8 HBCUs Were Targeted with Bomb Threats This Month. Because anti-Black Terroristic Threats are Very American

Howard University, Spelman College and six other historically Black colleges and universities have reported bomb threats since 2022 began.

Students at a 2021 Spelman College commencement ceremony; Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images

On January 4, eight Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) all received bomb threats on the same day. Howard University, Spelman College, Arkansas at Pine Bluff Florida Memorial University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University, Prairie View A&M University in Texas, and Xavier University of Louisiana reported threats to local authorities just as their institutions were gearing up to start their spring semesters.

Colleges and universities across the nation were already scrambling to assess how safe it would be to resume in-person classes given the high levels of infections brought on by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. But the aforementioned schools were not able to just focus on mitigating a public health crisis, they also had to contend with the seriousness of warnings issued to their schools on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Capitol insurrection.