Posted on 05/26/2006 1:39:14 PM PDT by Jaded
Two Houston-area lawmakers kicked off a campaign Thursday to pressure the state Legislature to continue sending extra money to Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M universities to offset past discrimination.
State Sen. Rodney Ellis and Rep. Garnet Coleman, both Houston Democrats, said they will file a civil rights complaint if the state doesn't renew the $250 million funding that was given to the historically black universities in 2001.
"Today, Representative Coleman and I are calling for our fellow leaders, both state and federal, to take a close look at the promises they've made, the promises they have kept and those they have not kept when it comes to strengthening education and ending vestiges of segregation in our two historically black universities in Texas," Ellis said at a news conference at TSU.
The federal government in the late 1970s and early 1980s asked 19 states with traditionally black colleges to come up with plans to remedy past discrimination. Texas agreed to develop a plan in 1983, but the federal government and the state had not settled the case before a 1990 Supreme Court ruling forced action.
The findings in that case, U.S. v. Fordice, led the Office for Civil Rights to conclude Texas may be promoting segregation because, among other things, white students did not have enough incentive to attend the two historically black colleges.
In 2000, then-Gov. George W. Bush and the federal government reached an agreement to address the concerns.
Coleman said the Legislature in 2001 gave TSU and Prairie View $125 million each above their regular budgets. The universities used $100 million each for capital improvements and $25 million each for new programs, deans and professors.
That money runs out in 2006-07. Lawmakers and university officials want the Legislature to provide similar funding after that.
Coleman said that universities will have enough students in the programs to eventually pay for them with tuition. He said that hasn't occurred yet.
"Our argument is quite frankly it doesn't matter," Coleman said. "We believe the money should continue so that once those programs are self-sufficient, additional programs can be created."
david.ellison@chron.com
Where is the incentive now?
Um, if you wanted to end vestiges of segregation why do you call them black universities, and why do you want reparations, and why don't you try to increase the white population on campus? Nevermind, I know why.
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