Damn! Here it is February 19, 2009 and I am just realizing that we are in the midst of black history month. Never mind we get the shortest month of the year for our stories to be told but black history month should be abolished. Why should we be treated special? Affirmative Action opponents must be having a damn field day that blacks get a set aside.
Growing up, all we learned about black history was that we were once slaves and now considered extinct farm machinery. It’s as if black people never existed until whites needed a cheap labor pool. We we were also taught about Martin Luther King Jr. And on occasion there were brief lessons on Benjamin Banneker, W.E.B. Du Bois, and George Washington Carver. Forget Lewis Latimer who invented the carbon filament that went inside Edison’s light bulb. Never mind Garrett Morgan who invented the gas mask and the first traffic lamp.
The point here is that we have a shared history and the fabric of our history should be interwoven. Maybe that one black kid on the brink of giving up would be inspired to learn more if the curriculum accurately reflected our shared history. We all know of the contributions that blacks have made to this country. It does them a great injustice to be compartmentalized into one month. Our history, our American history should be taught the entire school year.
Do you know who the women is pictured above? By the way, we have a great resource here in Tallahassee regarding black history. If you get the chance, please visit the Black Archives on the campus of Florida A&M University. You’ll be amazed! eehard told you so!
The Marching 100 was number 7 in the parade lineup. That is a noteable distinction for a band participating in an inaugural parade. It means that you are an upper echelon band to go off in the first section. Unfortunately, because of the delay of the starting of the parade, the band was unable to perform a two minute routine for Mr. Obama.
Please help send America’s band to Washington, DC to participate in this historic inauguration! No donation is too small! Your heart will be filled with pride as Tallahassee’s own Marching 100 marches down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the Capitol. Please go to www.famu.edu to contribute! Thank you!
“I’d like to renew the discussion with a look at the role of HBCUs in an Obama-era United States. It is not a question about their legitimacy or need; this is a question of how the role, function and even existence of HBCUs across the country will change as we continue to break down barriers.”
First of all, why must we refer to FAMU as a historically black college or university? It is simply another institution of higher learning. Is FSU or the University of Florida considered historically white universities? We need not get into the ugly history why FAMU was founded but focus on its mission. Since it opened in 1887 its mission was to provide the best possible education for those students who wished to attend. In 2008, nothing has changed. Its mission is still to provide the best possible education for its students.
It’s role is to also provide an alternative to those students who do not want to attend what you call a mainstream university although I fail to see how FAMU is not in the mainstream. Call it what it is. FAMU is a predominately black university with a diverse student body and faculty. There are some people, believe it or not who don’t want to go to a perdominatntly white university. I am one of them. Not because I harbor any hostility but because of the environment that lets me speak freely that is not hostile to what I have to say. And a lot of what I have to say would probably get me into some type of trouble at a FSU or the UF.
We may have elected the first black president of the United States of America but 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour in America. Come back with your question after I see 2 black people leaving the First Baptist Church or a white person leaving Bethel AME Church.
There will always be a need for Florida A&M because the people of Florida recognize it’s importance to the community. Oh, in the future watch how you phrase your statements. You stated the there was no need to question the need or legitimatcy of FAMU then question the need for its existence as well as other black universities in the same paragraph. I think that you are smart enough to know the answer to your own question.
As Lee Corso from ESPN’s College Gameday show would say “Not so fast my friend!” Today’s Democrat published an article on the graduation rates of black students from various colleges around the state of Florida. I want to focus on two schools in particular, Florida A&M University and Florida State University. The article was written by Angeline Taylor who covers FAMU. http://tallahassee.com/article/20081222/NEWS01/812220321 I find her coverage to be biased and basically, I hate the bitch! In fact, this story has been around the block before. The Saint Petersburg Times did a similar story last year. http://www.sptimes.com/2007/11/19/State/More_blacks_succeed_a.shtml
Out of the 41,000 students that were enrolled at FSU in the fall of 2007, 4,392 were identified as black. That makes the perctange of blacks at FSU as 10.7% of the population. If we divide that number by 4 we have a total of 1098 students in each class. This is not scientific but you can see where I am going with this. So if FSU is graduating 70% of it’s black students, that means that they are graduating roughly 700 blacks students per year assuming that their enrollment is static. http://www.ir.fsu.edu/student/enrollment.cfm?ID=eth
The latest statistics I could find for FAMU are for the 2005 enrollment year in which the student population stood at 12,157. That would put each class at around 3039 students. Blacks made up 91.45 of the population. During that school year 1,933 degrees were awarded which included 1,302 at the baccalaureate level. That is a distinction that I did not make with the FSU stats. http://www.famu.edu/index.cfm?a=oir
My numbers may be a little off but Taylor’s notion that FSU has graduated more blacks than any other school in a six year period in the nation is misleading. The numbers simply don’t add up. While I do not want to take away from the high percentage rate that FSU has achieved. The precept ion that FSU has ever produced more black graduates than FAMU is disingenuous at best and a downright lie at worst.
While FAMU can certainly emulate some of FSU’s success one also has to realize that FAMU does not have the resources that FSU has. We certainly have to work on retention but there are services available at FAMU that are also available at FSU. The Summer Studies program at FAMU would be comparable to FSU’s early admission program. This is not intended to be a FAMU vs. FSU piece rather than one to show that both schools have room for improvement. But the facts must be presented in an honest fashion and not be skewed.
