The alt-left feigned outrage over Trump advisory Kellyanne Conway putting her shoes on the couch while in the Oval Office and the corporate media fell right in line to blow the gaffe beyond proportion.
But there was a significant story behind that photo.
Gathered behind Conway were the presidents of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s).
An HBCU is an institute of higher learning that existed before 1964 and has always admitted students of all races.
Schools recognized as HBCU’s have received additional federal funds ever since Jimmy Carter signed an executive order in 1980.
If you look carefully, there were large, broad smiles plastered across the faces of the men and women who run various schools of higher learning that cater to black and minority students.
These men and women were not upbeat and bright-eyed because they fell for the charms of President Donald Trump . . . they were thinking of the massive payday that is headed their way.
On the agenda of this meeting with the 45th President of the United States was a request for $25 BILLION in funding for their schools.
Yeah, that’s “billion” as in nine zeros.
The amount is not without precedent.
President Obama provided the hundred or so schools with $4 billion in funding over seven years. That’s around $40 million per school.
That amount is on top of government funding that comes in the form of student loans and grants.
Very few colleges or universities follow the Hillsdale College model of refusing all government funding – Hillsdale won’t even allow students to take loans backed by the government.
Arguably, one of the most recognizable black universities is Howard University in Washington, D.C.
The school operates on a budget of approximately $800 million per year with around $240 million generated through tuition (that includes student loans and grants).
The school also receives around $215 million in “federal appropriations.”
The kicker is that Howard is sitting on a $659 million cash hoard through their endowment.
Yet Howard’s president, Wayne Frederick, was in attendance in the meeting on Monday with the gaggle of other presidents who were requesting funding.
If the HBCU program received another cash injection, Howard University would operate on approximately 56% federal funds – not including federal student loans and grants, which would likely throw that percentage up to over 80%.
But that’s just Howard University that serves a predominately African American student body.
Other schools that are in the HBCU program and receive federal funds actually have black students as a minority.
Bluefield State College is 13% black and West Virginia State University is 17% African American.
Aside from the inherent racism of providing tax payer funds to schools based upon skin color, the HBCU program is nothing more than a sham to get more money pulled from the pockets of hard working American taxpayers.
President Trump should not only refuse to fund the program, he should call out the program for what it is: legal theft.