Black people in Mississippi have many challenges. Poor health, poor education, high infant mortality, unemployment, incarceration, early death and violent crime affect us more than any other people in America. Some of our problems are due to bad choices. However, for the most part our condition is the consequence of slavery, segregation and discrimination. These institutions, or their legacies, work to limit our human potential.
After the civil war, three educational institutions were created for black people; two were founded to keep black people out of white schools; the third was founded by black men to educate former slaves but was eventually sold to Mississippi and used to keep black people out of white schools.
Despite their “official” purpose, these institutions survived great hostility to stand as the sole social economic and education foundations for the future of black people in Mississippi.
Much like the constituents they primarily serve, Alcorn, Valley and JSU are poorer than the other Mississippi schools, even though their economic and educational responsibilities are much greater. Being black, they do not have the same access to wealth as the other schools. They pay less to their faculties and staffs, offer fewer scholarships to scholars, have less attractive facilities and generally struggle from day to day to compete at the highest levels. Is it any wonder that the “white” Mississippi universities become blacker every day?
In the so called “post racial” America the need for HBCUs is in question; even black people are raising the question, if not with their voices then with their tuition dollars.
I have no questions about the need for HBCUs. HBCUs are still the last line of defense against the legacy of slavery and the ravages of institutional racism. We make successes out of young people who are tracked by society for failure. It is a labor of love where love is essential and victories are hard won. Imagine how much more tragic our condition would be if HBCUs were not here.
There is a real possibility that Mississippi’s HBCUs may disappear within our lifetime. Years of underfunding and lack of access to wealth have taken their toll. The gap between us and the other Mississippi schools continues to widen, as does the gap between black Mississippi and white Mississippi.
The draconian budget cuts over the next two years will widen the gap even more because the HBCUs do not have well funded charitable support foundations capable of easing the pain. In addition, the behind the scenes centralization of resources, elimination and reshuffling of programs and planned reduction of Ayers funds suggest the real possibility that HBCUs, the economic and educational foundations for the future of black people, will be lost, minimized or become shadows of their former selves.
It is a crisis, but there is always opportunity in crisis. Some state officials are moving to reorganize state institutions in ways that they feet will benefit the State. We should do the same for ourselves with our universities. For the sake of our children, I think it is time we consider joining forces. If we stand alone we are more vulnerable than we have ever been. If we come together as one, we have a fighting chance.
Mississippi’s big three should be the big four. We should create a new HBCU. I would call it Jacobs State University after H. P. Jacobs, a slave who taught himself to read and write, escaped with his family to Canada, came to Mississippi after the Civil War and founded two great Mississippi institutions, the Mississippi Baptist Convention and Natchez Seminary, which ultimately became Jackson State University.
Jacobs State University would include Alcorn College, Mississippi Valley College and Jackson College, each with a specific role and purpose.
I suggest that the mascot for Jacobs State should be the Egyptian Phoenix, a mythical bird that lives a thousand years, burns in flame and rises from the ashes to start a new thousand year cycle. Legend holds that the Phoenix had a three colored tail: purple, green and blue.
Jacobs State would be the largest HBCU in America. It would be greater than the sum of the parts; a better nurtured tree sprung from three roots. It would weather the storm of the cuts, have better paid people, support more black contractors, play better football, raise more money, and have a unified alumni and political base. It would be the next generation of HBCUs, a national model for uplifting black people.
For those who say this is just another version of the merger proposal, in many ways they are correct. However there are differences. This would be something decided by us for us. It would be our action as opposed to the typical reaction. It would involve creating and building, as opposed to whittling and fading away. A new university would not force two into one, but unite the family to create a fighting chance for a better future.
Our reaction to the current merger proposals is appropriate. History has taught us to be cautious when we are told what’s best for us, even if someone like me is doing the telling, let alone white folks, however, given the predictability of their demise, one wonders why the merger proposals in the legislature were offered in the first place.
Perhaps someone caught wind of my idea and thought they were doing me a favor. Perhaps having us worry about the merger is better than having us focus on the reorganization of programs and resources. The more likely possibility is that they are using us to kill something that they really don’t want to happen.
I did not attend Alcorn, Valley or JSU, but I love them all because we share the same struggle. I understand that emotions run deep, and that I am probably less emotional than alumni about the colors purple, green and blue. I have fervor however about lifting up our people. I am passionate about preserving and strengthening an educational and economic foundation for the future of our people. I therefore feel duty bound to offer my view of our situation, however, the ultimate decision of whether we work together or, in my opinion, die apart, belongs to the faculty, staff, students and alumni of Alcorn,Valley and JSU.
I have great empathy and respect for the importance of being purple, green and blue. Their institutions’ accomplishments can be commemorated and traditions preserved; however, at this moment in history, I truly believe that it is critically important to be black first.
-Ronald Mason, Jr.
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