‘Their Knees Are Still on Our Necks’: Black Women in Higher Ed

I worked as an adjunct professor at a Southeast Texas community college for 18 years. During the initial decade, I held a master’s degree. However, recognizing the need for further academic advancement, I pursued and obtained my doctorate. Despite consistently receiving positive faculty evaluations and what seemed like countless interviews, I could not secure a job as a full-time professor. That position remained out of reach, leaving me perplexed and searching for answers.

Community colleges have earned the label of “the people’s college” due to their diversity among student bodies. The number of nonwhite students enrolled in community college exceeds the number of whites. Yet the faculty employed at community colleges remains predominantly White, with those identifying as white accounting for 77 of full-time faculty and 74 percent of part-time faculty, according to aof all faculty members in higher education, according to a 2021 study.

However, Governor Gregg Abbott recently signed Senate Bill 17 , a law prohibiting all state-funded colleges and universities in Texas from incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion in their hiring policies. Abbott warned that any state public college or university failing to comply with this directive would risk losing access to state-allocated funding.

Black and white scholars consistently report the lack of diversity and the hostile environments within the academy in their scholarship. Black female scholars have been pioneers in education since their liberation from slavery. However, even today, the systemic obstacles they face continue to suppress their progress, echoing the haunting reality that their knees are still on our necks.

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