Colleges are still excluding African American students from low-income and/or urban backgrounds and are instead recruiting 1st/2nd gen African students then grouping us all together under “Black/African-American” in their diversity stats. Can we talk about it?

Instead of reading this tweet and thinking that this is a Diaspora war tweet, how bout we reframe it to recognize the way Black folks in the diaspora are grouped up to keep our total numbers low. There’s enough room for the both of us but they act like space is scarce.

African American students often (not always) feel excluded when we enter PWI / collegiate spaces by both the white students and the students that look like us. The experiences of students who come from Mostly Black communities into these spaces is often jarring and ostracizing.

The conversation is not easy. Mainly bc people want to incite us to turn against one another. But let’s not forget that these private institutions are still setting the cap.

They’re still branding their inclusivity based on a selective exclusivity that’s supposed to make minoritized folks feel special but just end up tokenizing and weaponizing us against our own. The problem isn’t African immigrants taking out places—it’s the colleges limiting our #s

The problem is intensified at elite institutions. It’s important to remember though that this matters bc many low-income African-Americans attend state schools and as a result come out with debt. These elite schools have the money to change our situs. but don’t spend it on AA’s.

Black people of the diaspora feel free to contribute your perspectives, respectfully. But I hope folks who don’t believe me just think about where their Black friends in college are from and how many of their Black friends are 1st/2nd gen immigrants or AA.