Earlier this week, television talk show host, Wendy Williams, decided to take it upon herself to question why there are no historically white colleges since we have HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and why there are no national organizations for white people since we have national organizations specifically created for Black people. When I watched the Wendy Williams snippet, I was honestly confused by how a host of a nationally syndicated talk show can go on air being so ignorant while making ill-informed statements. Wendy Williams tried to cover her tracks by making it clear that racism was alive and well, but she made broad statements like "It starts in the home", when in reality, racism is much more than a person saying that they don't like Black people. Racism is when Black people can be executed in the streets by police officers and instead of receiving justice, their character gets torn into pieces while people search for any and everything that will excuse the malicious intent of the police officer. Local, state, and national governments do not hold any value to Black lives, way more needs to be done than simply teaching a child that racism is wrong and that every person deserves the same respect. Side note: That is the bare minimum and anybody who does that does not deserve a cookie or "Parent of The Year" award.
Journalist Roland Martin quickly swooped in and gathered Wendy Williams, along with her wig, and bunked all of her loosely formed statements by stating facts about HBCUs and national organizations for Black people like the NAACP. Martin made it clear that there is a distinction between a school that is considered to be a HBCU and a school that is predominately Black. For example, Spelman College in Atlanta, GA is a HBCU that is also predominately Black. Lincoln University in Pennsylvania is a HBCU that is predominately white.
HBCUs were created because Black people were not allowed to receive a formal education elsewhere. The history of Blacks struggling to integrate into these white universities is honestly more recent than many believe. These events happened in the 1960s and 1970s, within the lifespan of many of our parents. Even though colleges around the United States cannot use race as a determining factor of admissions, schools like the University of Alabama and the University of Missouri still have Black students who suffer from racial discrimination. Many Black students at these universities do not feel as if their university actually cares about their well-being as much as white students. Many Black students decide to attend HBCUs for that reason. College is stressful enough. The last thing you need is to walk around your own campus, feeling as if you do not belong. Every single Black person at a predominately white institution does not feel that way, but enough do to which it could be seen as a common occurrence.
Roland Martin also touched on a major point about the NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People-many of the founders of the NAACP were white. White people are involved within the NAACP. It is not a club that says "For Blacks Only". All people are welcomed as long as they support the mission and vision of the national organization. It should be noted that organizations that are specifically created to support Black people do not promote the killing or systematic mistreatment of white people. The Ku Klux Klan is a terrorist organization that focuses on the rights of white people and "taking their country back", even though the United States does not belong to white people to begin with, but you know. The Ku Klux Klan is an organization that promotes the tearing down of Black people and other minorities in order for white people to prosper and to save their "culture", which is bitten off of any and all things Black. How can Wendy Williams ask a hypothetical question when there really is an organization that promotes the "rights" (using that word loosely) of white people?
Wendy Williams made misinformed statements that should not have been made. All you have to do is read a book, watch a video, turn on the news, follow some reliable news sources on Twitter, read a fact-filled Tumblr post, pretty much anything and you will realize why there are organizations made to promote the rights of Black people and why HBCUs are still a necessity. Wendy Williams should honestly stick with her TMZ sourced stories and leave the serious discussions to somebody else.
