Do HBCU students care about the war in Gaza?

Since October, there have been an increasing number of pro-Palestinian, anti-genocide protests on college campuses across the nation. So far, demonstrations have occurred in about 45 states and Washington with students and faculty demanding an end to the war between Israel and Hamas. These protests have mainly occurred at predominantly white institutions such as Columbia, Duke, Northwestern, and Harvard. But as President Joe Biden prepares to address graduates at Morehouse College’s commencement, many are wondering where Black students fit in?

Recently, a group of Howard University students joined a pro-Palestinian encampment at George Washington University. Likewise, some Xavier University of Louisiana students joined protesters in downtown New Orleans and near the Tulane University campus. Though there have been some protests at a few historically Black colleges and universities, the fervor seen on other campuses hasn’t been replicated at most HBCUs and among many Black students on majority-white campuses.

There are reasons for that.

On a recent episode of Saturday Night Live, one of the skits took on the campus protests and included three parents — two white, one Black. The white parents said they supported their college-age children expressing themselves, though they were concerned. However, the Black Columbia University dad, played by Kenan Thompson, said, “Alexis Vanessa Roberts better have her butt in class.”

While visiting a friend who graduated from an HBCU, he took a call from one of his Morehouse College mentees. Before they hung up, he told the young man, “Don’t get caught up in all of that protest foolishness. Keep your a— in class.”

Though Black students are warned about the high stakes of protesting and may not show up, others are still fired up to make change.

Just last week, Xavier University announced U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, would be this year’s commencement speaker.

A few days later, however, Xavier President Reynold Verret announced that the commencement would proceed as scheduled — without the ambassador. The reason? Some students – and others – were upset by the decision to pick Thomas-Greenfield, citing her votes to block a ceasefire in Gaza.

In a letter to the administration and faculty, Xavier Student Government Association President Chase Patterson wrote, “It has come to our attention that the university has chosen to invite a U.N. ambassador who has voted against a ceasefire in Gaza to address our graduating class.”

“This decision sparked significant dismay and disappointment among us, as it contradicts the values and principles that our institution upholds. …,” he added. “As members of a compassionate and empathetic community, we cannot turn a blind eye to the suffering of our fellow human beings.”

Verret described the decision to rescind Thomas-Greenfied’s invitation as “collaborative” and did not require public demonstrations. “Normally we don’t have these protests. We have meetings and discussions. We don’t have confrontations. Discussions have occurred,” he told Andscape.

Shortly after Hamas attacked several Israeli towns along the border of the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people, injuring upward of 5,000, and taking several others hostage, anti-war protesters called for an end to the violence. Israel responded with a military offensive of its own, and according to CNN. Around 78,000 people have been injured, and more than 34,000 (and counting) have been killed in Gaza since the war began. Additionally, some estimates report that nearly half of those killed so far were children.

Despite the spread of the protests, some question how Black people fit into the pro-Palestinian peace movement happening globally. And some HBCU students are doing the same.

“I don’t think [the ambassador] should come. But, at my school, there are some mixed feelings” about the Israel-Hamas war, Kennedy Wells, a Xavier mass communication senior from Shreveport, said on a local radio station. “The majority of people are OK with the decision,” and they want to move on. “But, no, that’s not what we’re being taught. We’re being taught to stand up for what’s right and to speak our minds,” Wells said.

HBCUs have a significant history of protests, stretching back to the early 1900s. Most demonstrations have been about local, campus-specific issues or civil rights and social justice. Fisk University students protested for eight weeks against the policies of the university president. More than 14,000 HBCU students and young Black activists formed the Southern Negro Youth Congress in Richmond, Virginia, in 1937 to fight for more equal education opportunities and against a racist caste system. In 1960, four North Carolina A&T University students were the first in the state to hold a sit-in at a whites-only lunch counter.

HBCU students care about more than just perceived Black issues. They care about immigration, reproductive rights, fair representation, and voting rights, as well as global issues.

On Sunday, Biden is scheduled to be the commencement speaker at Morehouse College, and the invitation has sparked deep concern and requests to cancel the speech from some students. Biden’s team and Morehouse administrations are counting on pre-graduation talks to quell the storm, but some students want to see something happen.

“I feel like the protests do need to come out,” junior Benjamin Bayliss told The New York Times, “because if you don’t see students advocating for what they believe in, then the change that they’re advocating for will never come about.”

Another student called on school officials to rescind Biden’s invitation. “This is a global catastrophe in Gaza, and Joe Biden coming to pander for our votes is political blackface,” Morehouse sophomore Anwar Karim told The Associated Press.

Barring a ceasefire, the war in Gaza is likely to continue throughout commencement season, the summer, and as colleges and universities welcome students back to campus in the fall. So, while HBCU students haven’t been especially vocal about the issue en masse, the more the conflict continues, the more they may feel compelled to speak out.

Some will protest. Others will engage in class and campus conversations. I’m certain they all care.