Slavery was a major setback to African Americans. During slavery, African American were not allowed to learn how to read or write. If a slave was caught learning to read or write they would be beaten and sometimes beaten to death. Slaves fought for years to be seen as equal and to be treated as equal. They secretly learned to read and write to make a better life for themselves and for future generations to come. The determination past generations made has encouraged present African American to want more for themselves. "Freshman enrollment is up 49 percent at Shaw University, 39 percent at South Carolina State, 32 percent at Tuskegee University, 30 percent at Virginia State University, 22 percent at Dillard University, 22 percent at Central State University, 20 percent at Florida Memorial University, and 19 percent at Delaware State University. Dillard, Philander Smith College (overall enrollment up 29 percent) and …show more content…
African Americans are no longer afraid of what were told they could not do. As a race African Americans are uniting against those that do not want all of society to be as prosperous as possible. They have been oppressed and beaten for long only to and achieve so much. Attending a Historically Black College and/or University is motivation to do better. It is motivation to do better because everyday you get and walk into a building or learn more about the history of your school, you realize that at a point it was no where near this simple. Historically Black Colleges and/or Universities all come with a story to tell. Little things such as reading the name of a building or reading the plaques of the buildings can make you revaluate how things got to where they are