One of the only ways for African-Americans to obtain upward mobility in our society is through higher education.
President Obama understands this, and used his commencement speech on Sunday at Hampton University, a historically black university in Virginia, to highlight how far blacks can rise because of college. Similarly, First Lady Michelle Obama addressed students at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, another historically black college.
Now, I am not a mind reader, but I am sure the Obamas' commencement tour of these historically black schools is due to the universities' deep roots in the African-American experience - even though neither one attended a historically black college.
These universities were especially important during the Jim Crow era of segregation, when many black students were barred admission to even some state-funded institutions. With the exception of a few small liberal arts schools in the North - such as Oberlin College - blacks were denied higher education well through the 19th century.
The first historically black college opened in 1837 - before the emancipation of slavery. Following Reconstruction, 85 other schools opened to serve the needs of African-Americans. With our economy currently in a recession - which can feel like a depression for many non-middle class blacks - we must pay close attention to what President Obama pointed out in his address.
He said that, although a high school diploma was once viewed as a ticket to a solid middle-class life
this is no longer the case. Many jobs occupied by those with only a high school diploma now require a bachelor's degree.
In a time of an economic recession, even many middle-class blacks are feeling the brunt of the wealth-crisis. Because of slavery and Jim Crow segregation amongst myriad other structural and institutional obstacles - such as the barring of African-Americans from most colleges - most middle-class black Americans simply do not have transformative assets. They did not inherit wealth from their parents - most of whom did not require a college degree to attain middle-class status.
Without transformative assets and savings, a middle-class black family facing job losses often tumbles straight into poverty. The hope of developing these safety nets for the tumbling economy is more than reason enough for Obama to push the importance of higher education within the black community.
Another big reason - which he mentioned in a manner reminiscent of W.E.B. DuBois' The Talented Tenth essay - was the importance for those who attained higher education to return to the community and serve as mentors. In our pursuit of a better life for ourselves through education, we must be mindful to, in the words of black women's rights leader Mary Church Terrell, lift as we climb. So then, this comes back to us, black graduates of Ohio University. We have reached the point where our bachelor's degrees are well in sight. For many of us, this means the final ascent into the upwardly mobile black middle-class.
It is important that we keep climbing the ladder of higher education. Even more so, we must go back to our communities and propagate its importance. Doing so is in the greater interest of not only ourselves and our children who might one day rely on transformative assets, but also our race.
Aisha Upton is a senior studying African American studies and Tuesday columnist for The Post. Talk education with her at au173107@ohiou.edu. 4
Opinion
Aisha Upton
