Abstract
In HBCU culture, the Battle of the Bands is a competition between school marching bands to determine the “best of the best”. It is a cultural celebration that symbolizes friendly competition and showcases students’ pride in their school. Unfortunately, since their inception, Historically Black Colleges, and Universities (“HBCUs”) have been battling for legitimacy in America’s higher education system. From the beginning, HBCUs were often the only place African Americans could receive an education. Today, HBCUs are known for creating some of the most successful Black graduates and serve as a safe haven for Black students seeking an education in an environment with people who look like them. But public HBCUs from the beginning have been underfunded, intentionally shut down, and negatively affected by state and federal government legislation. This Note tracks the founding of HBCUs. Next, this Note argues that the original purpose of HBCUs was never to be equal to white institutions but to keep Black people out of state land-grant institutions that were founded to train poor whites to create a middle class of managers. Through evaluating the Supreme Court’s education jurisprudence and legislative history, this Note concludes by suggesting new ways to ensure that all public HBCUs are properly funded to give the institutions a fighting chance in continuing to educate America’s youth.
Recommended Citation
Jasmine Cooper,
Battle of the Lands: The Creation of Land Grant Institutions and HBCUs – Fostering a Still Separate and Still Unequal Higher Education System,
30 Wash. & Lee J. Civ. Rts. & Soc. Just. 247
(2024).
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/crsj/vol30/iss2/8
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