THE POWER OF BLACK EXCELLENCE

An academic history of the multipolar role of HBCUs and their long-term effects on civic engagement.

In this follow-up to Citizens by Degree, Rose, a professor of public policy and political science at Duke, provides a solid combination of in-depth statistical analysis and participation-based interviews. The author effectively establishes how they “have provided Black Americans with access to knowledge, skills, and opportunities needed to drive socioeconomic progress.” Furthermore, she writes, “as centers of Black excellence and amplifiers of Black voices and ideas, Black colleges represented a powerful threat to White supremacy.” Rose begins with the emergence of HBCUs in the mid-19th century and their central role in Black aspirations against the explicit marginalization of Jim Crow, then moves through the civil rights legislation of the mid-1960s. She shows how, over the decades, “government support for HBCUs pales in comparison to lawmakers’ esteem,” and she tracks a complex, intriguing narrative of these institutions’ progress during Reconstruction, followed by violent backlash as segregationist attitudes hardened. Despite their numerous obstacles, the author terms these hardy schools “essential institutional structures that made scholarly resistance to racism possible.” Prior to the Civil Rights era (in which students were engaged), the schools were not seen as interconnected; the apparent post-1960s openness of “predominantly White colleges” led to a “dramatic reimagining of their central purpose.” The bonding experienced by students at HBCUs demonstrates their continued relevance; despite the greater diversity other schools now embrace, they remain “uniquely empowering spaces.” Overall, Rose concludes, “HBCUs have played a central role cultivating highly engaged Black citizens.” Though occasionally dry, the discussion is informative, based on surveys and statistics and the author’s wise use of anecdotal recollections by multigenerational subjects.

Substantive documentation of the underestimated, long-term effect of these unique colleges on Black life and success.