Thursday’s testimony before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security was about a wave bomb threat against historically Black colleges and universities, with more than a dozen in this month alone. February is Black History Month. More than 60 educational groups urged Congress to take immediate action to protect and support HBCUs this week. Stanley Nelson, the legendary filmmaker, is our guest. PBS film, Tell them we are rising: The Story of Black Colleges & UniversitiesThe book, which documents the pivotal role of HBCUs in the dismantling of segregation after Civil War and creating an African middle class.
TRANSCRIPT
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AMY GOODMAN:This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.
This week marks more than 60 — rather, this week, more than 60 educational groups called on Congress to take immediate steps to support and protect historically Black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs, after a wave of bomb threats against them. Federal authorities claim that more than a dozen HBCUs across the country received bomb threats in February alone. February is Black History Month.
This is Dr. David Wilson from Morgan State University, one of the HBCUs. He testified Thursday at a congressional hearing about violent intimidation.
DAVID WILSON:As a young Black man growing up in Jim Crow Alabama in rural, segregated Jim Crow Alabama on a sharecropping farm, and who was not allowed to attend school full time until the seventh grade, I witnessed firsthand this type if trauma and this kind of racial violence. My entire career has been dedicated to providing leadership on campuses, to encourage and not hinder the intellectual growth of Black students.
It is so sad that there is so much hatred in our country today being held by those who try to prevent HBCUs educating a disproportionate amount of Black students. Yes, these over 100 institutions have been around since at least the mid-19th century. They have been targets of domestic terrorist attacks since their inception.
AMY GOODMAN:David Wilson, president at Morgan State University, is testifying via video conference before the House committee. Just last Thursday, a bomb threat forced Fayetteville State University to suspend classes. Classes were resumed at the 155 years-old school shortly after the Civil War.
Today we spend the rest of the hour with the legendary documentarian Stanley Nelson, who’s made more than 30 films about the Black American experience, including a 2017 PBSDocumentary about the crucial role played by historically Black colleges in shaping Black life, creating a Black middle-class and dismantling segregation. Nelson received his first Oscar nomination in his film about Attica and the prison uprising. We’ll talk about that in a minute, but, first, this trailer for Tell them we are rising: The Story of Black Colleges & Universities.
KIMBERLÉ CRENSHAW: The question for African Americans has always been: What is education’s purpose? Who is responsible for it? What is the relationship between education and the larger aspirations of our citizens?
JONATHAN HOLLOWAY:The more you are denied the opportunity to read and write, the more you will be able to claim it as a prize.
MICHAEL LOMAX:Black colleges were redefining what it meant for Black Americans to be Black. You were interested in a career that valued intellect.
KIMBERLÉ CRENSHAW:An educated Black population cannot be an enslaved Black one.
PROTESTER:We want Black power!
JOHNNY PARHAM: If you weren’t out there demonstrating, then something had to be wrong with your school.
UNIDENTIFIED:We wanted freedom now. But whites were not ready for any changes.
MAN ON THE STREET:They should be prevented in any way that is possible.
KIMBERLÉ CRENSHAW:A slaveholder could put a slave to his death. He could even rape a slave. He could do anything except teach a slave how read or write.
JOHNNETTA COLE:They want an education as soon the war breaks out. They wanted schools that were free from paternalism and racism, no matter how subtle or blatant, as much as possible.
JESSIKA WARD: Movements are easily birthed on HCBUs’ campuses.
We must love and protect one another.
We’re all going through the same experience.
ALVERSIA WADE: HBCUThis is where I can be completely me.
JOHNNY C. TAYLOR JR.:The Black college experience is a place to be among the majority. It is an empowering and unique experience.
CALVIN LONG:This HBCUI have learned through experience that anything is possible provided you have that spark.
AMY GOODMAN: Tell them we are rising: The Story of Black Colleges & UniversitiesStanley Nelson, one the most prominent documentarians of the Black American experience, made a 2017 film called ‘The Black American Experience’.
Stanley, we’re glad you are back Democracy Now! In a moment we’re going to talk about the film you’ve been nominated for an Oscar for, Attica, but can you talk about the significance of HBCUs and the threats they’re facing right through to today, this dramatic congressional hearing that took place yesterday on the bomb threats?
STANLEY NELSON:Amy, first off, thank you so very much for having me here.
The importance of HBCUs cannot overstated. You know, it’s probably been the biggest pusher for African Americans to come into the middle class. Both my parents went to HBCUs. You know, the significance of HBCUs can’t be — it’s just amazing.
And I think it’s really significant, because HBCUs, many of them, were formed right after the Civil War, and so they’ve been around for over 150 years. And I think the threat that they’re under now is really significant and really is almost — is really telling, because it’s kind of like where this country is, that 150 years after their formation, once again they’re under threat. They were under threat and burned when they were formed in 1870s and 1880s. And now, 150 years later, they’re under threat again.
AMY GOODMAN:How did HBCUs develop? What has changed over the years? How has the role of HBCUs in American society changed? What about the stress they face, especially during the pandemic?
STANLEY NELSON: I think one of the — it’s really interesting, because, in many ways, the role they play is very similar to the role they played early on. You know, they’ve always played a role for African Americans to get an education who might not get an education in any other way. When they were founded, African Americans were not allowed to attend college. While today, African Americans are allowed to attend colleges, the grade school education and the high school education that African Americans receive is inferior. HBCUs remain a viable option for African Americans to attend college. Many go on to prestigious institutions for graduate school, while others are promoted to the middle class. So, I believe they play a similar role to those they played historically.
AMY GOODMAN:The development of Black leadership in America has resulted in a large number of people who have gone on to become leaders in many different fields.
STANLEY NELSON: Yeah. Yes. So, they’ve played a huge role. And in so many ways — there’s one little bit of that clip you played — you know, they’re, in many ways, still like Wakanda for African Americans, you know? It’s a way for four years of your life to be in the majority, for four years of your life, maybe, just maybe, to be away from the racism and the racially charged atmosphere that’s so prevalent in the United States.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to break and then come back to your latest film, Attica, that’s streaming free on YouTube for Black History Month, that was just nominated for an Academy Award, your first, Stanley Nelson, leading documentarian. Stay with us.
