The Cultural Mistrust and Epistemological Miseducation of White Folk and the “Whitening” of HBCUs

Cultural mistrust describes a survival-oriented and adaptive suspicion that Blacks develop towards Whites and White-dominated institutions. However, outside of the traditional use of cultural mistrust within ever-changing institutions that promote social constructions of race that have promoted assertions of “reverse racism”. The assertions have created a growing need to explore and better understand the White perspectives of mistrust towards Blacks. This study examines how “inverted cultural mistrust” manifests in higher education, specifically with White faculty employed at HBCUs and how this negatively impacts Black students' sense of belonging, well-being and all-around trajectory. It also examines “Whiteness” from a Du Boisian perspective and Bonilla-Silva's “White Habitus” (2018) and how traditional educational practices perpetuate the maintenance of “Whiteness” as the primary measurement for learning. Lastly, this study examines White students attending HBCUs and the comparable educational differences when the “White Habitus” is critically and academically challenged.