Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

An obvious method to use to
secure the necessary money would
be an appeal to the Negro populace
to support a worthy cause . An average
contribution of one dollar
for every Negro in the United
States would furnish working capital-sixteen
or seventeen million
dollars . But will enough Negroes
contribute sufficiently generously
to a single university? I fear,
pessimistically, that this ideal institution
must continue to depend
partially upon contributions from
white patrons-federal or private
-who traditionally weaken in generosity
as a Negro institution gains
in affluence .
Of course, in a black state or a
black nation, it would be possible
to secure sufficient money by a
minimal tax . But I must make clear
that I am not considering a black
state or nation on the continent of
North America . Although I would
be happy to be part of a nation
where a black man might be elected
president in 1968, I do not judge
such a nation to be practicable in
North America, where it would begin
300 years behind the other
countries, where its creation would
require uprooting settled people,
and where its existence might depend
upon "conscience-contributions"
from people notoriously
untroubled by conscience when
comfort and cash are at stake .
No . I must discuss the possibilities
of an ideal institution for
Negroes within the United States.
To secure sufficient money, such an
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institution must discover a way to
tap the pocketbooks of moneyed
Negroes as no other Negro cause
has succeeded in doing . All methods
must be used-collections in
churches, dances by fraternal organizations,
door to door soliciting,
telephone and mail canvassing,
raffles . And the solicitors must
have substantial arguments to offset
the prejudice against higher
education, the disinterest in national
causes, and the suspicion of
solicitors .
CURRICULA
In considering second the question
of what the Negro student
should learn, I am merely giving
high priority to the complaint of
Negro students that they learn too
little about themselves and about
ways to improve their community .
Although I admit the justice of the
charge, I cannot blame anyone except
Negro faculty members-myself
included Unimaginatively, we,
like thousands of white educators,
have reproduced for our students
the same education which we
received . We have wanted our
students to possess the kind of
knowledge respected by the semiintegrated
society which will surround
them after graduation . But
we have failed to realize sufficiently
the need to provide them with ad-
March 1968 NEGRO DIGEST