Family, it is time for a chat!
Pull up a seat or make whatever adjustments that you need to make so that my brothers and I can rap with you. Over the last few days, we have seen countless opinions internal and external to the HBCU community regarding the exit of Coach Prime [Deion Sanders] from Jackson State University. There have been many opinions flying across Twitter, Facebook, and even national news stations like CNN. Don Lemon in conversation with Bomani Jones said, “I kinda feel like we’re talking about family business in front of everybody”, and he was correct!
Dr. Wayne Black
When it pertains to HBCUs there often seems to be lots of opinions from people regarding HBCUs that are not needed. Most of those perspectives are deficit framed or accusatory and most of them do not actually call for or leave much room for nuance. The deficit framed thinking whenever HBCUs are mentioned is because of internal and external anti-Blackness as a framework. Many of the individuals who have thrown their useless opinions about would most likely disagree or scowl at such an accusation.
Yet, if we are honest, who would actually own that they are being anti-Black? The issue with anti-Blackness and the desire to be in proximity to whiteness is that most people are not aware that they uphold these value systems. The reality is that as we often say, y’all don’t hate white supremacy enough for me! We say this as a joke but also as a calling-in of a sad reality. Proximal whiteness is not always good and being protective of Blackness and Black spaces does not at all make you a hater, pocket watcher, or a simp. As a people, we have earned the right to be in critique of anything that poses a threat to Black spaces and Black existing.
So, with that being said, how did we get here? Some may believe that being proximal to whiteness is a benefit to HBCUs but in reality, whiteness has never and will never be beneficial to HBCUs. HBCUs are not exempt from racism and as our family would often say, “white doesn’t equal right”. Since 1837, HBCUs have been tormented by the hands of white supremacy. Our schools have long fought for equal access to opportunities and resources while being overlooked, underfunded, and crucified by public perception. 
Dr. Frederick V. Engram
Specifically, in the context of the Deion Sanders online discourse, several references have been made about the lack of alumni giving and inadequate athletic budget people believe would have retained such a high-profile coach. We hate to be the ones to break the news, but you cannot give your way out of oppression. We (Black people) need to release ourselves from the chokehold of “pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps”. That would be easy to say maybe if we had boots or shoestrings to actually use.
