In recent months, there’s been a disturbing pattern of bomb threats against historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs. At least 36 HBCUs have been targeted…and that includes threats made against 18 of them on the first day of Black History Month.

Now, the White House is boosting funding for HBCUs, with the aim of bolstering campus security and mental health services. In addition to the bomb threats, hate crimes against Black people have been on the rise in the U.S. According to the FBI, there was an almost 50 percent increase between 2019 and 2020.

For more on this, The Takeaway spoke to Dr. Greg Carr, Associate Professor of Afro-American Studies at Howard University and adjunct professor at Howard Law school.