That would ensure more Americans have a bright economic future and the next generation is prepared to compete in the digital economy.

     It’s important for Black college students to have a grasp on digital skills even before they set foot on an HBCU campus, but the “digital divide” is likely to have already set them back. Nationwide, only 65 percent of Hispanics and 71 percent of Blacks have internet service of any kind in their homes, compared to 80 percent of whites. The “digital divide” for Black Americans is equally pronounced in urban and rural areas. Urban whites are more than twice as likely to have high speed internet than urban Blacks. In the rural South, the same split is 77 percent to 62 percent. […]