Racism in Greek life

Racism in college fraternities and sororities ("Greek life") has been linked to the experience of microaggressions, fewer opportunities to use the networking system built into Greek life, and harmful stereotypes. This fuels the experiences of people of color throughout their lives in various academic, work, and personal spaces, including Greek Life Organizations (GLOs). Through the creation of these organizations, there has been a legacy of racism, which has fueled the elitist structure that has negatively impacted people of color.

History

Greek life has a long history of policies that have contributed to racism and lack of diversity in many Greek organizations. In resistance to racism in GLOs, in the early 1920s, according to Hunter and Hughey, Black GLOs were founded.[1] Members of other racial groups began to form their own fraternities and sororities. For instance, the first Hispanic fraternity was founded in 1931. In 1948, the first MGLO fraternity was founded at the University of Toledo and in 1981, the first MGLO sorority was founded at Rutgers University. More MGLOs were founded “nationally and locally” the following years to continue as a “foundation transcending racial, national, and religious differences”.[2] Soon after, Multicultural Greek Councils were formed to govern affiliated MGLOs, both national or local fraternities and sororities.

By the end of the 1960s, White Greek Life Organizations (WGLOs) eliminated official policies that prohibited race-based membership. However abolishing these clauses did not prevent GLOs from using other means of maintaining racist and exclusive practices. Following the elimination of explicitly racist policies, Greek organizations sustained their racist practices through more informal means of discrimination.[3] This is often seen through forms of de facto segregation, white supremacist overtones at Greek parties and events,[4] mock “slave auctions”, and accounts of white fraternity members dressing in “blackface”.[5] For instance, several white fraternities have been found building homecoming floats with racist themes, staging racist skits, and holding parties with racist themes.[6] Furthermore, in terms of de facto segregation, despite eliminating racially exclusionary policies, many white Greek life organizations failed to actively pursue and promote new members of color. Therefore, lack of diversity within Greek Life organizations remains relatively unchanged.

People of color continue to feel marginalized within these organizations. Because the foundations of Greek life were built on biased practices, WGLOs continue to provide a structure that enforces euro-centrism and conformity among its members. Although Greek systems today are not divided into separate racial categories, GLOs are still viewed as the desirable option when it comes to seeking membership,[3] because they historically have had more access to resources and networking opportunities that people in non-white GLOs do not. At the present moment, WGLOs are pressured to integrate people of color, but they do so under conditions that they set themselves.[7] This puts those people of color wanting to join in positions where they both have to “perform” and embrace their ethnic differences, while trying to assimilate to traditional practices that encourage homogeneity.[8]

Contemporary incidents

People of color face wide-ranging forms of discrimination in Greek life. Members of color see white peers use blackface as a form of humor and they are more harshly judged when they do not participate in events that are incongruent with their personal beliefs. The use of blackface as a form of humor or entertainment has a lasting legacy in all aspects of American society, including Greek Life. This legacy stretches from Mark Twain’s fondness for shows with performers in blackface[9] to current Halloween costumes. Another example of the racialized experiences that members of color face are when Latinx members of WGLOs feel as though they are being labeled as lazy if they chose not to participate in networking opportunities. Labels like these are products of racial stereotypes about Latinx people.[3]

GLOs are beginning to form multicultural and ethnically diverse councils and organizations, in an attempt to allow the experiences of minorities to be heard. The purpose of Multicultural Greek Life Organizations (MGLOs) is to promote racial diversity and to create spaces that are more conducive to the advancement of students of color as opposed to the pre-established structure of WGLOs.[2]

Greek Organizations Associated with Racist Incidents

Citations

  1. ↑ W. Hughey, Matthew (2010). "A Paradox of Participation: Nonwhites in White Sororities and Fraternities". Social Problems. 57 (4): 653–679. doi:10.1525/sp.2010.57.4.653. JSTOR 10.1525/sp.2010.57.4.653.
  2. 1 2 Hunter, Joanna S.; Hughey, Matthew W. (2013). "'It's not written on their skin like it is ours': Greek letter organizations in the age of the multicultural imperative". Ethnicities. 13 (5): 519–543. JSTOR 43586612.
  3. 1 2 3 Hughey, Matthew W. (2010-11-01). "A Paradox of Participation: Nonwhites in White Sororities and Fraternities". Social Problems. 57 (4): 653–679. doi:10.1525/sp.2010.57.4.653. ISSN 0037-7791.
  4. ↑ Parks, Gregory (2008-06-13). Black Greek-letter Organizations in the Twenty-First Century: Our Fight Has Just Begun. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813172950.
  5. ↑ "Blackface Debate In Virginia". Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  6. ↑ R., Feagin, Joe (1996). The agony of education : Black students at white colleges and universities. Vera, Hernan, 1937-, Imani, Nikitah, 1967-. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415915120. OCLC 33947705.
  7. ↑ Bryson, Bethany (1996). ""Anything But Heavy Metal": Symbolic Exclusion and Musical Dislikes". American Sociological Review. 61 (5): 884–899. doi:10.2307/2096459. JSTOR 2096459.
  8. ↑ Schwalbe, Michael; Godwin, Sandra; Holden, Daphne; Schrock, Douglas; Thompson, Shealy; Wolkomir, Michele (2000). "Generic Processes in the Reproduction of Inequality: An Interactionist Analysis". Social Forces. 79 (2): 419–452. doi:10.2307/2675505. JSTOR 2675505.
  9. ↑ McCoy, Sharon D. (2009-04-18). ""The Trouble Begins at Eight": Mark Twain, the San Francisco Minstrels, and the Unsettling Legacy of Blackface Minstrelsy". American Literary Realism. 41 (3): 232–248. doi:10.1353/alr.0.0022. ISSN 1940-5103.
  10. ↑ Kingkade, Tyler (13 March 2015). "UMD Frat Brother Allegedly Sent Racist Email, Signed Off With 'F*** Consent'" – via Huff Post.
  11. ↑ "Sigma Alpha Epsilon must leave frat house by midnight Tues".
  12. ↑ Simon, Darran. "Former University of Maryland student indicted on hate crime charge in stabbing death". CNN. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
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