Confession: I feel like black people on both sides need to chill the fuck out when it comes to HBCU vs. PWI debates. Both experiences are distinct and can be valuable and it’s such an unnecessary beef.
To HBCU goers: going to a HBCU doesn’t make you more authentically black. We are all black. We were born black, we were black when we decided where to go to school, we are all ~definitely black~ when entering this white-ass workforce, and we all black until the day we die. Also, going to a HBCU doesn’t make you “extra woke.” Your shared blackness has fuckall to do with sexism, colorism, homophobia, classism, etc etc. hell, at an HBCU, mysogynoir and homophobia especially can be shrouded in black patriarchal bullshit that won’t necessarily exist at a PWI.
To PWI goers: you’re “black” experience will never be exactly equivalent to someone who is going to a whole school of black people. Sorry. Also, a lot of y'all talk about how PWIs are “inherently more prestigious” than HBCUs. 1.) Where you get your degree is not the only or even the most important, contributing factor your success in life. 2.) Prestige is largely subjective 3.) There are only a handful of schools that are objectively “more prestigious” than HBCUs, and I’m talking about the Harvards and the Stanfords. Yeah, these schools are more prestigious than HBCUs, but they’re also more prestigious than basically every other PWI, and no shade, but the chances are that you probably aren’t going to one. Like damn. Just be secure in the choice that you made for yourself without feeling like you gotta drag down half the race for it.
