Newspapers / Black Ink (Black Student … / Jan. 14, 1991, edition 1 / Page 5
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violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964. No one knows why the education department waited al most 27 years before anyone said that minority scholarships were discriminatory .The 1964 Act was the most comprehensive law ever passed securing the rights of all American citizens. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 contains 11 titles or sections dealing with equality. The minority scholar ship issue arises because Title VI of the law deals with nondiscrimi nation in federally-assisted pro grams, which would include fi nancial aid. Title VI section 601 of the Act says: “No person in the U.S. shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be ex cluded firom participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be sub jected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” Michael Williams used this clause to justify his ruling that minority- based scholarships were discrimi natory. Nowhere in section 601 does it say that U.S. colleges and universities cannot set aside money for minority scholarships. Tide VI was written to ensure that minorities receive equal treatment as whites in the federal fmancial aid process. Since 1964, Title VI has pro vided the financial foundation to provide minorities, many of them blacks, with the resources needed to attain a post secondary educa tion. It is a shame that Michael Williams has twisted it to mean something else. African-Ameri- cans were beaten, brutalized and killed while trying to get this Act 1965. The House Education and Labor Committee has studied the Act for several years hoping to fmd ways to imjrove it. Evidently, Michael Williams has never read this law either. The Higher Educa tion Act contains eight titles, which deal with federal rules regarding federal financial assistance to col leges and universities. Title IV is the most important part of the law for students because it specifically deals with federal financial aid programs. Title IV Section 401 says: “It is the purpose of this part to provide ... through institutions of higher education, educational opportunity grants to assist in making available the benefits of higher education to qualified high school graduates of exceptional financial need, who for lack of financial means of their own or of their families would be unable to obtain such benefits without such aid.” Title IV of the Higher Educa tion Act provides the basis for the government’s fmancial aid pro grams. Many of the programs help minority students because they are usually disproportionately repre sented among economically-dis advantaged families. In order to receive funds from these programs, families must earn less than $25,000 a year. Among these stu dent aid programs are the Pell Grant, which provides money to about three million students a year. The Pell grant is the only one of the programs that does not provide funds to graduate students. The Supplemental Educational Oppor tunity Grant is awarded to about 750,000 students a year and about Reflections passed. The Civil Rights Act was a direct result of protest, boycotts and litigation during the 1950s and 1960s, which can be called the greatest phase of agitation in the struggle for black equality. It is disturbing to note how a law de signed to help blacks has been used to hurt them. Minority schol arships enforce the Actrather than violate it because it ensures that non-whites are guaranteed their constitutional, civil and human rights. In addition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there is another fed eral law designed to provide equal opportunities for all in higher education. The Higher Education Act was passed by Congress in 200,000 receive State Student Incentive Grants. The College Work Study program awards about one million part-time jobs to stu dents each year. The Perkins pro gram provides about800,000 low- interest loans to low-income stu dents. In addition to these five pro grams, many universities award minority presence grants to en courage minority students to at tend college. These state-funded grants were created in the early 1970s to help the cause of integra tion at the nation’s colleges and universities. In North CaroUna, presence grants providel.5 mil lion dollars to needy students each year in the 16 schools of the UNC system. There are also numerous other scholarships and grants that Universities give to minority stu dents. Without these programs, many minority students would not be able to attend college. The Higher Education Act is extremely important to minority students. However, if the admini stration listens to p)eople like Michael Williams, this law may also be in jeopardy. Even though the Williams plan has been re vised, it will probably still endan ger the Higher Education Act in two ways. First, the Williams plan will open up all financial aid pro grams to scrutiny. People can now claim that almost any scholarship or grant program is discrimina tory. It is likely that all five of the major financial aid programs under the Higher Education Act will come under attack. Anytime schol arships are set aside for minority students, somebody in the country has the right to question the valid ity. Secondly, the Williams plan will complicate the procedures for applying for federal aid under the Higher Education Act’sprograms. And as most parents and students know, the financial aid process is already complicated enough. Complex applications, tax forms, W2s, verification, lost award let ters, can frustrate students to the point that they never receive funds. As the federal government sets stricter guidelines for receiving financial aid so too will student aid offices across in the nation. Even in a watered-down form, the Wil liams plan will have an indirect effect upon the availability of federal aid to minority students across the country. What is probably most disturb ing about the whole minority schol arship affair is that the person arousing the controversy is a black man; an African-American who is stirring up the trouble for his own people. He is an Uncle Tom who acts and articulates the goals of the conservative Bush admini stration. Michael Williams is black only in his color; he has no soul nor any compassion or concern for people of African descent. He acts as if he is talking about a group of outsiders when he speaks about minority scholarships. Michael Williams is a case in fact of how black people can hold each other back—how brothers and sisters of African descent can participate in their own degradation. The number of minority stu dents who pursue higher educa tion is already small, and without financial aid that number will get even smaller. Minorities in gen eral, especially blacks, are stere otyped as low achievers. Minori ties are not low-achievers nor do they lack motivation; however, economic disadvantages do im pede their attempts to seek higher education. The Education Depart ment’s decision to restrict minor ity scholarships is in a sense pun ishing people because they are too poor to pay for school. Inherefit inequalities exist in society that cause more minorities to come from low-income families than whites. African-Americans must organize efforts to fight against attempts to deny financial aid to black students to ensure that all citizens have an equal chance to seek a college education. I Black Ink January 14, 1991
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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Jan. 14, 1991, edition 1
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