The #BlackLivesMatter movement has been creating an uproar as the country is still fighting for racial justice. Netflix founder Reed Hastings and his wife is making the single biggest donation in the aftermath of the killing of #GeorgeFloyd, putting $120 million into some of America’s historically black colleges and universities.
Hastings plans to donate $40 million each to two of America’s most prominent HBCU’s, #MorehouseCollege and #SpelmanCollege and another $40 million into the United Negro College Fund, which funds scholarships for historically black schools. There are still questions raising about this donation, as there are hundreds of HBCUs nationwide, but Spelman and Morehouse seem to be the most recognized. Many are curious to know how they came to this decision on where to donate their money and are they receiving any tax breaks from this, especially gifts to elite colleges with massive endowments.
“Both of us had the privilege of a great education and we want to help more students — in particular students of color — get the same start in life. We hope this additional $120 million donation will help more Black students follow their dreams and also encourage more people to support these institutions — helping to reverse generations of inequality in our country” says the couple in a statement.
Hastings is calling on other business leaders to fund historically black schools, too. Most gifts from tech companies and billionaires so far have been smaller and more focused on other causes. For example, the biggest tech gifts came from #Apple and #YouTube, which each promises $100 million for broad investments in the black community. #Facebook also pledged $10 million for unidentified racial injustice causes and #Netflix also unveiled this week, a $5 million promise to fund black creators and black businesses earlier this week.
We are happy to see some initiative being taken from the wealthy in this country. We want policy changes and more non-colored people taking a stand with us. We will keep the site updated with more information like this.
