While Jim Clyburn, U.S. Representative of South Carolina's 6th district endorsement of Hillary Clinton was no surprise, his stated reasoning for doing so was. For weeks now, Representative Clyburn has been making the argument that Bernie Sanders' plan to provide tuition free college to all Americans would destroy historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Clyburn said, the HBCUs wouldn't be able to compete under the Vermont Senator's plan. Apparently Rep. Clyburn has little faith in the very institutions he holds so dear.
In an interview with Buzz Feed, Clyburn says: "You've got to think about the consequences of things. If you start handing out two years of free college at public institutions are you ready for the Black and private HBCUs to close down? That's what's going to happen. Tougaloo College in Mississippi will be closed if you can go to Jackson State for free." Sounding the alarm, Jim Clyburn wants African Americans to know Bernie Sanders' plan would threaten the very existence of a piece of African Americana.
While it's hard to imagine the demise of historically Black colleges and universities in the America, one should find it even harder to imagine a Black politician with so little faith in HBCUs competitiveness. Many Black people could find Jim Clyburn's remarks and rationale to be insulting, shortsighted and rooted in a plantation mentality still firmly implanted in the minds of the intellectually stunted. And Mr. Clyburn exposed himself as having that plantation mentality.
To suggest HBCUs can't compete with comparably funded "White" institutions for students, is to ignore the uniquely Black learning experience HBCUs offer that can't be found elsewhere. To suggest Black people wouldn't see the value in supporting and preserving HBCUs is to ignore racial tension exploding on colleges campuses all over the nation. To suggest HBCUs couldn't be made free too, might be dishonest. But worst of all, to suggest Black students would bolt from HBCUs en masse to enroll in "White" institutions, is to imply HBCUs are inferior to comparable "White" institutions of higher learning.
Considering its Black History month, perhaps Rep Clyburn could be reminded of the unending list of proud, Black alumni representing the HBCUs. Graduates like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, actor Samuel L. Jackson, movie director Spike Lee, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jey Johnson, and physicist, space scientist and mathematician, Katherine Johnson all have done their people proud.
No Mr Clyburn, institutions like Howard University, Spelman College, Hampton University, Tuskeegee University as well as the other 102 Black colleges and universities can more than stand on their own in a tuition free environment. If these institutions could attract and educate Black students when most Blacks couldn't afford the cost of higher learning at any price, they can certainly keep them coming for free.
Bottom line: Why Representative Clyburn threw his support behind Hillary Clinton's presidential bid is his own business, but frightening African Americans into supporting lower college loan rates over a free tuition option seems suspiciously like politically inspired fear mongering. To be a shill for Hillary Clinton is one thing, but to ignore alternatives to college debt, while steering one's people toward it, is a bit shady. Podcast below!
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