Uneven Stories: Successful Black Collegians at a Black and a White Campus

Abstract

The education of Black students in the United States has been influenced by a number of institutional and social reforms. Historically we moved from legally denying the education of Blacks, to separate but "equal" educational tracks, to the passage of desegregation laws, and through a series of civil rights movements. Most of these efforts tried to remedy patterns of injustice and discrimination and to increase educational opportunities for Blacks. Now, more than 47 years after the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Supreme Court decision, Black students can theoretically attend any type of educational institution in the United States. Yet even while access to a wide range of institutions has broadened somewhat, the experiences of Black students in different types of institutions remains uneven (Allen, 1992; J. Davis, 1998). [End Page 315]