Letters: Black colleges still essential today

As the Civil War drew to a close, many colleges began to organize and offer former slaves and other uneducated blacks the opportunities to seek academic achievement. Many of the first historically black colleges and universities steamed out of religious institutions, while some state institutions focused on education in agriculture, science and training. From the onset, they struggled to obtain resources to help them grow and close the gap with majority institutions.

Even though the economic disadvantages were real, historically black institutions were able to overcome these obstacles and begin educating some of the most talented minds in the world.

They taught students how to develop skills that would ultimately develop the African-American middle class — the educators, doctors, attorneys and civic leaders. The colleges provided a platform to discuss civil rights, voting rights and economic issues that were grossly unfair to the minority communities.

Many of the most notable African-Americans in the past 140 years are the products of historically black colleges and universities, among them Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Congressman John Lewis, Congressman James Clyburn, NFL great Jerry Rice, Langston Hughes and Tom Jonyer.

This story was originally published March 26, 2017 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Letters: Black colleges still essential today."