The pain in Antiwan Walker’s voice was evident.
On Thursday, he quietly read a message from his alma mater, Talladega College, re-affirming the college's decision to march in the inaugural parade of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
“We shouldn’t go. But there is nothing I can do about it at this point,” said Walker, who lives in Atlanta. “I am really concerned about our national profile. People are looking at us like we are sell outs and not socially conscious. Someone said today that we were the Ben Carson of HBCUs. That hurt.”
Billy C. Hawkins, Talladega’s president, made the call in spite of days of condemnation and vitriol aimed at the tiny black college.
Most of that consternation came from alums of the school. Once-proud Tornadoes.
Norman Pitts, president of the Atlanta Chapter of the Talladega College Alumni Association, said earlier this week that most people probably never heard of the school before last week.
He was probably right. Founded by former slaves in 1867, it is the oldest private black college in Alabama, but also one of the smallest, with 1,500 students. The school doesn’t have a football team and competes athletically in the NAIA.
The largest organization on campus is the band, established in 2012, which has more than 200 members.
The Marching Tornadoes – who last appeared in the Honda Battle of the Bands in 2015 — were on a list of 40 participants released last week by Trump’s inaugural committee. Many Talladega graduates viewed participation as an endorsement of a racist.
There were even dueling petitions. Alumni posted one, begging the school to decline the invitation. Members of the band, eager to go to Washington, posted the other. The anti- petition has gathered about 2,100 signatures; the pro- petition, about 400.
Hawkins tried to remove politics from his decision and use it as a teachable moment for the students and the college.
“We respect and appreciate how our students and alumni feel about our participation in this parade,” Hawkins said. “As many of those who chose to participate in the parade have said, we feel the inauguration of a new president is not a political event but a civil ceremony celebrating the transfer of power.”
Credit: J.D. Scott
Credit: J.D. Scott
Hawkins found support from one of the school’s most powerful alums, Hampton University President William R. Harvey.
“It will be a wonderful learning experience for the students in the band,” Harvey said. “It will be a teachable moment for them to understand the importance of supporting the leader of the free world, despite one’s political viewpoint.
“It is an honor to be invited to the inauguration of any president of the United States. The college and its band are celebrating the peaceful transition of power.”
Hampton was one of at least four black college bands that marched in the 2013 inaugural parade for Barack Obama. It is unclear whether any other HBCUs applied or were invited to take part in Trump’s parade.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump was viewed by many African-Americans and minority groups as having racist tendencies tinged with xenophobia and Islamophobia.
To attract black voters, Trump famously said: "What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose? You live in your poverty, your schools are no good. You have no jobs. Fifty-eight percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?"
Only 8 percent of black voters took the bait.
Marybeth Gasman, a University of Pennsylvania professor and director of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions, said it would be a slap in the face of black colleges — rooted in history, activism, the freedom movement and civil rights – to support Trump, who she said challenges all of those concepts.
“We are in a moment when we all need to stand on the right side of justice and that is not with Donald Trump. It is wrong for any college to march in the inaugural parade of someone who engenders and stirs racism, sexism, homophobia and all the ‘isms,’” said Gasman, who has written extensively about black colleges. “People have a right to support and vote for whom they want in elections, but as an institution of higher education and an HBCU, we must be out in front, leading the charge for justice, and supporting African-American students.”
With less than three weeks to go before the Jan. 30 parade, Talladega is still not fully in the clear. As part of his announcement, Hawkins said the school has to raise about $60,000 to fund the trip.
The Anniston Star reported Thursday that Grady Thornton, a member of the Alabama Republican Executive Committee, offered to help raise money for the school.
“I have access to the contact information to all 400-plus members of the Alabama Republican Party,” he told the paper. “I will start the process with a $100 contribution.” A GoFundMe account has also been established.
Walker, who donates at least twice a year to the college, said he will not be sending money for the trip, although Hawkins’ decision has forced him to get even more active.
He just hopes it’s not too late.
“If we are getting flak from our own communities, then what have we gained?” Walker said. “We have lost a lot of respect from black people.”
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