I recent wrote a post that praised Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on his call for an end to the “purity” purgers in the GOP….as I have said….I am not one of Barbour’s biggest fans….I have criticized him on just about every turn….and I knew it would not be long before he did or said something that would make me regret my “atta boy”…..I did not have to wait long…….he has a new plan for the black universities in the state of Mississippi….as reported in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger:

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on Monday proposed combining the state’s three public black colleges into one of the institutions, Jackson State University. While Barbour said that campuses would continue to exist at what are now Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State University, the proposal marks the most dramatic state challenge in recent years to the continuation of some public black colleges — and the move comes in the state whose higher education system was the subject of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that governs college desegregation.

Chambers noted that mergers of black educational institutions in the South have not historically gone well for black students and educators. “What happens to the faculty at black colleges” when programs are consolidated? he asked. And if the consolidations result in smaller branch campuses where Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley are now full institutions, “how do you ensure that the same number of minority students end up in college? Why aren’t they asking questions about minority enrollments?”

Merger of black colleges has long been a fear of advocates for black students in many Southern states. Periodically, legislators propose such mergers, but in recent years, before this one, these proposals have not had much momentum.

Any merger of black colleges in Mississippi would have particular political significance because of United States v. Fordice, a 1992 Supreme Court decision that found Mississippi had failed to desegregate its higher education system. The decision specifically encouraged the state to consider mergers and to cut down on duplication of academic programs as a means of desegregating — but the decision did not order mergers.

(BTW, Fordice was yet another Repub governor of the state of Mississippi)

The theory behind these suggestions is that duplication of academic programs at historically black and predominantly white institutions encourages white students to enroll at one set of institutions and black students at another — and that the elimination of these choices will lead to a situation where black and white students enroll at the same institutions.

See what I mean?  I keep saying that racism is NOT dead in the South….at least it is NOT dead among the generation of the segregation days……the grumpy old white guys….the heart of the GOP…..