Is a historically black college or university supposed to have more black or white students in their enrollment?
More blacks is your answer, right?
Then why does the 93-member student body at FAMU’s Law School consist of 56 percent white students and only 41 percent black?
FAMU’s first law school was open until 1968 to provide a place for blacks to get their law degree, because they weren’t allowed into the white schools.
It soon fell into shambles, under a discrimination lawsuit and became Florida State University’s law school.
This year FAMU opened its second law school, but it’s clearly not serving the right purpose.
The intention is supposed to be to fulfill “society’s” desires to have more of ‘our people’ serving them in the courtroom.
In Florida, minorities constitute 30 percent of Florida’s population, but only 8 percent of its lawyers.
So why won’t more blacks go to the law school that was opened for them?
Maybe it’s because HBCU’s are producing fewer and fewer applicants for their law schools.
Maybe it’s because those students from historically black colleges and universities that are coming out, would rather go to the prestigious universities that are recruiting them than another black law school.
Or maybe it’s because of Bush’s so-called One Florida Initiative, that doesn’t allow universities to have race-based policies in their admissions process.
Whatever the reason, black students must start enrolling in universities that were opened specifically to serve them.
You can obtain the same if not better quality of education at these schools.
When choosing where to open the FAMU Law School, legislators considered both Tampa and Orlando. Because the Orlando area has about a 180,000 black population, it won the race.
So haven’t more blacks enrolled?
The FAMU law school was taken away from the university once already, and it will happen again if their objectives aren’t met.
Are you going to sit around and let it fall apart, or will you take action and encourage peers to attend?
Dominique Drake, 18, is a freshman business student from Cleveland. She is The Famuan’s assistant opinions editor. She can be reached at ddidis@aol.com.