Claude Lumpkins

Imagine your first day at your first real job. Armed with your newly acquired bachelor’s degree, you ventured out into the wilderness of professional America and not only landed a job, but a job related to what you studied.

However, while your new boss is briefing you on your responsibilities, somewhere between the copy room and the water cooler you realize that you are decidedly unqualified.

Relax; you are not alone.

The same thing that happened to you will undoubtedly happen to many HBCU graduates upon taking their first steps into the real world.

Consequently, the importance of HBCUs is under serious debate.In 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, the black community saw education as a precious gem, one worth fighting for.

In 2001, the Supreme Court may rule that affirmative action is unconstitutional, and the black community now sees education as a piece of paper, a commodity worth paying for.

Extreme rightists might argue that blacks are intellectually inferior.

Conspiracy theorists might say that it is the result of a grand scheme designed to keep the black race ignorant.

Fence-straddling liberals will of course offer the most accommodating explanation: harsh economic conditions brought about by old racist systems on automatic pilot.

Oddly enough, this is fairly close to the truth.

Harsh economic conditions are the best kind for producing ignorance, and racism works best on automatic pilot (that way no one has to take the blame).

On one level, it is preposterous to isolate a group of people and attempt to explain their behavior, value systems, attitudes and consequent shortcomings or achievements.

Here in America everyone is an individual.

On another level, group isolation is the only way we can overcome prejudice and racism.

And on this level, individualism is an illusion.

Every ethnic group that ever came to this country and flourished did so by sticking together. Blacks overcame slavery with this community-oriented way of life.

However, many blacks believe that the struggle ended in the sixties when the government awarded them their civil rights. If only this were true.

Today, almost half a century after the civil rights movement, the black community is disproportionately poor and uneducated. Many blacks believe that an education is the key to increasing earning potential. But going to school, alas, is still a racially charged event.

Should one attend a big name white institution or an HBCU? Status quo aside, what is the big difference? The truth is there is a lot of money in education.

By stratifying the market the big guys can increase their earning potential. Employers will seldom take this into consideration however. But if you are unqualified one can hardly blame the employer.

So why wouldn’t you be qualified if HBCUs are just as good as any other school? Individualism. Many students come to HBCUs believing that the education is inferior. They have already defeated themselves. They go through the motions half-heartedly, thinking only of themselves.

They graduate knowing only a small portion of what was taught because they viewed education as an unwelcome obligation rather than a cherished privilege. They don’t care about the reputation of the institution or the students who have to come behind them.

So. There you are, hot shot, sitting at your brand new cubicle with absolutely no idea of what it is that you have been hired to do. Your boss soon discovers that you don’t know what you are doing and you lose your job.

They remember you as the unqualified N. C. Central University graduate.

As a result of your poor performance, all other applications from our cherished alma mater go directly to the bottom of the pile.