Is Separate Unequal? Black Colleges and the Challenge to Desegregation.

Is Separate Unequal? Black Colleges and the Challenge to Desegregation. By Albert L. Samuels. (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, c. 2004. Pp. x, 246. $34.95, ISBN 0-7006-1301-3.)

Albert L. Samuels presents a compelling argument of why traditional historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are a mirror of the black experience in America. In particular, he demonstrates how applying the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision to desegregate higher education has "serious inadequacies" (p. 7). The author indicates that blacks support a more interventionist role from the federal government while whites, in part, view government as a necessary evil. This polarization causes different perspectives on the role of government in race policy.

Chapter 1 outlines the background cases and environment. Coming at a time in the Cold War when America showed a superiority over the Soviet Union and China, the decision confirmed America's belief in education, law, and science (p. 11). Moreover, segregation had started to undermine America's prestige in the world. Yet Brown did not represent unanimity of black views. The 1970s black power movement observed Brown as "a racist decision that assumed black cultural inferiority" (p. 21). However, in America's constitutional history the Brown case helped the country come to terms with its "ugly history of racism that belied its principles of human equality" (p. 25).

The Brown decision, in Samuels's judgment, represents a dilemma for black colleges. NAACP efforts to overturn separate-but-equal began in the 1930s. "Over time, the effect of the NAACP's ideological framework would put black colleges on the defensive because they would be relegated to the status of constitutionally suspect institutions obligated to justify their right to exist," observes Samuels (p. 27).

Although the Brown decision held out the hope of freeing America from its history of discrimination and oppression of blacks, Samuels poses many questions, including, "Did Brown mean that black colleges and universities were unconstitutional remnants of Jim Crow systems of higher education that must now be eliminated?" (p. 60). This question is part of the theme of Chapter 3, "Applying Brown to Higher Education." After discussing the history of how HBCUs, the federal government, court decisions, organizations, and individuals attempted to answer this and other question, the author argues that "the demise of the separate but equal doctrine forced public historically black colleges to justify their right to exist" (p. 61).

The state of Mississippi and the efforts of black institutions of higher education to survive are the focus of chapter 4. Mississippi was notorious for its neglect of black education and for resisting integration. Resistance to integration came from the Citizens' Councils, the Sovereignty Commission, and outright interposition. Mississippi did not make a frontal assault on Brown but adopted "race-neutral, color-blind policies in higher education." Mississippi denied that the African American community "had a constitutional right to educational institutions with equal resources as white institutions," asserts Samuels. The state argued that "the Fourteenth Amendment offered protection to individuals, not groups" (p. 118). Reviewing integration efforts, the author shows how important the Fordice and Ayers decisions were for the state as well as their implications for the future (Ayers v. Allain, 674 F. Supp. 1523 [1987]; United States v. Fordice, 505 U.S. 717 [1992]). The Fordice ruling presented the inadequate efforts of Mississippi to educate blacks, but no remedy was offered (p. 140). In Samuels's estimation, the ruling left HBCU advocators "between the proverbial rock and a hard place" (p. 147).

On the other hand, the decision in Ayers, initiated in 1975 and settled in April 2001, provided tangible results, although they were heavily debated and not accepted by all parties, including Mrs. Ayers, the original plaintiff's widow. The decision called for enhancement of black institutions with new programs and facilities to the tune of $503 million over seventeen years. Critics point to the fact that this was inadequate, especially since a portion of the endowment fund ($105 million total) would not be controlled by black universities until they "attain[ed] a 10 percent nonblack enrollment and maintain it for at least three years" (p. 190).

Throughout the narrative, the question "Is Separate Unequal?" highlights the significant and outstanding job HBCUs have performed. In spite of inadequate funding, poor facilities, and underpaid administrators, faculty, and staff, they have survived and thrived against the odds. In 1990, according to Samuels, "black universities enrolled 17 percent of the nation's African American college students; yet, they produced 27 percent of black college graduates." These colleges also serve many "beneficial psychosocial roles for their predominately black clientele" (p. 175).

Albert Samuels has produced a readable and compelling analysis of a vital topic. He has provided great insights into the history and struggle of black public education and higher education. However, there are some minor shortcomings in the book. Many historical studies that could have enhanced the volume were not listed, i.e. the works of Rayford W. Logan, Genna Rae McNeil, Thomas B. Edsall, Lelia G. Rhodes, Jacob L. Reddix, Josephine M. Posey, and Dan T. Carter. Several bibliographical citations are incorrect, Virginia State University and Richard Bland College are located in Petersburg, not Richmond, Virginia (p. 81).

These omissions do not greatly distract from this volume, which adds to our understanding and appreciation of the complex struggle blacks have endured for educational opportunities in America.

Southern University and A&M College

CHARLES VINCENT