r/nextfuckinglevel • u/matori_tester • 1d ago

Billionaire speaker Robert F. Smith tells 400 graduates he's paying off all their student loans ($40 million in total)

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u/EdwardBigby 1d ago

I hope people don't take this the wrong way but as a non American I'm slightly confused why there's a college where everybody seems to be black (also an Asian lady sitting behind the speaker)

I assume it's in a mostly black area but is it a case of no white people applying for this college or the college not accepting any white people? Or maybe I'm just missing the white people

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u/Legal_Guava3631 1d ago

HBCUs were founded for the black students that wanted to go to college but PWIs said fuck no, yall not coming in here. Anyone can apply, but it’s not really common for a white person to be seen on campus as a student.

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u/EdwardBigby 1d ago

Very interesting. I've never heard of those. Definitely makes sense from a historical point of view but the concept of them existing in a modern day context still seems bizarre to me.

What do most Americans think of them?

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u/Legal_Guava3631 1d ago

I’d like to think they don’t care, but it isn’t a perfect world. Some people hate it saying it isn’t fair because they think it’s a school only for black folks and that it’s racist, but the schools literally only exist because of, you guessed it, racism.

Personally, I love it for my people, but it’s a harsh reminder that we had to make our own schools because we were deemed unworthy because of our skin.

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u/This-Is-Voided 1d ago

HBCUs are great and especially needed because we never get places for Black folks to thrive. I go to a HBCU (NSU 🔰) and it provides us access to education and community without the fear of racism. It’s a supportive environment and you can meet other Black folks across the diaspora. We needed them back then and we most definitely need them now. And it’s not just Black people, mixed people, and other minorities attend too. White ppl attend too but it’s not common because they have other options that they could choose from.

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u/Dry_Presentation_197 1d ago

The same white people who bitch about Black Americans having this are the same ones who have no issue with schools using loopholes to only allow white students basically. (Daughters of the American Revolution, for example, SAY they allow anyone. But you have to prove you're descended from someone who fought in the revolutionary war. Which obv is gunna be 99% white people.)

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u/Castabae3 1d ago

Nah the one's who are bitching are the one's that can only afford community colleges with PELL grants.

I guess in your worldview all white students come from a wealthy background where their parents have a good lawyer that seeks out loopholes to give opportunities to their children.

But IMO no-one's really bitching about those schools cause most people just don't know they exist.

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u/Dry_Presentation_197 1d ago edited 14h ago

Don't assume anything about my "world view"

I live in the American south, and am white. Any time DEI/Affirmative Action/Equality is brought up, SOMEONE brings up "But BET, but BLACK ONLY SCHOLARSHIPS" etc.

Happens constantly. You're lucky if you've never had to try to explain to a racist why minority scholarships aren't themselves racist. They just play the "it's racist against whites" card and pretend they have moral high ground.

Tbh I don't understand why my comment is being downvoted. It's just a fact that there are racist white people who see things like this post as racist against them. shrug

Edit: Oh, also, I went to community College on a Pell grant. So...

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u/TheNextBattalion 1d ago

I don't think most Americans think about them at all.

It's like with women's colleges, which still exist; they were set up when the target audience was barred from mainstream colleges, and they've shifted a bit since that fact has changed.

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u/TRAVMAAN1 1d ago

I would love to go to a women’s college. Sign me up immediately.

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u/SpadoCochi 1d ago

That's because you have no idea how recent this is, the how prevalent institutional racism is, and how important it is for black people to have a safer space to operate in.

It's not bizarre, it's a beacon of light.

What's bizarre is that these were ever necessary.

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u/AnonElbatrop 1d ago

White American here, never put much thought into it other than “HBCU so popular school for the black community.” Lots of schools that shift in other directions demographically and more with a healthy diversity too.

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u/BabyBabyCakesCakes 1d ago

They’re just schools

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u/fieldsports202 1d ago

Americans don’t have a negative view of them. There’s white people who attend HBCU’s as well. The HBCU attended if majority black students but there’s white people who attend… the nursing school there has a lot of white students…. It’s very affordable compared to other schools.

Our HBCU has 7,000 students.. the next one 40 mins away has near 13,000 and is the largest HBCU in the country.

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u/RealPrinceJay 14h ago

Well they were never just going to disappear, but white people still don’t really apply that often even though they are welcome to. About 25% of all HBCU students are not black iirc, so it’s a bit more diverse than some people realize

It’s important to remember that HBCU stands for historically black. It’s not anymore, that’s just what it was and the history they carry

Personally, I don’t see how anyone could see anything that bizarre about it, especially considering how many problems still exist in our society

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u/GrandMarshallFunk 1d ago

It's modern day racism.

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u/premeditated_mimes 1d ago

What a shit take.

They don't bar people from attending based on color like the people whose policies created the university in the first place.

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u/GrandMarshallFunk 1d ago

I'm not talking about the students. I'm talking about the black man that chose to donate to a majority all black school on purpose. It's racism.

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u/premeditated_mimes 1d ago

So if a "white man" chooses to donate money to an ivy league school is that also racist?

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u/GrandMarshallFunk 13h ago

Yes, if that white man chose that school because it was all white?

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u/fieldsports202 1d ago

Anyone can attend a HBCU. Lots of white people have attended mine due to its great nursing school. Some of the same rural Americans who are conservative have attended an HBCU for various degree programs.

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u/GrandMarshallFunk 1d ago

Yeah but a black man donated to a majority all black school on purpose. He chose that school. He is racist.

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u/fieldsports202 1d ago

Yeah, ok.

Also, please don’t look at this man’s page.

Says a lot about someone who has to use Reddit as a hookup 😂😂

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u/GrandMarshallFunk 13h ago

You looked. 😂

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u/Hey_GumBuddy 1d ago

Well… most of these HBCU’s have a football team. And all football teams have a kicker… so there’s usually at least 1.

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u/lafolieisgood 1d ago

The baseball team will have white players as well

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u/FraggleRock_ 1d ago

Unless they're a kicker.

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u/HarkHarley 1d ago

Morehouse is an HBCU, historically black college or university, all of which were founded before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when America was legally racially segregated. They served the needs of their community at the time to educate black students in higher education. After the Civil Rights Act many of these institutions remained but are now open to any student who wishes to apply. Today, about 24% of students at HBCUs are non-black.

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

Yeah I noticed that too. I checked their website and it seems like all the photos are of black people too. a bit weird I would say, even with historical context. I assume non-black can join tho, hard to believe it's discriminatory, but still weird and obviously the other way around would be more than just "weird"

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u/EdwardBigby 1d ago

Other commenter explained it. I had never heard of HBCUs

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u/YoungCubSaysWoof 1d ago

Thank you for asking your question with genuine curiosity. (And thanks to the others who commented with genuine desires to teach and share some knowledge.)

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

Yeah me too. it makes sense. still, seperating people by color\race seems weird in modern days

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u/This-Is-Voided 1d ago

Please Google the history of HBCUs, racism, and just Black history in general.

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

okay

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u/Legal_Guava3631 1d ago

No one is being separated purposely. Anyone can go.

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

I know and understand.

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u/ZackWzorek 1d ago

I think where you’re getting flak is you’re loading your comments with “weird” and then saying “I know and understand.” These two things are contradictory, and the subject of HBCU’s are a touchy subject where it “appears” you’re implying some form of racially motivated behavior towards HBCU’s even after having the full context explained to you. So, in good faith, and not trying to get a gotcha or pin you down, I am genuinely curious to know your perspective of what makes it “weird in a modern context”?

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

I know that there's history of racism in the US. for the first time, in this post, I learned that it caused the establishment of institutions for blacks only (I didn't read the entire wiki page of this, just heard this concept for the first time). yet, expecting entirely black institutions to still exists today seems weird to me. I understand that it's not only for blacks, but the video is showing me a crowd of blacks only and it looks weird. is it racist? no. is it bad? no. that's just not something I knew existed and I'm not used to it.

Maybe I expected that after the racist laws were removed, those institutions will cease to exists and all groups will mix with each other. just a different mindset I guess

I don't care about the flak much, this is Reddit and people judge other people very easily

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u/ZackWzorek 1d ago

Racism is far more complicated than “just laws.” Even Americans don’t understand that. Racism is a systemic and societal phenomenon that is a part of all cultures, I bet even wherever you’re from, that afflicts the overall human condition.

We abolished slavery after it being apart of our legal system since the 1660s/1690s (Maryland/VA) where laws stated white people couldn’t marry freed “Indians” and Black Americans.

This has cascaded for nearly 300 years and after the 13th amendment abolished slavery. The Civil Rights Act went through iterations that sought to tackle former politicians and confederates becoming KKK terrorist killing mass amounts of Black Americans in the south to keep them from voting, to desegregate public places (and, failing twice until 1964, because Plessy V. Ferguson “revealed separate but equal laws in the 14th amendment”). I mean shit brother man, Black Americans couldn’t legally marry White Americans in Alabama until as recently as 2000, 25 years ago.

Now we have DEI attacks that are removing war heroes from our national archives because they’re black.

Our administration has openly supported the KKK rallies in Kentucky. The Neo Nazis in Ohio. And, are now mass deporting any brown person acting against the regime. Crowds of Black People shouldn’t be weird. If anything it should be celebrated that they’re allowed to congregate together without fear of being mobbed. Thats what happened to Black people in Tulsa in 1921.

The overall point, if you’re unsure of why this is okay and it makes you feel a certain way, and you’re not American, don’t load it with weird. Ask your questions, because there are some real proud Americans who know their history, and we’ll tell you.

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

Sometimes you ask explanation on Reddit and it's getting political and that's not a way to learn things.

As for the topic itself. This is a Reddit post and my reaction for me to realize there's an institution for blacks only is "weird" even if it comes from lack of knowledge. that's my honest reaction and I'm entitled to make it.

if I will take an average stranger and show him a religious ritual people do in my community, holding leaves and shaking them in circles, they might think it's weird and that's okay. I can then explain to them why we do it for hundreds of years if they're interested. there's nothing offensive about it for me. We also have religious institutions which might look very weird to people that might not know why is it necessary and it might look weird or even discriminatory but for other people it's natural.

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u/jittery_raccoon 1d ago edited 1d ago

These days it's not about separation. HBCUs have built a very strong culture among HBCU alumni. So people are attending for the advantages of the community.

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u/Raf-the-derp 1d ago

I get what you're saying but at the end of the day it doesn't matter tbh. I'm pretty sure there are predominantly white colleges all over America (BYU in Utah) .

Obviously if there were colleges that were promoted as "white only" that would be seen as a problem but that's because of our countries history .

My unpopular opinion is college clubs that are about race. For example the Hispanic club (I'm Hispanic) imo when you go to college and join those clubs it's like you don't want to leave your bubble

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u/probablytoohonest 1d ago

Any club is meant to be your bubble. It could be cheese club and people would join because they want to hang out with others who share their interest in cheese. Being interested in promoting and learning about one's heritage with others who share that heritage is not a problem. Jesus what am I still doing on Reddit

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u/Raf-the-derp 1d ago

Was moreso talking about what if I wanted to join one of those clubs? One of my friends is in the Filipino club it and they seem to go on nice events but I'd feel weird if I ask if I can join. Again, I said that's my unpopular opinion

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u/probablytoohonest 1d ago

Ah, I get that. Sounds like the problem is you're afraid to step out of your bubble. I shouldn't have assumed, be well

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u/DaddyDontTakeNoMess 1d ago

There are people of all races at HBCUs.

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u/Claude9777 1d ago

You are correct. Non-black people can and do attend. Many of them getting scholarships to attend for not being black. I attended a predominantly white institution. One of the first black people to attend happened to be the mother of my friend. It was only in 1966. When I was there in 1995, I had classes with over 100 people and I'd be the only black person. On a campus of 30,000, there were a total of 800 black people.

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u/jittery_raccoon 1d ago

White people are allowed to attend and there are some that do. It's not weird because people choose these colleges for the cultural experience. Like they have a niche and everyone that wants to receive their education in that niche goes there.

A different example of choosing a school for college is kids choosing to attend Big Ten schools, which are schools with top athletic programs. These schools are also known as party schools and have huge campuses. The non athlete kids choose it for the college culture aspect.

We have so many schools in the US that choosing your school for the culture it offers is normal

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u/notouchinggg 1d ago

america is still incredibly segregated. almost every city you go to in the states big or small, there’s the black side of town and the white side of town.

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u/Ga11agher 1d ago

I remember watching bet alot growing up and they would do black college tours. There were some in almost every state if I remember right. I did find it odd but I'm sure theres a good reason 🤷🏻‍♂️

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u/rex_lauandi 1d ago

I think some people outside of the US are familiar with how many black people there are in the US. Around 13-14% of the entire country is black, and they tend to be localized to certain regions too, such as over half live in the south, with 3/4th in the south and northeast combine.

It’s hard to find such widespread diversity in European countries, for example. It exists, but looks a lot different.

It’s almost like asking why there are so many Scottish people at the University of Edinburgh to us. In a sense, it’s in the UK so shouldn’t there be more English? Obviously not the perfect analogy, but to us in the US it’s not odd to go to a city or part of town that is black, and so a university isn’t odd either. (There are also major efforts to support historically black colleges and universities.)

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u/PatricksMustache 1d ago

Only the black students were smart enough to graduate.

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u/kindle139 1d ago

The history of racism in America is complicated .

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u/Head-Ordinary-4349 1d ago

I was just going to ask this too. I'm curious what these students think, being so racially divided like this?

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u/Suspicious-Story4747 1d ago

They aren’t racially divide. All races are free to apply to HBCUs.

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u/ZackWzorek 1d ago

Why would you assume they’re racially divided? I suppose I have to ask, how old you are? Have you attended college? And, when was that?

I’m a nearly 30 year old man, that started college after 7-8 years in the military.

I grew up culturally Black, but I’m white. I also have a very different aspect of work-life balance compared to my cohorts I’m 10 years senior to most.

My department is small and I see the same people every day. I’ve found myself more aligned with the graduate students and faculty than the undergraduates, and spend more time with Black students than white because of our shared cultural upbringing. I’ve noticed other students tend to cull themselves into groups they’re more comfortable with be that politically, culturally, ideologically, those who are in their department, shared interest of movies/anime/games. There is a noticeable “separation” of race/ethnic groups among the student body, but nothing enforced or encouraged by the administration or faculty. I’ve also never noticed exclusivity between the groups.

So, I would ask again, what would make you assume they’re racially divided? Do you think this is policy and intentional, or could this be young people trying to figure out where they fit in?

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u/DaveyDukes 1d ago

They are strongly suggested segregation schools, they help keep society fighting each other.

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u/Legal_Guava3631 1d ago

Learn some history, dude. Anyone can go to an HBCU.

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u/DaveyDukes 1d ago

Learn to read, that’s why I said “suggested”

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u/Itouchgrass4u 1d ago

Cuz we have this thing called black privilege in America. Its disgusting. Can be the worst at something and get chosen over white dude 😆😆 embarrassing usa

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u/tankerkiller125real 1d ago

We also have a thing called white privilege that allows a man who was closely tied to Epstein to become president as a felon and fraud. Not to mention his criminal cabinet and apartheid emerald mine offspring puppet master.