Originally Posted by kathykd2005 (Post 1328025)

I find this EXTREMELY offensive, because I feel the same way about MY Greek letter organization, although some people might say that it is a "WHITE" GLO. I work in the community with my organization, and consider myself a lifetime member--it was NOT just a sorority for my college years, or a place to party at. For your information, the GLO I am in has FOUR national philanthropies, and numerous links to the community. I served as overall philanthropy chair as well as chair of our annual philanthropy event, and I have to tell you, we worked in the community EVERY weekend. Our members range from former Miss America winners to three star generals to current governors of states. Also, you shouldn't make assumptions about the color of my skin--just so you know, I'm from NY, and work in the Bronx. You have NO IDEA what color my skin could be.

Originally Posted by kathykd2005 (Post 1328163)

Yes, I actually do know a lot of "white" people that are dedicated to the cause of uplifting African American communities. I worked for a group called the "Breakthrough Collaborative," (http://www.summerbridge.org/) where high schoolers and college students (of ALL races, creeds, and backgrounds) taught in high-need communities and encouraged students in these areas (predominantly African Americans) to stay in school to better themselves, as well as help others in their own communities through service in their own cities and towns.

Originally Posted by kathykd2005 (Post 1328193)

Well-said. I second this!

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS (Post 1328322)

And alot of the whites in that organization would prefer to be surrounded by other whites outside of their service projects, hence why many of them have or will join a nonBGLO.

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS (Post 1328323)

Really?

Originally Posted by OOhsoflyDELTA#9 (Post 1328078)

I try not to respond in these threads that touch on race because at the end of the day no one is going to change their minds here anyway...but what alot of the folks on GC that are members of NPC/IFC orgs don't seem to fully grasp is that its a COMPLETELY different experience for us...I knew what sorority I wanted to pledge in middle school....I also knew that you don't "change teams" so to speak....if I had not been chosen by Delta in Spr 02, I would have tried for DELTA in Spr 03, then a graduate chapter for as long as it took until I got DELTA....if the good Lord never made it happen for me, I would have died with no letters...the greeks in my family taught me this among other lessons about the BGLO experience early on....my favorite teacher was a Delta..like someone said we see the D9 orgs doing work in our communities as we grow up...we admire and respect these people and want to join the same orgs...or the orgs that our family members belong to....I attended a school with no NPHC representation for 1 year...I would never participate in a NPC rush, thats just me...the idea of not knowing where I was going to end up baffles me....but I'm not knocking it....why can't it be ok for the BGLOs and the "predominantly" WGLOs (yeah I said it) to be different and therefore needed?

Originally Posted by Langox510x (Post 1328259)

I'm not saying anything about racism, but the truth is that many fraternities do look at minorities and assume that they wouldn't even be interested in the first place, which that is not always the case. I know it goes both ways too, because unless someone who wasn't black really stood out at a lot of black fraternities they probably would be written off as someone who wasn't that fraternities material either.

I mean Kathy, can you honestly say that a black person with a strong ethnic upbringing, someone truly conscious about who they and their ancestors are and had much pride, but at the same time was a true lady about it would have the slightest chance of "fitting in" with your sorority??

I'm so glad I found the right fraternity on campus (which isn't black either) otherwise I possibly wouldn't have pledged for anything.

Originally Posted by GDIfly (Post 1328115)

Well, there is a lot about each person's individual experience that could potentially make two COMPLETELY different experiences for two girls who are even in the same chapter. So to generalize and say "us" and "them" isn't really productive.

Is what you described typical of a white girl rushing an NPC sorority? No. But I'm sure there have been girls who are legacies to some NPC sorority 3 or 4 times over and feel the same way you do about dying without letters rather than joining a different sorority. Likewise, I'm sure there have also been black girls who would join any of the four NPHC sororities, though they might have their favorite, but will take life as any greek over their favorite sorority.

Originally Posted by jubilance1922 (Post 1328137)

Because NPHC orgs don't "recruit".

Originally Posted by kathykd2005 (Post 1328143)

Again, back to the question that I answered: how would they know they could join if no one was asking them to? That's most likely why more "white" (cringes at using that label) people don't join traditionally African American GLOs.

Originally Posted by jubilance1922 (Post 1328165)

That's cute, but there's a lot more to being devoted to uplifting the African-American community than giving kids the "stay in school" speech.

Originally Posted by kathykd2005 (Post 1328166)

I don't propose anything--I simply don't like labels, in general. I don't think the words "white" and "black" fully encompass all that people are.

Originally Posted by kathykd2005 (Post 1328177)

I suppose I am. Then we should all sing "Koombaya," hold hands, and pretend that nothing bad ever happened to any minorities in this country. Of course I'm not saying that! I'm just saying that I would like to see more inclusiveness across the board. Of course no one should just recruit everyone or anyone--all GLOs want people that will help them strengthen their organization. I'm just saying that it might not be a bad thing to look beyond skin color.

Originally Posted by Furious Styles (Post 1328189)

The majority of white people will never understand or even try to show empathy for the black experience in America. Partially the responsibility is on our culture because of an under current of race, economics, and sexism that has ruled north america for well over 500 years. As a nupe I can identify with the struggle of what the word really means. Kappa Alpha Psi does have white members but these members respect the importance of our heritage and embrace our ideals within the fraternity and the African American Community. Typically these "white" brothers are submerged and fascinated with black culture. Most black people embrace these types of whites but we diss these types of blacks.

White people for the most part will accept a black person who doesn't fit the BET/MTV stereotype. There is a degree of separation in both examples because they will always be people who notice the skin tone before they notice whether a person lives the values of their organization or if this person really fits into the culture of the group. Our generation now and before us labled blacks as sell outs while the whites were labeled nigger lovers or white trash. This will never be an easy topic but should it be? Joining an organization is a personal choice that includes a commitment to upholding the core values. All of us lacking in our commitment to service to humanity (WGLO/BGLO) if we aren't cross referencing ideas that will make our communities at large a better place.