In an interview with The Associated Press, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos attempted to retract her previous statements about black students and HBCUs.

"When I talked about it being a pioneer in choice it was because I acknowledge that racism was rampant and there were no choices," DeVos said. "These HBCUs provided choices for black students that they didn't have."

DeVos' tenure as secretary of education got off to a shaky start and continues to be a not-so-favorite amongst minorities and civil activist groups concerning education.

Her department was derided for black history errors, her commitment to charter schools has been met with disdain and both she and the DOE are being sued by 18 states.

And in May, DeVos was booed during the commencement ceremony at Bethune-Cookman University, a historically black college in Florida. Part of what raised attendees' ire was a statement DeVos made about HBCUs being "real pioneers when it comes to school choice."

Parents and students weren't the only ones to make their dismay known. Twitter users had some choice words, too. 

In addition to trying to clarify her earlier point, DeVos also told the AP that she "should have decried much more forcefully the ravages of racism in this country."

DeVos continued by saying that she has dedicated her career to aiding minority children.

"That's where my heart has been for three decades is to really empower and allow all families the same kind of opportunities I've had for my kids," she said.

DeVos also claimed that she could have made more of an effort to reach out to African American communities according to Bloomberg Politics. 

"I've had these conversations with some of the African American organizations that represent higher education, but probably not as explicitly as I am right now," said DeVos.

Minorities in higher education is, of course, a hot topic right now. It was recently announced that the incoming class of Harvard University is more minority than white, something that has never happened in the university's almost 400 year history.

This has led to some criticism, especially amid the news that the Department of Justice is mulling an investigation into affirmative action in the college admission process.

When DeVos was asked whether she thought race should be a factor in college acceptance, she replied, "Well, they are looking at that, that is a factor today. I am not going to debate that, I am not going to discuss that."

However, DeVos did have some thoughts about race in grades K-12: "What we should really be talking about is what are we doing to ensure that every single child no matter their family income, no matter their racial background, no matter their zip code has equal opportunities to access a quality education."

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