Civil Rights Law and Historically Black Colleges

This chapter will discuss the law surrounding Historically Black Colleges (HBCs). Specifically, the discussion will focus upon the development of civil rights law and its application to HBCs. In particular, this chapter will examine how HBCs have been treated under equal protection principles since Reconstruction. The main focus will be upon the effect of Supreme Court decisions since the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. The first part of the chapter will examine the background of the law in this area, looking at the development of equal protection. The second part of the chapter will look at court cases prior to the Brown decision. The third part of the chapter will discuss the cases decided after Brown in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The fourth part of the chapter will examine the Supreme Court's 1992 ruling in United States v. Fordice. This case changed the legal standard for analyzing equal protection in the higher education setting. This part of the chapter will also discuss the reaction to Fordice and the possible effects it may have on the future of HBCs.

The Equal Protection Clause is part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, enacted after the Civil War. Its primary purpose was to secure free and equal treatment for ex-slaves. Although it has been applied to other areas, it has primarily been used in the realm of race classifications. The Fourteenth Amendment explic

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ic requirements). The segregated higher education systems were now characterized by the existence of HBCs. Following the standard imposed by the Brown line of decisions regarding elementary and secondary school systems, state higher education systems were forced to eliminate all vestiges of racial segregation. This could be done through three methods: (1) eliminating HBCs, (2) merging HBCs with white colleges, and (3) enrolling sufficient numbers of white students to HBCs so that these institutions were no longer racially identifiable. The first cases filed after the Brown decision dealt with the establishment or expansion of historically white colleges in areas which contained HBCs. In Alabama State Teachers Association v. Alabama Public School and College Authority, (hereinafter ASTA) a black teachers organization sought to prevent the establishment of an Auburn University branch in Montgomery, Alabama, where the Alabama State Teachers College, an HBC, was located. The plaintiffs said that the new branch would attract white students away from the HBC, interfering with Alabama's desegregation efforts. The U.S. District Court, however, ruled against the plaintiffs, concluding that the new branch would be operated in a no
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Approximate Word count = 7460
Approximate Pages = 30 (250 words per page)

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