HBCUs have struggled for survival since their very founding. That many of these schools emerged in the midst of racial struggle is magnified by the embattled path that many HBCUs have taken to arrive at the present day.
Black Identity Development/Development
Though the factors are many, some of the strengths of same-race environments in supporting student development and in turn academic success may be explained by examining racial identity development models. William Cross' black racial identity development model outlines five stages in racial identity development: pre-encounter, encounter, immersion/emersion, internalization, and internalization-commitment (Tatum, 1997). In the pre-encounter stage, blacks identify with white culture and tend to reject or deny membership in black culture. This stage has relatively little bearing on the impact of same-race environments. Stages two through four, however, do. The encounter stage (stage two) is marked by rejection of white culture and seeking identification with black culture; in the immersion/emersion stage (stage three), blacks completely identify with black culture and denigrate white culture; stage four, internalization, is marked by the internalization of black culture and the beginning of ability to transcend racism. Each of these stages is marked by black students' choices to be in predominantly or all-black environments, while the final stage, internalization-commitment, is marked by reintegration.
1923
Students at Florida A&M University, an HBCU, stage a three-month protest — including boycotting classes and firebombing a building — to demand the resignation of the institution’s president, who accommodated segregation policies.
1925
Fisk University students hold a 10-week strike after their president refuses to let them establish an NAACP chapter on campus.
1937
HBCU students from across the U.S. and other young activists convene in Chicago to form the Southern Negro Youth Congress to advance equal rights in education and other causes.
MAY 1969: Police officers and the National Guard raid dorm rooms, deploy tear gas, and open fire on demonstrators at North Carolina A&T University, an HBCU. Freshman Willie Grimes is killed.
MAY 14 1970: Phillip Gibbs, a junior, and James Earl Green, a high school student, are killed and 12 demonstrators wounded at Jackson State University, an HBCU, during what officers claim was a violent protest. Witnesses deny the accusation.
1971
The University of Florida’s Black Student Union stages multiple demonstrations after officials refuse to establish a Black Cultural Center or take other measures to improve campus climate. Nearly 70 are arrested or suspended for occupying the president’s office and more than 100 African American students withdraw.
By the end of the Black Campus Movement in 1972, 13 students had been killed during campus demonstrations and more than 100 college presidents ousted. It is estimated that students at 1,000 institutions across 49 states engaged in campus activism to demand better treatment and support of African American students, employees, and communities during this time period. Their efforts soon spurred similar movements for other marginalized student groups and helped propel the ongoing struggle for equity in higher education.