Georgia NAACP Files Suit Against State for Underfunding of Public HBCUs
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Albany State University, Fort Valley State University, Georgia, Headlines, News, Savannah State University
The Georgia Conference of the NAACP has filed a lawsuit against the State of Georgia for what it calls ‘systematic underfuding’ of the state’s public HBCUs. From the Savannah Morning News:
According to the report, a lack of state funding has for decades hobbled the institutions and kept them from establishing professional programs on par with their mainstream counterparts in Georgia. As a result of systematic discrimination by the Board of Regents, the state’s public black colleges have had second-class status and operated under de facto segregation.
Georgia State NAACP Chapter President Edward DuBose said the issue was not race, but fairness.
“We refuse to allow the demise of our historically black colleges,” DuBose said, adding that that National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Washington also supports the lawsuit. “These colleges have been around for a long time.”
The significant disparities between Savannah State, Fort Valley State, Albany State and the other public institutions in the State of Georgia, may position this lawsuit to be an easy victory for the NAACP. Diminished enrollments, dilapidated facilities, and decades of lopsided funding allocations are the tangible evidence that the state has not responsibly positioned its HBCUs for success.
Additionally, this action may set a benchmark for other entities supporting HBCUs to take similar action against states for neglecting publicly-supported HBCUs. Where the are alumni associations, and concerned citizens seeking for equitable funding and support for HBCUs, there is demonstrable evidence built over years that necessitates legal intervention.
Stay tuned, and stay in prayer about this story.
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