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I did not receive/attain my college degree from a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) and have always felt I received stellar education from the "Top Ten" university I attended. However, in my latter years, I have met and befriended graduates of HBCUs that have expressed the pride, esteem, character and confidence-building they received in their HBCU classrooms, in addition to academic instruction; the profound experience of being taught and trained by intelligent African American professionals/instructors-educators that had a professional as well as personal interest and investment in their lives and success; being surrounded by and educated w/ predominantly African American students with the common goal of enriching and enhancing themselves.
As a result of these experiences and discussions w/ my HBCU-graduate friends, although I don't have children, I have always pondered over whether I would automatically send my children to an HBCU, allow them to make their own choices/selections, and if they were to choose an HBCU, whether I would support their choice, since I attended a mainstream university and turned out just fine. My HBCU-graduate friends are resolute about sending their children to HBCUs; a subject/selection/choice that is non-negotiable. I pose this query w/ some reservation, since I understand selecting "the best" college or university for one’s child is subjective, relative and specifically tailored to a family's individual needs, circumstances and concerns. There are so many factors that must be considered when deciding which college or university to select, in general, I'm sure the HBCU reflection is an even greater challenge or dilemma for African American parents.
I think it's going to depend very much on the child, their interests, and their maturity. I think that if they have specialized interests (computers, engineering, accounting) it would probably be advantageous to send them to a specialized school. For a more general education/ liberal studies type of person i suppose .
I'm not black and I don't really know how the HBCU fits into the modern African American cultural identity. Racism is always changing shape in this country and it's something that all Americans have to deal with in one way or another. I'm not sure that racial makeup of a school is always relevant to consider when deciding on higher education. I would tend to think that a HBCU would have more race focused core classes... and that could be a good thing for some students.
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