Ladies and gentlemen, in a political climate where you can say the most ignorant thing that comes outta yo mouth and have an abundance of retweets and shouts of “send her back” from the envious green side of the amen corner, I truly appreciate this sister’s clapback. Her sarcasm and digital eye roll was needed.
A PWI student/graduate tweeted "At an HBCU, honestly I feel like y'all get your experience and resources given to you. At my PWI and many PWIs in general, we are pushed as black students to create our own black experience, make our own spaces, create our own orgs, and make our own tables to have a seat at"
,
As the Twitter world clutched their pearls and look around to see who she's talking to, a sista stepped up to the plate to serve a hilarious remix to the original tweet - "I had to shuck, jive and clean massa shoes to get my degree while you other blacks were having fun at black schools. I earned this!" The level of shade made my day. This clapback was needed!
When I read the call and response, I thought “gurllll what did you expect?!” Did you really think you would attend the Old Navy of colleges and get the FUBU experience? This is what you signed up for. This is what you wanted. Please do not hand your pity party to us and expect a Kleenex in return. This is not how this works. This is not how ANY of this works.
As a graduate of an HBCU and PWI, I have sat on both sides of the table. And though I dealt with an immeasurable amount of frustration with the financial aid office at one school and sank into a depression over the racist system at another school, I cannot use the path of others to portray me as a victim. Last time I checked, racism was still up and running like the neighborhood Walmart. The opportunity for black space at HBCUs is necessary and should serve as a model for your PWI and not a foe.
Nothing is handed to you at an HBCU. We can barely get our refund checks back! We are not the house negro watching you suffer in the hot summer fields of the south. HBCUs can be your ally. And before the next election in 2020, they NEED to be.