555). In their interpretation of United States v. Fordice, the Department of Education refers to the "sound educational practices" clause in Fordice by mentioning the "distinctive histories and traditions" represented by historically black institutions (Moore 2000, p. 556). Such histories, traditions, and techniques of cultural preservation are inherently valuable and educationally sound. Historically black institutions are constitutional also in the sense that they actively encourage choice among African-American applicants who have the option of attending traditionally white or traditionally black institutions but also without discriminating against white applicants.
C. What conclusions can be drawn about federal policy on compliance with the Title VI after reading the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
Federal action after Brown v. Board of Education was initially paltry, allowing many Southern states to perpetuate discriminatory education practices including restrictions on admissions procedures and other methods of barring blacks from attending traditionally white institutions. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 remedied the lackadaisical federal response to Brown v. Board of Education. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act expressly applied to education and admissions practices. Enforcing the Act meant targeting the dual system of higher education in which historically black institutions persisted and thrived.
However, targeting the dual system at the level of the historically black institution defeated the purpose of the Civil Rights...
The problem was not that historically black institutions existed but that historically white institutions had necessitated their existence in the first
place. By the 1960s, the
evolution of historically black public institutions ensured that African-Americans had equal access to higher education, and had the choice of whether or not to attend a historically black university or
college. Federal policy wavered from ignoring the conundrum these voluntarily segregated institutions created, to mandating their being merged or shut down.
Even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
discrimination was still entrenched in systems of higher education. Moreover, discrimination was endemic in
American society as a whole, with unequal access to social, cultural, and financial capital. If the underlying intent of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was to end racial disparity, then historically black institutions would be one of the tools serving that purpose. As Moore (2000) puts it, "evidence of discrimination is the key to determining unconstitutional segregation…Thus, if a state-supported organization of voluntary association is segregated by choice, absent discrimination against any particular group, then that organization will satisfy the Brown standard," (552).
References
Moore, J.A. (2000). Florida State University Law Review 27(2).
Williams, C.A. (1981). The Black/White…
