Protecting Our Campuses, Protecting Our Stories: The Calculated Attacks on HBCUs

The attacks on HBCU campuses are not random. They are meticulously calculated. And that fact alone should infuriate us all.

What we are witnessing is a deliberate strategy: false narrative engineers arriving uninvited, staging provocations, and waiting for students to react so they can hit record. The footage is then stripped of context and spread across the internet to push a false narrative — that HBCU campuses are hostile, chaotic spaces full of “uneducated” people. This non-accidental framing is part of a larger agenda of the unwarranted dismantling of DEI, to silence our voices, and to delegitimize the very spaces that have nurtured Black excellence for generations.

Hear me when I say this: we get to be angry. We get to protest. We get to call out the presence of those who come into our home, our campus, our sanctuary without invitation. When students at Tennessee State University demanded that outsiders leave, they were practicing a form of communal protection. That is not hostility — that is self-respect.

As an alumna of Fisk University, the oldest HBCU in Nashville, I can’t help but wonder and anticipate, knowing that they are right down the street, that they could pop up at our campus. Fisk was a safe haven for me. It’s where the seeds planted by my parents of cultural pride were watered and nurtured so that no one could tell me who I am or should be, but instead to love myself and my community — as a Black woman. As a Black scholar. That’s what HBCUs have always represented: spaces where Black identity, brilliance, and belonging are affirmed rather than attacked. To see those spaces targeted so deliberately is beyond disturbing. It’s deeply personal.

The Sociology of Provocation

From a sociological lens, these incidents are a textbook example of baiting and framing. The provokers arrive with a pre-set storyline: if they can get students to shout, protest, or even physically escort them out, they can clip that footage and present it as evidence of “intolerance.”

This tactic relies on media amplification. Social media thrives on moral panic — quick, context-free images that reinforce viewers’ existing biases. In this case, the bias is that Black students, particularly those at HBCUs, are “uneducated” and “unruly.” The provokers aren’t seeking genuine dialogue. They are manufacturing moments to exploit those stereotypes for clicks, followers, and political leverage.

The Psychology of Gaslighting

Psychologically, these provocations weaponize gaslighting and projection. The message is: “We’re only here to have a debate. Why are you so hostile?” But the reality is that the so-called debate is not neutral. It carries rhetoric rooted in anti-Blackness, homophobia, misogyny, and other forms of hate.

When students resist, their natural emotional responses — anger, fear, frustration — are recast as proof of irrationality. This is a form of psychological manipulation designed to strip students of credibility and humanity in the public eye. It’s an abusive tactic that says: “We harm you, and if you resist, you’re the problem.”

Refusing to Be Framed

No, we will not accept the idea that hate speech is truth, or that revisions to history are facts.

No, we will not accept the suggestion that false narrative engineers have the right to invade our campuses and destabilize our learning environments.

No, we will not allow manufactured clips to erase the truth of our dignity, brilliance, and right to safety.

We know what’s happening. And because we know, we can act. While I am not at liberty to provide any legal advice, here are some things you can do to continue fighting the good fight on our sacred campuses:

• Document everything. Video, photos, timestamps. Save the receipts.

• Name the strategy. When you explain baiting and framing out loud, you take away its power.

• Support students. Remind them that anger is not weakness — it is evidence that they recognize manipulation and care enough to resist it.

• Preserve and protect the real narrative. Share context, release full footage, and center student and faculty voices.

• Stand in solidarity. Alumni, faith leaders, and community members must amplify the truth louder than the lies.

  
  

The Bigger Picture

What’s at stake here is bigger than one confrontation. HBCUs are among the few remaining spaces where Black students can learn, lead, and grow without constantly justifying their presence. These provocations are not just about today’s viral clips. They are about eroding those safe spaces to make room for a broader political project: silencing marginalized voices and dismantling the gains of civil rights.

But let’s be clear: we are not powerless. Anger becomes fuel when it’s paired with clarity. Protest becomes protection when it’s rooted in love for our community. And refusing to be framed means telling our own stories, loudly and unapologetically.

So yes — keep speaking. Keep protesting. Keep demanding that uninvited guests leave. Protect your home. Our home. Protect our story. Protect our campus.

Because HBCUs are not hostile dens. They are havens of brilliance. And no viral clip will ever erase that truth.