When I read recently that Bob Jones University had begun recruiting minority students after decades of hostility to the very notion of social equality between the races, I laughed, of course.
That was before I read that 40 minority high school students had already applied for financial aid this year -- and that nine had been granted full scholarships so far. I really don't know what to make of the sudden surge of minority interest in Bob Jones University except to acknowledge that in some circles, the thirst for knowledge can be taken to some pretty ridiculous extremes.
Bob Jones University sits in an idyllic section of Greenville, S.C., trying its best to remain unruffled by either the passage of time or several major pieces of civil rights legislation. Life proceeds languidly at "CPT" -- "Confederate People's Time."
The school of 4,200 mostly white religious conservatives is happily ensconced in a region thick with nostalgia for the "old ways." Prospective minority students with even the most cursory grip on American history will always be -- at best-- a slip of the tongue away from some fairly hoary racial and religious hang-ups.
Still, Bob Jones University should be congratulated for repenting of some of its former intolerance. In 1970, the school had a "revelation" and began admitting blacks when the antichrists at the Internal Revenue Service threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status if it continued discriminating based on race.
Bob Jones University had another "revelation" two years ago when it made the ultimate sacrifice by lifting its ban on interracial dating.
In doing so, the administration knew it was throwing a whole generation of virginal white coeds to the wiles of incoming minority youth pumped up on Christian rap. It's a testament to BJU's racial broadmindedness that it did so anyway.
Perhaps the school prepared its students for the change in the racial status quo by strategically cutting back on Friday night screenings of D.W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation." Smart move.
Still, the letter that BJU recruiters sent to minority students has to be a masterpiece of persuasive writing unsurpassed in the annals of American belles-lettres. How else could it convince 40 black families that sending a child to a school only recently emerged from the spiritual heart of Dixie was a good thing? I can't prove it, but it probably reads something like this:
"Dear Parent(s) of the Negro Whom this Letter Concerns. Bet you never thought you'd hear from Bob Jones University -- did you? No one has to tell you people that times change. One day, White Anglo-Saxon Christians are on top, the next, we're making reasonable accommodations with the world.
"Though BJU's biblical infallibility rivals that of the Lord's, we must be increasingly conscious of the sensibilities of other tribes. In the year of our 75th Diamond Jubilee, BJU is determined to leave no Negro who knows his or her place behind.
"As your own NAACP has said on many occasions: 'It is a terrible thing to lose one's mind.' We at BJU concur. For a short time only, our admissions office is reaching out to Negroes of Uncommon Virtue with an offer you can't refuse.
"If you haven't already pledged to a violent street gang, prayerfully consider accepting one of our generous Alan Keyes scholarships.
"It isn't affirmative action or, heaven forbid, reparations. It is merely a gesture of good will from your brothers and sisters at Bob Jones University who are fed up with being called racist by the secular media when we're just unusually uptight.
"We admit we were slow to warm to the notion of racial equality. We considered Martin Luther King a dangerous radical and biblical heretic.
"Now we know better. MLK was a godly man who is probably in heaven with BJU's founder.
"So, by all means, come to BJU. And if you have the time and the inclination, help us mount competitive sports franchises that won't cause Jesus to withdraw His approval and roll His eyes quite so often. We're biblical scholars, not jocks. Teach us to hoop and we'll teach you to turn the other cheek."
Wow, who could turn down an offer like that?
Tony Norman's email: tnorman@post-gazette.com
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