Texas' oldest Black university was built on a former plantation. Its students still fight a legacy

[TexasTowelie]

Texas’ oldest Black university was built on a former plantation. Its students still fight a legacy of voter suppression.

by Alexa Ura, Texas Tribune


Out in a rural stretch of Texas northwest of Houston, Waller County was born of plantations, cotton fields and slavery. More than a century ago, state lawmakers planted there the state's first public college where Black students could pursue higher education.

Since its founding as the Alta Vista Agriculture & Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youth, tens of thousands of students, most of them Black, have passed through the school now named Prairie View A&M University.

And for much of that time — long after equal voting rights became the law of the land — the county’s predominantly white power structure has thrown up hurdles to keep those Black students from voting, or to limit their ability to wield meaningful political influence at the ballot box.

Year after year, decade after decade, the students of Prairie View A&M have fought back, striving to realize the full and fair value of their franchise.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/25/waller-county-texas-voter-suppression/

[Ilsa]

1. TRMS covered their struggles in 2018, I think.

It was a really informative show. They may need Stacey Abram's help in fighting back.

[llashram]

2. hypocrisy

has always reigned supreme in this "land of the free".