jennifer-roberts Since the start of 2022 there have been more than a dozen bomb threats made to historically black colleges and universities throughout the United States including my alma mater, Bowie State University (Bowie, MD). According to a February 2nd NBC news report, the bomb threats were thought to have been made my six “juveniles” who used sophisticated technology to execute the egregious acts.
It is tragic to think that there is yet another generation of racists being indoctrinated into the beliefs that uphold racism. The thought that children are committing these heinous crimes is evidence that racism does not die when its perpetrators take their last breaths. Racist ideas and belief systems are being passed down from generation to generation and the effects of this practice are being felt far and wide. The results of racist indoctrination manifests itself in the way that racists influence their communities, the country and the world.
Historically black colleges and universities have a long history of educating African American students and were a successful response to America’s racist practice of not admitting Black students at American institutions of higher learning simply because they were Black. The first HBCU, which is still serving students today, was Cheyney University (Pennsylvania) which will celebrate its 185th anniversary later this month.
Racially motivated assaults on Black people are not new and this is one of the many reasons that teaching accurate American History is critically important. We need to understand the historical connection between past and current oppression against Black people in this country. The mechanisms by which Black people are being oppressed have changed form but the motivations are the same. In the case of these most recent bomb threats, the assailants hid behind sophisticated technology instead of white hoods and cloaks that were used by the Ku Klux Klan.
These most recent assaults on the very existence of Black people in this country carry the same stench of hatred that historical assaults carry. They have the same intolerable odor of the 1921 massacre on Greenwood, a prosperous Black community in Tulsa, OK, the 1956 bombing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s home, the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four little black girls and the bombing of Malcolm X’s home on Valentine’s Day 1965.
Sadly, there are too many people who are successfully whitewashing America’s sordid, historical relationship with racism while continuing to uphold its current one that subjugates Blacks through its systems of oppression. Both acts allow racism to fester and be passed along like a foul family tradition.
The bomb threats on institutions of higher learning attended predominantly by African American students was undoubtedly strategic. The threats are direct shots at places of pride, safety and collective advancement. HBCUs are not just schools, they are empires of empowerment that affirm and validate students, equipping them to thrive in an unwelcoming world not designed for their success. Make no mistake, that the targets of these empty threats were intentional with the goal of invoking fear and derailing progress.
The battle between good and evil, love and hate is an old one and it will continue until this world is no more. We must choose to be anti-racists and choose to eradicate racism. We must remain vigilant and steadfast. We must not allow these racially motivated threats to distract us from the urgent work of educating, empowering and equipping our people. We must not be dissuaded or intimidated but must choose to move forward in achieving excellence in every arena.
