Not too long ago, I was having a conversation with some fellow college students. The subject of the conversation was just classic college student small talk- ranging from teachers, classes, other students and things of that nature.

During the midst of the conversation, one of the students felt the urge to express her feelings about the special “attention on minorities” that has been prevalent in the media following the non-indictments of the officers in Missouri and New York. The student expressed disappointment that minorities were receiving too much attention in the media and connected this special attention with “reverse racism.” Curious as to what she meant, I ask her to offer more of an explanation. As a college student, she gave the example of scholarships that targets minorities only. She speculated that if there were any scholarships for white-only individuals, it would cause tremendous backlash. In her belief, “we are all equal”, why do minorities receive such special attention?

Well let us explore this question. After all, it may seem unfair as to why there are not many white-only scholarships. First let’s make it clear that I am against any White-only scholarships. Not only do I believe they are unnecessary, I believe they can be problematic. Before explaining why there should not be any White-only scholarships, it is crucial to understand why Black Scholarships exist.

Understanding the premise of slavery as a state sanctioned form of economic opportunity gives one the comprehension needed to understand why a wealth gap between the Black community and the White community exists today. The ramifications of slavery includes a degraded value of black culture and a heightened value of white culture that helped to lead to many injustices in the black community as it stands today. However, the primary purpose of slavery was to help the United States of America to become the economic superpower that it is today. It was purely a financial drive. Before the founding of this country, America has been a country that profited (and still profits) off the unjust treatment of Black bodies.

Slavery helped to create a vast wealth gap between the Black Community and the White Community. When Slavery was abolished, former enslaved African Americans received no form of restitution as a result of their hard work to develop wealth within America. Consequently, all the wealth went into the pockets of the White community. As a matter of fact, if you look into the areas that were previously heavily concentrated with enslaved African American people, you will notice an enriched White community that presides there, an impoverished Black community that presides there or both. In addition, if you look at the history of Harvard (one of the most prestigious universities in America) you will find that many of the early leaders and presidents were actually very successful slave-owners. But I digress.

The wealth gap between the two communities make opportunities more vast in White communities and more scarce in Black communities. As a result, private organizations and investors attempt to offer difference opportunities for individuals deprived of common resources through particular programs or investments. Some of these investments include race-specific scholarships. Race-specific scholarships acknowledge that there are certain disadvantages attached to skin color. (In this case, economic disadvantages). Addressing this issue through investments and programs help, but doesn’t necessarily fix, the problem.

Black only scholarships exist because blacks are on the disparaging end of the wealth gap due to the factor of race. Since Whites are advantaged by the wealth gap, there is no logical reasoning to offer scholarships to only the White demographic. Having said that, that does not mean that White people should not be eligible to receive scholarships. After all, there are white-impoverished communities as well. There are whites who are limited to opportunities because they are female. In essence, there are whites who suffer as a result of discrimination. But let’s be clear, discrimination in the White community is not or has ever been race-based. As a result, there should not be any restitution for a problem that does not exist. Adding race-based scholarships in the White Community would do nothing more than widen the wealth gap.

In conclusion, race-based scholarships exist to help assuage the deprivation of opportunities in certain communities of color. The lack of opportunities exist because of the consequences that slavery and different unjust policies (convict leasing, redlining) created. Race-based scholarships are not the only investments that exist to help close the gap, there are plenty of other policies that exist for the same purpose (affirmative action for one). Different policies and investments of these kinds help us understand that you don’t defeat racism by ignoring it, you help defeat racism by acknowledging its existence, understanding its roots and resolving its present consequences.