Black History Month Off To Somber Start As Bomb Threats Target Historically Black Schools

ACROSS AMERICA — A string of new bomb threats targeting more than a dozen historically Black colleges and universities spilled over into the beginning of Black History Month, prompting lockdowns and disrupting classes for a second day.

“My message to you this morning is to stay strong, remain resilient, and continue to prepare yourselves to grow the future and lead the world,” David K. Wilson, the president of Morgan State University, said Tuesday following a second bomb threat at the HBCU in Baltimore in as many days.

“Morgan is one of the most historical and consequential universities in the nation,” Wilson said in a statement. “Our history has been one where we have endured all kinds of challenges and disruptions, but we have always emerged stronger.”

The threats, reported at colleges in six states and the District of Columbia, underscore the importance of Black History Month to not only spotlight Black achievements but also take stock of places where systemic racism persists.

U.S. Rep. Val B. Demings, a Florida Democrat and a former police chief, said on Twitter the threats against historically Black colleges “demand a response.”

“As a former law enforcement officer I’ll keep working to make sure our institutions and law enforcement have the resources they need to keep all of our students and communities safe,” she said.

“The threats are despicable,” Mary Schmidt Campbell, president of Spelman College in Atlanta, said in an email to students and staff members Tuesday. “They are designed to make us feel fearful and vulnerable.”

Greg Carr, a professor of African American studies at Howard University, one of the HBCUs receiving bomb threats, quoted W.E.B. Du Bois from “The Souls of Black Folk”:

“The opposition to Negro education in the South was at first bitter, and showed itself in ashes, insult and blood; for the South believed an educated Negro to be a dangerous Negro; and the South was not wholly wrong.”

Howard University, located in Washington, D.C., was also targeted for a second consecutive day.

Schools targeted this week include (click links to read more on Patch):

• Alcorn State University, Lorman, Mississippi
• Arkansas Baptist College, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona Beach, Florida
• Coppin State University, Baltimore
• Delaware State University, Dover
• Edward Walters University, Jacksonville, Florida
• Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, Georgia
• Howard University, Washington, D.C.
• Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi
• Kentucky State University, Frankfort, Kentucky
• Mississippi Valley State University, Itta Bena, Mississippi
• Morgan State University, Baltimore
• Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Arksansas
• Rust College, Holly Springs, Mississippi
• Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, Mississippi
• Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Spelman College, Atlanta
• University of the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.
• Xavier University, New Orleans

Separately, authorities at UCLA warned Tuesday of a mass shooting threat by a former lecturer who has released a video and 800-page manifesto.

Authorities haven’t found bombs or explosive devices in any of the HBCU incidents — the third time in a month that historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, have been targeted by bomb threats. Eight HBCUs received similar threats on Jan. 5, triggering lockdowns and evacuations.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have joined local and state authorities in investigating the string of bomb threats, which White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a news conference Monday were “quite disturbing.”

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said last week that “acts of intimidation against HBCUs can’t and won’t be tolerated,” Politico reported.

Cardona and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas met with more than 40 HBCU presidents last week to discuss what DHS authorities called in a briefing the "evolving threat landscape, including potential impacts on colleges and universities.”

Martin Luther King III, the oldest son and oldest living child of civil rights titan Martin Luther King Jr., condemned the threats on Twitter, saying HBCUs “serve as safe havens for some of the most brilliant Black minds to grow,” adding “they should not be subjected to this violence.”