HBCUs around the nation receive bomb threats

On the first day of Black History Month, a dozen or more Historically Black Colleges and Universities had received a bomb threat, leading to campus lockdowns and growing concern from the Biden Administration and law enforcement.

Howard University received two bomb threats within 24 hours.

From HBCUs on the East Coast to the South and the Midwest, students and administrators were on edge. Many felt the bomb threats were connected to the annual recognition of Black History month. Grambling State University did not receive a threat but like HBCUs around the country was taking safety precautions.

In a statement, the NAACP said, “The Black community has long been plagued by threats of domestic terrorism against them in their schools, homes, and houses of worship.”

When asked about the bomb threats, White House spokesperson Jen Pataki said, “We take these threats incredibly seriously. That again, our Homeland Security adviser is in close touch with law enforcement authorities on the federal and local level, and we are assessing what we think the origin, the reasoning, the motivation behind it. We don’t have an assessment of that quite yet, and I don’t want to get ahead of that process.”

Reporter April Ryan, who works for TheGrio, is a graduate of HBCU Morgan State University. Vice-President Kamala Harris graduated from Howard University. And HBCUs have long been credited with equipping millions of Black Americans with the educational preparation for economic mobility. Voting rights advocate and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams tweeted, “My thoughts are with the students, staff and faculty of my alma mater Spelman College and w/Albany State + every HBCU targeted in GA or around the nation. Our students should not have to learn in fear.”

From Spelman College in Atlanta to Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas to Jackson State University in Mississippi and at least 10 more HBCUs – the beginning of a month dedicated to African American accomplishment has been marred by the prospect of violence.