Dear Predominately White Institutes (PWIs),

Yes, African Americans are capable! Yes, our degrees carry weight and legacy around the world. Yes, our GPA’s are earned and not given to us. Yes, we take pride in our heritage, embrace the melanin in our skin and will correct anything or anybody who shames it.

Your degrees at your institution may be nationally recognized, but so what? So are one hundred thousand dollar price tags on luxury name brand clothing! That does not take away from the fact your skin reflects the same as mine against the skin. Or the fact that we will all face hardships in life regardless of the tone of our skin.

See, what gets us as African Americans aggravated is when our fellow African American collegiate peers who attend PWIs shame those of us who attend Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) every single chance they get. And they have the nerve to do it publicly via Twitter and Instagram. This brings about the question, why would you shame something that was created for the betterment of our heritage and our culture because of your standards? HBCUs like Coppin State University along with many others, were created by strong-willed African Americans with a vision for us to prevail against racial discrimination and to allow us to receive a degree from an institution that is focused on the betterment of African Americans. Opportunity wasn’t always easily obtainable, so we had to go around the system and create our own to be able to survive in white America.

Our HBCUs created many student black organizations whose purpose is scholarship and empowerment within itself. Again, you strive to be apart of those student organizations but shame the schools in which they were created. Now HBCUs were established by us for us. Yes, we accept other races onto our alma maters, but we are not the minority at our schools. Most first generation PWI students are legacies of HBCUs because of their parents. The lifestyle you live isn’t simply based off of how expensive your school is or how many white people go there.

As black people, we have to take success into our own hands and own it. Nothing in life will ever be given to us easily and attending a HBCU teaches you those key principles. And just for a disclaimer we (African American HBCU students) are not shaming you for getting a higher education and bettering yourself. To see a black person in college striving to be a professional in this world is a beautiful thing, point blank, period. But when it gets shady, it gets pitch black. So to the people reading this very article, when you're finished, pass it on to our brothers and sisters who need a quick lesson in loving yourself 101 and self enlightenment sec. 001.