Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

As northern universities continue to recruit the forgotten black students
of the ghetto, it is entirely conceivable that in the very near future,
and unless an equally concerted effort is made in the South, an overwhelming
majority of black students will be concentrated in these institutions
. And I would be hard pressed indeed to tell a black faculty
member who was recruited expressly to satisfy the needs of these students
that he should recognize his "true" obligation and teach in a black institution
. As the enrollment figures of northern black students continue
to mount, their needs cannot be denied . However, I do not feel that,
in order to satisfy the needs of increasing numbers of black students in
the North, black schools in the South should suffer . It is for this reason
that careful consideration should be given to Professor Harding's suggestions
. I shall discuss this matter shortly .
I was pleased to see Professor Harding at least acknowledged the fact
that many faculty and administrators at "predominantly Negro" colleges
have been reluctant to grant "that our experience as a people was worthy
of serious academic exploration ." In the final analysis, this obstacle has
to be overcome if Professor Harding's suggestions are to be seriously
entertained . Only a few black schools have the orientation which would
permit immediate implementation of his proposal . We cannot ignore the
rigid resistance to change described by Nathan Hare, Gwendolyn Midlo
Hall and others who have taught in traditionally-oriented Negro colleges .
It is ironic that these schools provide a good deal of the opposition to
the Black University concept and the creation of Afro-American curricula
. (It is additionally ironic that the administrators of "predominantly
Negro" schools have now been forced to recognize that they have
indeed a valuable commodity in their black professor, and although
they are unable to compete with rich white schools for his services, they
may now find it necessary to at least give him the same rewards they
have traditionally given to their white professor . ) I recognize that Professor
Harding did not address himself specifically to this issue, but it
comes up time and time again in a critical assessment of his proposed
solutions, to which I now turn .
"Considering our sadly limited resources," Professor Harding states,
"can there be more than a few really excellent programs of institutes of
Afro-American Studies?" No doubt may of the premature black studies
programs will fail if for no other reasons than a lack of qualified personnel
to staff them and a lack of commitment on the part of white administrators
to keep them in operation . This is a serious problem that
demands a thoughtful and creative formula. We may quickly dismiss,
therefore, the rhetorical suggestion that it might "make more sense to
bring 50 black students to a black-oriented professor in the South than
to take him away from his campus ." As the institutions in the North
10 March 1970 NEGRO DIGEST