselves and anything that we achieve is better if it is earned instead of given. Affirmative action juts give some of us the chance to get on the playing field to prove ourselves. Sure, affirmative action can get us jobs, in school, etc. It doesn't matter to me how we get there, but it's what we do when we get there that counts.
Finally, I will never down an HBCU. To say that an HBCU offers a substandard education is a slap in the face. Louisiana alone has Xavier University that has one of THE BEST pharmacy schools in the country. Dillard boasts a great nursing program. Grambling offers a wide variety of great programs, as well as Southern U., which has it's own law school. People attend our HBCUs for the education, heritage, brother/sisterhood, etc., not because it is four blocks from home and they can walk to school or because tuition is only $1,500 a semester. we have to give our schools more credit than that.