'Clueless' DeVos links HBCU's with School Choice !?

Am I mistaken or did Ed Sec DeVos just infer that victimizing blacks turned out to be a good thing - while ignoring the prevailing racism that made HBCU's necessary in the first place?

This from the US Deartment of Education:

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos released the following statement after meeting with presidents and chancellors of Historically Black Colleges and Universities at the White House:

A key priority for this administration is to help develop opportunities for communities that are often the most underserved. Rather than focus solely on funding, we must be willing to make the tangible, structural reforms that will allow students to reach their full potential.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have done this since their founding. They started from the fact that there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education. They saw that the system wasn't working, that there was an absence of opportunity, so they took it upon themselves to provide the solution.

HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.

Their counsel and guidance will be crucial in addressing the current inequities we face in education. I look forward to working with the White House to elevate the role of HBCUs in this administration and to solve the problems we face in education today.

This from The Hill:

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are “real pioneers when it comes to school choice,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Monday.

“They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and great quality,” DeVos said in a statement. “Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.”

DeVos’s comments come as representatives from the country’s HBCUs are in Washington to meet with Republican lawmakers. President Trump is expected to sign an executive order related to the institutions on Tuesday.

Her remarks immediately stirred backlash from supporters of HBCUs, who pointed out that the institutions were established because African-American students, often, did not have any other choice.

On Twitter, some users argued that DeVos’s statements could be equated to saying that segregated water fountains simply gave people more beverage choices, or that civil rights icon Rosa Parks was standing up for seat choice.

Brendan Nyhan, a professor of political science at Dartmouth University, pointed out on Twitter that DeVos’s statement appeared to contradict information readily available on her department’s website.