Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) recently made headlines when the Mean Green Marching Machine Band was invited to perform at President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
For some, this was a proud moment for the university, but for others, it made as much sense as the marching band performing at a Ku Klux Klan rally.
Let us keep it real. While the band received all this spotlight, the students of MVSU are still dealing with the same issues, inequitable funding, residence halls and academic buildings in need of repair, and university administrators who spend hours working just so the university can survive.
For some of its alumni and the Black community, this opportunity may be a moment of pride, but is it enough?
The reality is, MVSU is one of the poorest state universities in Mississippi. Yes, the band’s performance at the inauguration was historic, but in the long run, they had to raise $350,000 for this high-priced field trip to Washington, D.C.
The truth is, the money and support that should be going to MVSU never seem to make it. Instead, we see one moment of pride after another, but when it is all over, nothing changes. The band performs, the cameras flash, and then it is back to business as usual – an underfunded institution and students struggling to remain in school.
So let us take a look at MVSU.
The institution was founded in 1950. It was created by the Mississippi Legislature and named Mississippi Vocational College. The legislation to form the institution was signed into law by Gov. Thomas L. Bailey on April 5, 1946.
The legislature anticipated that legal segregation of public education (Brown v. Board of Education) was in danger because there were increasing challenges to it through legal suits, so it created MVSU in the hopes that it would attract African-American applicants who might otherwise apply to Mississippi’s premier whites-only institutions: the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, and the University of Southern Mississippi.
In 1964, Mississippi Vocational College was renamed Mississippi Valley State College. In the early 1970s, civil rights leaders continued to protest the inequalities in higher education opportunities offered to whites and blacks in Mississippi. To defuse some of the criticism, Gov. Bill Waller proposed changing the names of three black institutions from “colleges” to “universities”. Thus, in 1974, the institution was renamed again, as Mississippi Valley State University.
With that being said, the university was established because of white supremacy ideology. They did not want Black students from the Mississippi Delta attending the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, and the University of Southern Mississippi.
What has changed? Very little. Many who opposed the band’s decision cited how much white supremacy has been platformed both directly and indirectly through Trump since his first tenure as president, not to mention his second administration’s intention to end DEI efforts throughout many institutions.
While Trump signed a 2017 exclusive order supporting HBCUs during his first term, his proposed budget cuts to these institutions often fell short of meeting HBCUs’ financial needs.
Many Blacks were concerned that MVSU performance would send the wrong message to both the public and the Trump administration, reinforcing the idea that HBCUs are willing to perform for any political figure, regardless of how they treat the institutions.
Stop and take a minute to think about Trump’s record.
What about Trump’s promise to give police officers blanket immunity so they cannot be held accountable for their on-the-job conduct — and what community is over-policed the most and is disproportionally the target of police brutality?
What about Trump calling Colin Kaepernick and other Black NFL players who protested police brutality “sons of bitches?”
What about when he called African nations “shithole countries?”
Did MVSU forget that Trump is the man who took out full-page advertisements in New York City newspapers in 1989 calling for the death penalty for the Central Park Exonerated Five?
Or what about when he and his family were sued by the Department of Justice for housing discrimination?
What about the results of the 2020 presidential election and what occurred on Jan. 6, 2021.
Has MSVU forgotten the number of times Black folks have been insulted by the president without one apology?
Their performance reinforces racist beliefs that Black people have value in society only if they serve in three main capacities: as entertainment, sports figures or laboring as underpaid service workers (what Trump meant by his so-called “Black jobs”).
The university president called accepting the invitation “a moment of pride” for the university and the entire state of Mississippi.
However, many might say that it is a “moment of amnesia” for Black people that MVSU condones its students being exploited by the incoming administration. To add insult to injury, this underfunded HBCU is required to raise the funds to send the marching band to Washington to entertain many senators and House members who support policies that are antithetical to HBCUs.
MVSU’s band performing at the inauguration may have been a proud moment for some, and they may get to shine for a moment, but once they return home, they still have to deal with underfunding and racism.
What is done is done and it cannot be changed. However, it’s time to make decisions that are in the best interest of our HBCUs so that we can turn the moment of pride into a real, lasting investment in the future of MVSU and its students. Otherwise, we’re just entertainment, sports figures and “the help.”