Rightly or wrongly, I believe the reasons why fewer and fewer black students are attending black colleges over the years are:
1. Black colleges are conservative places of learning which demand high standards and where, because the discipline is tough, the students find themselves in a sombre environment with few or no opportunities for fun and where the "us-blacks-against-them-whities" syndrome is often manifest. To be sure, TV programs showing black guys in positions of authority or responsibility interacting successfully with their white peers and subordinates have motivated many a black student to opt for a white college.
2. By contrast, white colleges are liberal places of learning where standards are probably not as rigorous and which offer a great variety of options that enable the students to enjoy much flexibility in their study programs.
So, whereas a black student in a black college is driven to achieve high standards and to graduate as soon as possible, s/he does not feel as imposed upon in a white college. Furthermore, the the great variety of extacurricular activities available enable him/her to have much fun and relaxation. Besides, many a white chick/guy will make many a black guy/chick feel integrated as Americans regardless of whether the black students were octaroons (1/8th black), quadroons (1/4 black), half-half, or totally black. IYKWIM.
Finally, it must not be overlooked that the majority of American high schools today have deteriorated into diploma mills and very many students that went to university because their parents expected them to do so, or because they wish to join their buddies there, or simply because it seems such a cool thing to do, flunked out in their first year. As the work environment offers relatively easy opportunities with immediate monetary rewards, is it any wonder why more and more high school graduates today avoid plunging themselves into a blood-bath of studies? BTW, as Cindy Lauper used to sing, "Gals just love to have fun!" Ditto for the guys, too.
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(By the way, as a matter of interest, there are "white" negroes that are virtually indistinguishable from the regular white caucasians. To illustrate with a simple example, according to Mendelian genetics, 25% of the offspring of two half-black-half-white parents can be expected to be either fully white or fully black with the rest being half-half.)
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