Brendan Baird (MyFoxDFW.com)
A controversial non-profit organization announced it has awarded the second of five academic scholarships to a Texas man. Among the criteria: the recipient must be white and male. The group sponsoring it says it's the only scholarship of its kind in the United States, My Fox Dallas-Fort Worth reports.
The award was presented by a group called the Former Majority Association for Equality. Its president, Colby Bohannon, says he has been called a racist and compared to the KKK.
"We're not racists. We have no agenda for bigotry," said Bohannon. "We're not trying to take away anything from any other group. We're just trying to help poor, Caucasian males afford college."
Recipient Brendan Baird is studying to become a physician's assistant, and the awarded $500 check will help him to pay for schooling.
To win, he had to demonstrate a high GPA, community service, sports ability and financial need. But what really sealed the deal is the fact that he is a white man.
"If anyone wants to say it's an issue of color, it's the color of green," said Baird. "And we all need it."
The group's vice-president, Marcus Carter, is black. There are also two women and an Hispanic man on its board.
"Right now everybody else has their own specific scholarship: Minorities, left-handed people, people who like the color green," said Carter. "I don't feel the animosity of helping this group."
Critics say while some funding programs are geared toward specific genders or races, others are need-based. One of the state's largest, the Texas Grant Program, is geared toward low-income students.
Over the past decade, the program has spent about $2 billion to help 310,000 white men.
Bohannan, meanwhile, says he plans to expand his scholarship fund to $25,000 for another 5,000 recipients who may need the money.
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