By Sara Rimer
The New York Times
To mark the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, a leading black Wall Street money manager and philanthropist announced yesterday that he would give $50 million to institutions and individuals working to improve race relations and to close the class divide between African-Americans who have benefited from the civil rights movement and those who have not.
The philanthropist, Alphonse Fletcher Jr., who attributes his success to his aspiring parents and his education, said he hoped his gift would help continue the progress toward racial equality that the Brown decision started.
Mr. Fletcher noted that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor had written in the majority opinion in a Supreme Court case last year involving affirmative action in college admissions that she expected that racial preferences in higher education would no longer be necessary in 25 years.
"We've got to get working," said Mr. Fletcher, 38, who was elected president of his graduating class at Harvard in 1987, and later helped his parents put his two younger brothers through Harvard while working as a trader on Wall Street. "The clock is ticking."
His gift is one of the largest individual gifts ever made by an African-American, said Emmett Carson, the president of the Minneapolis Foundation, and an expert on black charitable giving. Bill Cosby and his wife, Camille, gave $20 million to Spelman College in Atlanta in 1988, and last year Oprah Winfrey gave $50.7 million to her Oprah Foundation, which provides educational opportunities for disadvantaged children in the United States, as well as humanitarian help for children in South Africa.
Mr. Fletcher, the founder and chairman of Fletcher Asset Management, said he planned to model part of his gift after the Guggenheim awards, with fellowships of $50,000 to be awarded over a number of years to scholars, writers and artists whose work furthered the goals of the Brown decision.
He said he would also give $50,000 a year over a number of years to support the school reform work of Dr. James P. Comer, an African-American professor of child psychiatry at Yale University who has spent decades helping disadvantaged schoolchildren around the country.
"He understands how important it is to give back in a way that supports education because the future not only of African-Americans, but of the country depends on making it possible for many more African-American children to be successful," said Dr. Comer, 69, whose mother, a domestic worker, and stepfather, a laborer in an Indiana steel mill, put all five of their children through college.
A significant portion of the money, Mr. Fletcher said, would also be used to give environmental justice scholarships to Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Mr. Fletcher, who will graduate this month with a master's degree in environmental management from the school, said he believed that African-Americans were disproportionately harmed by environmental degradation, such as toxic waste. He said that part of the gift would be given to Howard University School of Law, the N.A.A.C.P. and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc.
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Greetings: What a wonderful contribution Mr. Fletcher has made. As a researcher and author of my family's history, I am submitting this request for information regarding application for a fellowship to continue my work.
Following more than thirty years of family history research, while working full time, I have written and self-published four books, co-created a "how to search for and find your ancestors" seminar for school children in Newton, Texas and, authorized an archeology project on the homestead of my great-grandfather (purchased more than 100 years ago). In 2005, the seminar will be held during Black History Month. My journey has taken me into acquiring DNA as well.
The significance of my research points to the importance of education to the slaves following emancipation. As well, it helps to shape the perception of today's student by associating the correlation of his/her family history with American history. It substantiates their knowledge that they are somebody.
I would appreciate any assistance in locating the appropriate source to apply for a fellowship.
Posted by: Joan C. McBride | Wednesday, October 20, 2004 at 12:35 AM