May 15, 2017

Months After Meeting with HBCU Presidents, Trump Still Giving Mixed Messages on Black Colleges
By Jane Kennedy

CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond (D-La.)

U. S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.)

Dr. Lezli Baskerville, President/CEO, NAFEO

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Repeatedly during his first 100 days, President Donald J. Trump signaled to the leaders and supporters of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that the federal support on which HBCUs depend would remain a priority under his administration.

One sign of hope was an executive order that the president signed in February to move the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities from the Education Department to the White House, which some believed was an indication that HBCUs would indeed continue to be a priority under the new administration that had been expressed by the President.

But, doubts surfaced just weeks later after dozens of HBCU presidents and leaders met with the President in the Oval Office Feb. 27 for a meeting that was widely panned as little more than a photo op. That same month, Education Secretary Betsey DeVos was heavily criticized for a statement in which she praised HBCUs as “real pioneers when it comes to school choice”.

HBCUs were actually birthed from legalized racial segregation when African-Americans had no choice but to attend Black schools. It was, in part, the aftermath of that statement that caused graduates at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach to boo and turn their backs on DeVos in protest as she began their commencement speech May 10.

Still, the Trump administration has sent yet another troubling message concerning HBCUs, contained in a signing statement connected to a temporary federal spending measure. The statement said, "Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program Account" among other funds, the order said, “My Administration shall treat provisions that allocate benefits on the basis of race, ethnicity, and gender…in a manner consistent with the requirement to afford equal protection of the laws under the Due Process Clause of the Constitution's Fifth Amendment.”

This HBCU Capital Financing Program Account, which provides HBCUs with funding at reasonable rates to build new and renovate infrastructure on their aging campuses, was created in 1992 as part of the Higher Education Act passed by Congress. According to Black lawmakers and other HBCU advocates, race is not a criteria and to qualify for the loans the schools must meet standards based on mission, accreditation status and the year an institution was established.

Hours after the White House released the signing statement, Michigan Rep. John Conyers, who is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond (D-Louisiana) issued a joint response that questioned both Trump’s understanding of the Capital Financing Program and his commitment to HBCUs.

“Trump’s statement is not only misinformed factually, it is not grounded in any serious constitutional analysis,” it read. “For a president who pledged to reach out to African-American and other minorities, this statement is stunningly careless and divisive. We urge him to reconsider immediately.”

Dr. Lezli Baskerville, president/CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), in a lengthy statement noted that HBCUs serve diverse student bodies.

“Since their founding, HBCUs have been open to, welcoming and supportive of persons from all races, ethnicities, religions, and both genders except for the gender-specific HBCUs,” she said. “HBCUs enroll roughly 30% of non-African American students. Their faculty is more than 40% non African American. Today 5 HBCUs are more than 50% non-African American. At least one is majority Hispanic serving. One is being shepherded by a white female president.”

If the administration were to withdraw from the program, she added, it would be “devastating to these equal opportunity institutions to whose presidents and chancellors President Trump pledged the largest investments in their history.”

The President has hastened to clarify the signing statement and assuage his critics, stating that the signing statement “does not affect my unwavering support for HBCUs and their critical education missions.” Noting the executive order he signed in February to strengthen their capacity, he said his commitment “remains unchanged.”

On that, Baskerville is willing to give Trump the benefit of doubt and told the Trice Edney News Wire that DeVos’ decision to deliver her first commencement speech at an HBCU “is an important indication that this administration understands the centrality of HBCUs to the realization of many of its priority goals, including its education, workforce, economic stimulus, urban and rural revitalization, and infrastructure development goals.” Baskerville also said that the experience will help DeVos become an “even more potent voice” for HBCUs.

But, Conyers and Richmond aren’t buying it:

“Sadly and shamefully, HBCUs, including the schools that President Trump met with, are left to wonder whether he wants to help or hurt them,” they said in the joint statement. “If President Trump really wants to help HBCUs, he’ll implement the proposals the CBC has suggested to him in several letters, including the letter we sent him on April 27, calling for robust funding for a host of programs that support students served by these schools.”

May 14, 2017

May 15, 2017

By Frederick H. Lowe

Obama Presidential Museum

May 14, 2017

Blackonomics

Know Better, Do Better, or No Better for Us 
By James Clingman

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The National Urban League’s (NUL) 2017 “State of Black America” (SOBA) report was released on May 2, 2017; it is titled, “Protect our Progress,” and again contains the “Inequality Index.  Since 1963 the NUL has used the mantra, “To be Equal,” as part of its overall goal.  I have questioned that goal for a long time because, while it may be laudable in an economic sense, it is totally unrealistic.  Why should we chase something as elusive as “equality” with Whites on any level, especially when they control upwards of 90% of the resources in this nation.

Also, juxtaposing the NUL quixotic venture to “be equal” against the report by the Corporation for Economic Development and the Institute for Policy Studies, that cites, “If current trends persist, it will take 228 years for black families to accumulate the same amount of wealth as whites,” the futility of the NUL goal is more than obvious.  To rub salt on our wounds, that same report also stated, “For Latino families, it will take 84 years.”  Put that point into your Equality Index pipe and smoke it.

I say without equivocation that the NUL report is substantive, informative, professionally written, and packed with statistics from which we all can learn and move forward.  It’s not just about economic issues; it also covers criminal justice, housing, education, and other critical issues that need our attention.

However, it would be better if it was the first one issued by the NUL, but it has been issued for forty-one years now. Again, it’s good information, but Black folks still suffer from the same problems and have been in the same comparative collective status for four decades.

A few more data points from the SOBA and, as the preachers say, “The lesson will be yours.”  Of course if we fail to heed the lesson, it’s all for naught.  Our penchant for 140 characters belies the necessity to read much beyond that, but I hope you will get a copy  of the NUL report, READ it, draw your own conclusions, and develop your own action plans to address our problems appropriately.

Here is an interesting paragraph in the report:  “Over the past 30 years, the average household wealth of white families has grown 85% to $656,000, while that of blacks has climbed just 27 percent to $85,000 and Latinos 69 percent to $98,000.

And another:  “The report comes on the heels of a detailed proposal released by Black Lives Matter activists, which outlined specific economic demands including ‘restructuring the tax code’ to ‘raise the estate tax’ and ‘capital gains tax’ and end income caps on payroll taxes that fund Social Security and unemployment.” Trump’s plan does away with the estate tax and lowers the capital gains tax.  It also eliminates the Alternative Minimum Tax, which in 2005 added over $31 million to Trump’s tax bill.  So how are those “demands” working out for Black Lives Matter?

The SOBA states, “The 2017 [NUL] Equality Index provides a veritable ‘line in the sand’ from which to measure where the country goes from here...As the [NUL] continues to press the case for closing the divide in economic opportunity, education, health, social justice and civic engagement…” The report goes on to point out, “Change often happens slowly. The Equality Index offers solid evidence of just how slowly change happens, making it an important tool for driving policies needed in the ongoing fight against inequality.”  “Slowly”?  I’d say.  228 years is a long time.

Finally, the SOBA cites its Main Street Marshall Plan as a “bold, strategic investment in America’s urban communities that protects our progress…a sweeping and decisive solution to our nation’s persistent social and economic disparities.”  Dr. Ron Daniels has advocated for a Marshall Plan for America’s “dark ghettos” for longer than I can remember.

Dr. Bernard E. Anderson, Professor Emeritus, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Presidential Economic Advisor, wrote, “The proposed Trump budget would be devastating for the Main Street Marshall Plan…It would do little to accelerate economic growth, reduce long-term unemployment, expand economic opportunity for minority group workers, or ease the burden on low-income families.”

Further, Anderson writes, “The budget proposal threatens to truncate the modest, but steady progress the economy has made over the last eight years, and would make the struggle to erase racial inequality increasingly difficult.”

I don’t know about the NUL et al, but I’ll take reparations and call it square.  Chasing nirvana and Camelot, where all is good and everyone is equal, will continue to be a chase without end as well as a poor use of our precious time.  It’s not our place to initiate dialogues and conversations to change the hearts of racists and eliminate racism; operating from a position of weakness and dependency, we will never meet those ideals.  We must take care of ourselves and not be diverted by ancillary and peripheral issues.  “To be equal”?  Naah, I’ll take economic empowerment.