Race & Sororities

[DrPhil]

Yeah the HBCU example isn't a really good one. HBCUs are remnants of individual and institutional racism. They are struggling as are many traditional institutions of the "Black community" that thrived during a time when exclusion was more overtly prevalent. Some see this struggle to mean that Blacks no longer need HBCUs, or any other traditional institution, because racism is dead. That's a faulty logical leap which is inaccurate based on the data. But, there is a sound premise regarding what it means when institutions decline in significance.

A better example would be to address the conditions that most of these HBCUs are in and the surrounding communities. It is no coincidence that most of these HBCUs service a disproportionately low income demographic and are in low income surroundings. That's the intersection of race and social class in this highly segregated society. Along with that comes socioeconomic exclusion that perpetuates the disproportionately Black underclass. THAT is what majority-minority racism is really about in the past generation--NOT about signs on doors, being called racial slurs, or whether a biracial woman will get a bid at Ole Miss. Those are relatively rare so they shouldn't be used as metrics.