Betsy DeVos is many things to many people. She’s a out-of-touch religious zealot who is also a billionaire. She’s an incompetent person who has been put in charge of directing our federal government’s public education system. Last night, after meeting with leaders from historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), DeVos released this racist revisionist historical statement:
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have done this since their founding. They started from the fact that there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education. They saw that the system wasn’t working, that there was an absence of opportunity, so they took it upon themselves to provide the solution.
HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.
My brain hurts. How about, HBCUs show that when AN opportunity is provided because of racist Jim Crow laws. The good news is that clearly Betsy DeVos wrote this herself. Today, Ms. DeVos delivered a speech at the HBCU Congressional Luncheon in Washington, D.C.
Today, your institutions are responsible for graduating the majority of African-American teachers, doctors, judges, engineers and other technological professionals.
Here’s an adult over at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund writing about HBCUs.
In Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965, Congress officially defined an HBCU as a school of higher learning that was accredited and established before 1964, and whose principal mission was the education of African Americans. HBCUs offer culture, a rich history and rigorous academic programs. Most importantly, they prepare students for leadership and life after graduation. There are 101 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the nation and nine percent of all African American college students attend HBCUs. All HBCUs play a critical role in the American system of higher education. For most of America’s history, African Americans seeking a college education could only get it from an HBCU.
HBCUs disproportionately enroll low-income, first-generation and academically underprepared college students –precisely the students that the country most needs to obtain college degrees. More than 75% of students at HBCUs rely on Pell Grants and nearly 13% rely on PLUS Loans to meet their college expenses. HBCUs have 1/8 of the average size of endowments than historically white colleges and universities. Against these odds, HBCUs historically have provided an affordable education to millions of students of color, graduating the majority of America’s African American teachers, doctors, judges, engineers, and other scientific and technological professionals.
DeVos’s attempts to keep everything all white led to some great analogies on social media.
And then something that isn’t an analogy—just a fact.