AWARENESS OF DIVERSITY AS A BLACK GREEK
Me Phi Me: Awareness of Diversity as a Black Greek Theo Fowles University of Southern California Professor Sylvia Rousseau EDUC 523 September 24 2012
AWARENESS OF DIVERSITY AS A BLACK GREEK Me Phi Me: Awareness of Diversity as a Black Greek Stepping onto the USC campus as a freshman, I was truly excited to be a member of the Trojan Family. As the only black guy on my floor of the dorm, I soon found myself on USC’s Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) Row with some of my building mates. Red cups littered the streets as students stumbled drunkenly from sprawling house to sprawling house. I saw lots of “bros” but not a lot of “brothas”. I never stepped foot on The Row after my first few weeks at school. I was too aware of myself as I walked down those streets. Ironically, as a sophomore, I joined a historically Black Greek Letter Organization. My experiences within Greek life forced and continue to force me to be aware of my identity, social struggle, and power. The word fraternity comes from the Latin word fraternitas which means the state of being brothers. Historically, in the United States, blacks were seen as less than human—a far cry from brotherhood, which embodies warm and good feeling, especially across social differences (Johnson, 2006). It comes as no surprise then that today’s fraternal organizations continue to reflect a sense of social disequilibrium and a search for humanization. Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, and Gurin (2002) assert that peers play a normative role in identity development but also contend that homogenous groups impede the conscious thought processes needed to develop that identity. Black students, myself included, faced a state of disequilibrium as the first in our families to go to college or when we asked ourselves the question, “What does it mean to be Black man or woman in college?” Rather than impede my sense of identity, my fraternity helped to shape the person that I am today.
AWARENESS OF DIVERSITY AS A BLACK GREEK Black Greek Letter Organizations [BGLOs] are founded on guiding principles— brotherhood/sisterhood, scholarship, service, excellence, enthusiasm etc. through which they seek a sense of purpose, a sense of impact.
To create humanity, the oppressed must
seek to regain it (Freire, 1993). Further, the addition of unique colors, stepping, strolling and chanting, created opportunities for Black Greeks to reach the larger community. Identity involves persistent sameness within oneself and persistent sharing with others (Gurin et al. 2002) both of which were developed by the principles and culture of BGLOs. Thus far, I have only spoken to how fraternity life has helped to create a surface level identity. The perception of status and the development of social capital are issues that widen the divide between IFC Greeks and Black Greeks. One of the most concrete differences between IFC Greeks and Black Greeks at USC is that IFC Greeks have houses. Eighty-members in a multi-million dollar house have a heavy influence in creating perceptions of what’s “good” and “bad”. Holmes (2002) argues that reputations, both good and bad are passed through and constructed by social networks. In comparison, it is often assumed that Black Greeks, with no houses and sometimes single digit membership on campus have little if anything to offer. Indeed, if social capital is the network that weaves relationships into actionable units (Stanton-Salazar, 1997) it is structurally clear BGLOs are still in development stages of their networks even as some of them reach 100 years of existence. IFC Greeks often say in retrospect, “I was in XYZ Fraternity in college” whereas BGLOs often say, “I am an XYZ member for life.” Stanton-Salazar notes that dominant group members consistently rely on social ties to move within the mainstream (1997) and these statements suggest that IFC Greeks have
AWARENESS OF DIVERSITY AS A BLACK GREEK the social mobility to work within their networks and become independent of them where as Black Greeks are dependent upon their network not only for identity but mobility. In an effort to develop mobility within their own networks, Black Greeks have developed a hierarchy of deference (or respect for those initiated as members prior one’s own initiation). Unfortunately, this hierarchy sometimes leads to incidents of hazing when the original identity and purpose the organization are forgotten in the hunger for status. In the confusion, as Freire warned, the oppressed become the oppressors, adapting to the structure of domination which was previously the impetus for struggle (1993). The oppressor complex amongst BGLOs has discouraged some Blacks on campuses from joining fraternities and sororities all together. Even so, members of Black Greek Letter Organizations on the whole seek to work within the community, as Freire described, remaining examples of the oppressed struggling for redemption (1993). As a black male student at USC, I was overtly conscious of diversity. I was often one of few or the only person of color in class. While I felt that I could compete academically, it was the social dynamics of school that made me most aware, specifically when I went to The Row. By joining a Black Greek Letter organization, I began to develop an expanded identity and social network. Ironically, joining a BGLO heightened my awareness of diversity while engaging in many of the larger institutional agents of the university. Since graduating, my fraternity membership has expanded my network base. More importantly, I have learned that successful individuals amass more than one network. With multiple networks and frames of view, I continue to shape my identity, social networks, and humanity.
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