HBCU Literature Review

This statistic is important because it shows how much Chicano students have struggled in school at every grade level. Compare these numbers with the white community, “84 graduate from high school, 26 graduate with a bachelor 's degree and 10 earn a professional degree...Chicanas and Chicanos, have the lowest educational attainment of any group” there is great cause for concern (Marquez). These realities have a variety of causes as these students “usually attend racially segregated, overcrowded schools” and with “poorly maintained facilities, students are often enrolled in classes where undertrained, under credentialed faculty attempt to teach with minimal resources” many as "tracked into remedial or vocational program” (Marquez). David Scott ran data in academic performances by ethnic-studies students and states that Chicano students do better in school when having these programs available because they are a "substantial boost" for those poorest students (Scott 2012). If they don’t have these programs the result then is that “they drop out, or are pushed, out of the educational pipeline in higher numbers than any other group” (Marquez). While enrolled, “students often describe graduate school as a place where they feel invisible” as most programs “tend to be racially exclusive with predominately white students, faculty and curricula that omit Chicano histories and perspectives” (Marquez). For this reason, it is suggested by Scott for imperative

Marybeth Gasman and Ufuoma Abiola’s article Colorism Within the Historically Black Colleges and Universities it investigates the significant of color prejudice at HBCUs. This article examines the origins, manifestations and damaging results of colorism on black college campuses. In this article the authors are trying to find a way to solve the problem of colorism at HBCUs and create an environment where students can be success regardless of whether they are dark skin or light skin. After they do this they offer recommendations for future research.

Racial diversity is something that is often discussed on college campuses. As a student who self-identifies as a minority in more ways than one I often feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the subject of racism and race. However, often times when these issue are discussed I learn something new; this was the case when reading the articles this week. This week’s articles examined the issue of race from different perspectives. This allowed me to re-examine the issue in a fuller manner; it also allowed me to question some of my own notions that I hadn’t really challenged before.

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), there are 101 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965 defines HBCUs as “…any historically Black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of Black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation” (US Department of Education, 2017). It is important to note that unlike other Minority Serving Institutions, HBCUs, are only one of two types of institutions (Tribal Colleges & Universities or TCUs are the other) federally designated by law and therefore, cannot increase in number with an act of Congress (Li, 2007). In other words, every time an HBCU closes its doors, we get one step closer to the elimination of the historical and consequential institutions.

Studies have demonstrated that these feelings of frustration and anger as a result of experiencing racial microagressions are common among students of colors who attend colleges with a majority population that is white. The research suggests that Black college students experience race-related stress differently than general daily hassles associated with college. As a result Black students typically report higher levels of life events stress, like racial discrimination and financial stress,

Generally, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are located in predominately black, low-wealth communities. The geographical location of the HBCUs map to these vulnerable populations. In 2013, (eight-years post Katrina and 21 years after the 17 foundational principles were published) the first ever HBCU Climate Change student conference was held at Dillard University’s Deep South Center for Environmental Justice in Baton Rouge, LA. Spearheaded from the work of Dr. Bullard, this Conference seeks to answer questions on climate-related health disparities in addition to extreme weather phenomena. In 2012 in the Environmental Challenges and Vulnerable Communities report, Dr. Bullard warned that communities of color face a "perfect

The physical and mental ramifications of racial discrimination have been the subjects of scholarly inquiry. Health disparities between different racial groups have been well established in the literature (Williams, 2003). Specifically, scholars have examined the disparate death rates between African Americans and White Americans (Kung, Hoyert, Xu & Murphy, 2008), racial differences in blood pressure (Williams & Neighbors, 2001), and racial differences in cardiovascular disease (Wyatt et al., 2003). Furthermore, researchers have investigated the role of everyday discrimination on self-rated physical health among Latina/os (Molina, Alegria, & Mahalingam, 2013). To address the issue, the authors examined data collected from the National Latina/o

Currently, we have yet to see adequate accommodations to Latinx culture within the public preparatory education system here in the U.S. Speaking on my behalf, I did not receive much enlightenment relative to this field as our history courses were simply focused on the founding fathers of our nation (and revolved around the American Revolution against the British.) In fact, it was until my undergraduate years here at the university where I enrolled myself as a Latinx/Mexican-American Studies minor and began to familiarize myself with my identity and the long history behind my culture. Even then, it has come to my attention that there are a select few universities that offer Latinx studies and courses similar to A&M’s. As a first-generation minority student enrolled at a pre-dominantly white institution, I can vouch for myself to say I carry a different perspective of the world that may differ than most of my peers due to my upbringing. Coming from a low-income community with inadequate resources and conditions, I found myself closely relating to the narrative that

American society likes to believe that race relations in our country are no longer strained. We do not want to hear about the need for affirmative action or about the growing numbers of white supremacist groups. In order to appease our collective conscious, we put aside the disturbing fact that racism is alive and well in the great U.S.A. It hides in the workplace, it subtly shows its ugly face in the media, and it affects the education of minority students nationwide. In the following excerpts from an interview with a middle class African American male, the reader will find strong evidence that race plays a major role in determining the type and quality of education a student receives.

This shows that African American students were deeply troubled by the racial incidents. The racial incidents affected students both emotionally and mentally, so much so that some black students did not attend their classes since they did not feel safe. One student tweeted, “my head hurts, I’m exhausted, I’m currently emotionally unavailable, and I’m behind my coursework. This is not like me” (Kenz). These events not only show that racism exists, but also show that there is a lack of cultural competence on Xavier’s campus, which needs to be

I also worked on three independent research projects, under the supervision of Dr. Jeanett Castellanos, for two years and two quarters; that is, examining the association between the Latina/o undergraduate commuter experience and their academic persistence; exploring Latino male undergraduate students’ academic micro-successes; and investigating the association between the psychosociocultural variables and both the relationship satisfaction and well-being of Latina/o undergraduate students in romantic relationships. For these projects, I developed a thorough open-ended interview protocol and interviewed participants, coded patterns and themes, strengthened my writing skills, submitted Institutional Review Board applications, recruited participants,

In 1954, following the Brown v. the Board of Education decision, African American students became legally able to apply for admission to previously all-White colleges and universities (Anderson, 2002). Following this legislation, many higher education institutions began to racially integrate at a considerable rate; however, racism and exclusion continued to happen within these institutions (Anderson, 2002). Mount Holyoke is a historically predominantly White women’s college that began significant racial integration following Brown, and following student sit-ins in the 1960s and 1980s, multiple cultural houses and ethnic studies programs were created on campus (Haaga, 2015). These cultural centers “provide a counterspace to facilitate [students

Literature Review: In this quantitative study, Watson, Langrehr, Zelaya and Flores (2016) aimed to investigate the relationship between multiple discriminatory experiences and insidious trauma among a sample of Women of Color (WOC). The topic is significant for the readership of the journal since it has expanded the definition of trauma and brought up a critical perspective of DSM-5 PTSD diagnosis. Researchers cogently provided literature to demonstrate the link between insidious trauma and oppressive experiences such as racism and sexism. They also included preliminary research purporting that self-esteem can be a mediator in the oppression and insidious trauma relationship. They also hypnotized and offered a research review on ethnic identity strength as a moderator in the negative relationship between multiple forms of discrimination and self-esteem, in turn, lessening to trauma symptoms. Based on these hypotheses, they clearly indicated their research questions. The literature review was composed of current research and comprehensive enough to capture the depthless of the research questions.

In a publication titled ‘Black Women in Academe’, author Yolanda Moses describes how “isolation, invisibility, hostility, indifference, and a lack of understanding of the Black women’s experiences are all too often part of the climate Black women may face on campuses” (Moses, 1989). The detrimental environment surrounding these women frequently results in sullenness, lack of social assertiveness, and belief that they are less competent than male students. Even if time spent at an academic institution is minimal, with this kind of prejudice faced at an early age, any woman- black or otherwise, would suffer the rest of their life. In response to the discrimination faced at universities, some have created programs to aid black students and other minorities; these programs tend to generalize the needs of all its black students and do not fully support black women specifically.

When focusing specifically on the discrimination of African-Americans. Racism is distinguished by three core characteristics: “denial that discrimination against African American is still a social problem; resentment about the social, educational, and political gains of minorities; and antagonism toward programs that promote social equality” (Hogan and Mallot, 2005). Hogan and Mallot use this modern racism scale to assess the impact of education and personality variables on college student’s prejudice attitudes towards African Americans. This study is interesting because it examines the type of education received among these college students and assessed whether or not the lack of diversity courses in a student’s curriculum enhanced prejudice. There was a group that had completed the race and gender course before the semester of assessment, a group that had a race a gender course in progress and a group that had not completed any type of diversity course.