A Blunder Of Epic Proportions

When viewing pictures of the buildings in Europe and countries in the east, there is a definite difference in the "look" of these buildings because many of them were constructed before the United States ever existed. The old brick and mortar buildings were assembled by some of the finest craftsmen known to man, "The Society of Masons". These craftsmen used brick and mortar to create some of the most significant structures of our time and before our time.

Unfortunately, the architecture in the United States today, which is very futuristically modern, with a serious attention to "cost effectiveness" will not allow for the extremely time consuming labor that is associated with building things with masonry. The United States is a glass and steel country and for those who don't know any better, this is the only type of construction that they recognize as being of quality. In the early years, there were quite a few masonry buildings constructed in the United States by Masons with their unique skills and attention to detail. These old world buildings were being torn down with regularity and the only thing that the Architectural community could do was to lobby America's government into the creation of the "National Historical Society". Simply put, once a building is declared to be one of historical significance, it cannot be demolished.

This "historical" classsification should be given to "Historically Black Colleges and Universities" (HBCU's). Yet, our federal government under the leadership of a Black man no less, has decided to pass legislation that will possibly close down many of these schools. The President's plan is to make the first two years of community or junior college free with the government paying two thirds and the state paying one third of the student's tuition. The proposed purpose is to allow those who don't want to attend or afford a four year university to at least earn an "Associate's Degree" and possibly a trade.

Many believe that this legislation will be another devastating financial blow to Historically Black College and Universities. The latest financial catastrophe occurred when Congress reduced the budget for "Pell Grants" which many African American student's received. Sixty Percent of the students that attend HBCU's receive student Pell Grant loans. When these loans were cut, the student population at HBCU's plummeted, with many of the potential students not having anywhere else to go for an education. The financial impact on the affected schools meant reducing curriculums, laying off teachers and administrative staff, and trying to survive from year to year. Another reason is that many HBCU's don't spend the time explaining to students the importance of giving back until after they've graduated.

Like the buildings in Europe, these HBCU's add an extremely positive historical significance to the United States of America. They should be supported and financed to show what a country has done to rid itself of the very negative affects that slavery and economic segregation has had on an entire race of people. Some of the most influential African Americans who have made positive contributions to America received their education from a HBCU. From W.E.B. DuBois, to Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., to Alice Walker, to Nikki Giovanni, to Oprah Winfrey.

There are thousands of HBCU graduates who occupy corporate board rooms, teach your children, Doctors, Lawyers, and most importantly entrepreneurs, who create wealth and jobs for all Americans. Many of these extremely bright individuals start out at HBCU's and move on to receive PhD's and medical degrees from non HBCU's. This was achieved after being denied admittance due to segregation in the early years and now benign neglect. The only place that they could turn was to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities.


President Obama and this administration has done a lot to assist students that attend major universities by getting the banks out of the student loan business. Now, with the offering of free tuition to attend community college, the hurdles for African American kids may become even greater because there will probably be some extremely rigid nonsensical requirements to qualify for this free education. Let's hope that there is something in the form of positive legislation that will allow HBCU's to survive because in reality America is still segregated and these kids need somewhere to go to further their education. And besides, it should not be a difficult task to help these schools because as one can see, the title is already there, HISTORICAL.

Your comments and observations are always welcomed.

Mad Man